But not yet; she still had matters to contend with. “What can you do for the woman and her husband?”
He looked over at Nina and Austin. “Can they provide essential testimony in the prosecution of a criminal case?”
“No.”
“Then you already know the answer.” One of Wakefield’s men came over and whispered in his ear. He murmured a reply, and then his attention returned to Essie. “By any chance did you recover a phone from Bazarov?”
The phone in question was in her back pocket, but she wasn’t about to admit it. The instant she did, he’d seize it as evidence, and then she’d have no way of knowing if it contained any information that might lead her to Vaughn or the person who’d ordered the hit on Nina. After Larissa harvested any useful data, she’d happily turn it over. “No, sir, but I’ll let you know if I find it.”
The look on his face said he suspected she was lying, but he didn’t call her on it.
“I’ll put out some feelers, see if I can identify who initiated the contract. If I learn anything, I’ll let you know. I assume you’ll return the courtesy.”
“Of course. Thank you for taking care of Bazarov so discreetly.”
“The pleasure’s mine.” Something too predatory to pass for a smile curved his lips. He shook her hand, his grip harder than the steel in his hazel eyes. “That bastard killed at least three of my agents over the past decade. I’m going to enjoy sending him back to Mother Russia.”
Oh, if she could be a fly on the wall for that conversation.
As he released her hand, his cool facade slipped back into place. “I don’t need to tell you to be careful but I’m going to do it anyway. You know how dangerous Vaughn can be. He’s never been a fan of playing by the rules. Now that he’s rogue, I doubt there are limits to what he’s willing to do to accomplish his goals.” He reached inside his jacket, drew out a pair of blue-tinted glasses, and slid them on. “If you ever decide you want back in, let me know.”
“Everything okay?” Jackson asked as Wakefield exited through the door leading into the garage. He’d put on a clean shirt, and three butterfly bandages had closed the gash on his forehead.
“Yeah.” Once she was certain that Wakefield wasn’t coming back, she took the phone from her pocket and handed it to Jackson. “I thought Larissa might want to take a crack at Bazarov’s phone before I turn it over.”
“Thanks.” Jackson stuffed it into his pocket. His gaze softened as he looked her over. “How are you holding up?”
She lifted and lowered one aching shoulder in what was meant to be a casual shrug. “I’ve been through worse.”
“I didn’t mean physically.” His voice turned achingly gentle. Reaching up, he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Someone you trusted and respected sent a goon squad to kill you. It’s okay to be upset about it.”
“I’m not upset.” That was a lie. Words couldn’t even begin to describe how pissed off she was at Vaughn for siccing that Russian asshole on her. But in her line of work, especially as a woman, she couldn’t afford to show that kind of emotion. It clouded your thoughts and increased the likelihood of making a fatal mistake. Later, she’d mentally unpack it all in the privacy of her room.
If Bazarov had waited ten minutes to stage his assault, he might have caught her and Jackson with their pants down—or off—and things would have ended much differently. It was one more reason to keep her emotions on a shelf—and Jackson at arm’s length.
It took every last ounce of her willpower to step away instead of stepping into Jackson’s arms. “We better get back to work. It’s going to take hours to clean up this mess.”
Chapter 15
ONe week later, thehouse still looked like a war zone.
As expected, the claims adjuster had taken one look at the kitchen and living room and declared them a total loss. Even so, it was going to take a few weeks for the insurance check to arrive. In the meantime, they’d replaced the front door, boarded over the space where the sliding glass door used to be, cleaned up the blood and debris, and hauled the ruined furniture to the curb. On their next day off, they’d patch the holes in the walls and shop for new furniture.
Essie had insisted on replacing the refrigerator and stove so they wouldn’t have to rely on takeout for all of their meals. Jackson suspected it was her way of making amends for Bazarov’s assault on the house. Not that it was her fault, he didn’t blame her one bit, but once she got an idea in her head it was impossible to convince her otherwise.
Jackson climbed out of the company truck and was hit with a blast of heat and humidity that instantly fogged his sunglasses. Temps had soared into the nineties, and the afternoon rain hadn’t done a damn thing to take the edge off the heat. He crossed the lot with Ryan and nearly sighed with relief when they entered the blissfully cool Six Points building. Nate must be working today; he always cranked the thermostat down low enough to make polar bears happy.
While Ryan split off to speak with Pinto, Jackson continued down the hall to Austin’s office. The boss was on the phone, and he held up one finger to signal Jackson to wait until he finished his conversation.
A minute or so later, Austin ended the call and scrubbed his face with one hand. Stress lined his forehead and the corners of his eyes, both totally understandable, given the danger his wife was in. He turned his attention to Jackson. “How are things looking at the Grand Formosa?”
“Better than I expected. Their management team takes security seriously.” With the exception of the front entrance where customers came and went, all points of entry required a keycard. Cameras monitored every square inch of the exterior, with the front and rear parking lots viewable from multiple angles. If anyone set foot on the property who didn’t belong, they’d know about it immediately.
The site for Vicky’s party was located on the hotel’s third floor. None of the other ballrooms were booked for that night, which would make securing the area much easier. On the night of the event, they’d assign teams to the stairwells, escalators, and elevators so nobody gained access to the floor unless they were part of the celebration.
As an additional layer of security, the Six Points cyber security unit had run background checks on all of the RSVPs, catering staff, and employees of the Grand Formosa. Thankfully, they hadn’t found any causes of concern. They’d also created an app for security to use when checking people into the venue. The measures would go a long way toward stopping Vaughn from gaining entry to the party and keeping everyone safe.
From what he’d heard, the last part of their plan was still a work in progress. That was where Essie’s skill set came into play, and he had no doubt in her abilities. She was also working on deciphering the data Larissa had retrieved from Bazarov’s phone. Everything was encrypted—and in Russian, which had slowed the progress to a crawl. With luck, she’d find something buried in the mountain of information that pointed toward the person who initiated the contract on Nina’s life.
