Remy stared out the tinted passenger window of the armored vehicle transporting his clients to the secret location of their business meeting. His eyes were shaded by mirrored sunglasses as he watched the heavily trafficked streets of Abu Dhabi pass by. In deference to UAE etiquette for Westerners, he wore a dark business suit and impeccably polished loafers. The expensive cut of his jacket concealed his shoulder piece, a Sig Sauer reinforced by a KA-BAR knife hidden between his shoulder blades and a .45 strapped to an ankle holster, not to mention the MP5 machine gun stowed beneath his seat.
From the backseat of the vehicle, the Emirati businessmen spoke quietly in Arabic, their conversation peppered with fervent utterances of In’shallah, which meant “God willing.” Even if Remy hadn’t been fluent in Arabic, he would have sensed that his clients were nervous. Since forging a lucrative partnership with an American energy conglomerate, the four oil executives had received kidnapping and death threats from an underground group of highly trained religious extremists who opposed any alliance with Westerners. Not knowing whom to trust, the distraught businessmen had turned to outsiders for protection.
Remy glanced from the window when his driver suddenly swerved to avoid being clipped by an aggressive cabbie switching lanes. Swearing under his breath, Dutch ran a hand over his dreadlocks and muttered, “And I thought Chicagoans were lousy drivers.”
Remy chuckled, watching as the silver taxicab roared off down the busy street.
Just then his cell phone vibrated with an incoming text message. Keeping his gaze trained on the passing scenery, he reached inside his breast pocket and removed the phone.
His pulse thudded when he saw that the message was from Zandra.
It was brief, deliberately cryptic.
You’re all set. Sunday at 8.
A grim smile curved the edges of Remy’s mouth. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed that Zandra had capitulated to his demands. Without realizing it, she’d just cleared the way for him to investigate her beloved agency.
After agonizing over Keegan’s proposal, Remy had gone to Zandra’s apartment on Monday evening to warn her that she and her escorts were in the mayor’s crosshairs. But he’d gotten sidetracked when he found her with another man, and when they’d argued afterward, she’d seemed so troubled and vulnerable, he didn’t have the heart to cause her any more distress. By the time Keegan called him, he’d made his decision. Sealed his fate.
Dutch threw a glance at Remy, observing his grim expression. “Everything okay, Chief?”
“Yeah.” Tucking the phone back into his breast pocket, Remy resumed staring out the window.
Even in the peaceful emirate of Abu Dhabi, he and his entourage faced the threat of ambush and violence from heavily armed zealots.
But Remy wasn’t concerned.
This assignment would be a cakewalk compared to the unpleasant task that awaited him at home.
Chapter Nine
When Zandra first opened Elite For You Companions, a trusted mentor had advised her to keep her escorts apart to prevent them from competing with one another or comparing notes. She was told horror stories of shady escorts skimming profits and colluding to steal clients to start their own agencies.
She’d received the cautionary advice, filed it away, then formulated her own approach to dealing with her escorts. Even though they were independent contractors, she considered them employees. And as any smart employer knows, happy employees are the key to a successful and highly profitable business. From the very beginning, Zandra understood that if she treated her escorts with decency and respect, then they would be happy. Happy escorts produced satisfied clients, and satisfied clients were repeat customers.
So once a month, Zandra booked a private room at an upscale restaurant and treated her escorts to dinner. Attendance was not mandatory. She knew that the women led busy lives that had them juggling the demands of a career, college and, in two cases, single motherhood. So she never required their time beyond their availability to clients. But in the five years she’d been hosting the dinners, no one had ever canceled. The women looked forward to getting together.