“I understand your concerns. For the record, that hurt went both ways. But we’re doing everything we can to make sure we don’t repeat those mistakes. I can’t promise puppy dogs, and rainbows, and happily ever after. It’s not realistic. We’ll disagree on some things, we’ll argue, and I’m sure there will be times when we annoy the crap out of each other. But I can promise to love and respect Russell with every fiber of my being. If that’s not good enough for you, that’s your problem.”
Navarre stared at her as though he were trying to peer into her soul. After a few tense moments, something shifted in his expression, and he gave a curt nod. “Make him happy, and we’re good. But if you hurt him again…”
“I’ll deserve whatever you throw at me.”
Chapter 19
With the movie premierEonly one day away, preparations had kicked into high gear. RSVPs had been received from all of the invited guests—a miracle for this kind of event, with background checks completed for every person who’d be setting foot in the Grand Formosa’s ballroom.
Considering the public nature of the premiere and the sheer number of people in and around the theater, Nina wouldn’t be attending the movie screening. However, she would be at the after-party, and, strange as it sounded, their primary goal was to keep her alive in order to fake her death.
In spite of Larissa’s best efforts, she’d yet to uncover the identity of the asshole who’d taken out the contract on Nina’s life. She’d traced the account number found in Bazarov’s phone to a bank in Monaco, but so far there had been no transfers in or out of the account.
No sign of Vaughn either, but Jackson had no doubt in his mind that the asshole was still lurking in the shadows, just waiting for the opportunity to strike.
Tension charged the air inside the Six Points training room, the only space inside the building large enough to accommodate everyone working the premiere. Jackson and Navarre were among the last to arrive, and they grabbed the remaining available seats along the back row by the window. The Flint brothers stood up front, while Larissa sat off to the side, her face a mask of concentration as she tapped away on her laptop.
Jackson spotted Essie in the front row to the right of Nina. As if sensing his presence, she glanced over her shoulder. Those beautiful blue eyes of hers caught his, and for a second or two, everything else in the room faded away. The corners of her mouth curved up a fraction, and she gave him the barest hint of a nod before turning her focus back to the front of the room.
“Okay, let’s get started.” Austin’s deep voice cut through the chatter, and all conversation abruptly ended. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, while stress lines bracketed his mouth. Clearly, the man wasn’t sleeping well, which made perfect sense, considering the ongoing threat to his wife. He probably wouldn’t get a decent night’s rest until the danger was eliminated. “First off, Nina and I want to thank everyone for all your hard work. The next twenty-four hours are going to be crucial, and we appreciate your efforts.”
“Anything for Nina,” one of the guys said, and murmurs of agreement went through the crowd.
Austin’s gaze slid to his wife, and his features softened for the briefest of moments before his game face snapped back into place. “Jackson, what’s the sitrep for the Formosa?”
“Everything’s tight,” Jackson said as he stood. “The Formosa’s management team has been extremely accommodating of our security requirements. All points of entry are under surveillance, and the venue itself is locked down tighter than Gitmo. Nothing’s getting in or out without our knowledge and permission.”
Austin gave a curt nod, the highest praise anyone was going to get until this mess was over.
For what seemed like the hundredth time, they ran through every last painstaking detail of the operation. As with any event of this magnitude, there was security on top of security, both visible and behind the scenes. Conning an assassin was no easy task, and each operative had to stick to their role if they were going to be successful. Nina’s life depended on it.
“Any updates on Vaughn?” Austin asked Larissa.
“I was wondering when you were going to ask.” Larissa pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. A tap on her keyboard, and a picture of Essie’s former associate appeared on the screen at the front of the room. “This is Vaughn Yeager’s last known passport photo. Needless to say, it’s a few years old, but it tracks fairly closely with the artist rendering.”
“How did you get—wait, don’t tell me,” Ryan said. “It’s probably best I don’t know.”
“Don’t worry; I wouldn’t have told you anyway.” Larissa turned her attention back to the screen, where the image changed to two rows of pictures. “These are the artist renderings of how Yeager would look with changes to his hair, eyes, and so on. These will be available on the Six Points app in the next hour or so.”
Essie leaned forward, her forearms braced against her knees. “Is there any way you could tweak a couple of these to give him darker skin tones?”
“Sure thing; I’ll upload them with the rest.” Larissa tapped a key on her laptop and the image on-screen changed again, this time to what appeared to be Vaughn entering a convenience store. The image was grainy, but it was undeniably him. “On a hunch, I hacked into the security feeds of the gas stations within a quarter-mile radius of the hotel. This is from two nights ago.”
The color drained from Nina’s face. “I was…it’s silly, but I was kind of hoping he wouldn’t…you know…”
Essie placed a reassuring hand on Nina’s back, though her gaze remained locked on the image of her former mentor like a predator that sighted its prey. “Did you find him on any of the hotel’s feeds?”
Larissa shook her head. “I ran the footage from each camera through a facial recognition program and didn’t get any hits.”
“I would have been amazed if you had. Knowing Vaughn, he’s mapped out their surveillance. If he went inside, and I’m betting he did, he used every trick in the book to keep the cameras from getting a clean shot of his face.” At last, Essie tore her gaze away from the picture and looked to Larissa. “Could you send me the feeds for the reception desk and main entrance?”
“You think he’d be ballsy enough to stroll right through the front door?” Austin asked.
“Creeping around attracts attention,” Essie said. “Nobody bats an eye when you walk in like you own the place.”
Larissa typed a command on her keyboard. “I’ll load all the feeds onto one page and send you the link so you can review as many as you want. Sound good?”
Essie nodded. “Perfect.”
