“They switched places?”
“I can’t say that. What I can say is that the person in Athens using Cassandra Bishop’s identification is not Cassandra. Whether she and Alexandra planned it together or whether Alexandra stole her sister’s identity? Facial recognition can’t tell me that.”
Nick’s mind raced at the implications. Why would Alexandra pretend to be her twin sister? And if Alexandra was in Athens six months earlier, where was Cassandra? He was quickly finding himself with more questions than answers.
Six months earlier, he’d been in Brashear’s headquarters in Dubai, posing as his bodyguard/right hand man, half a world away from Norville. He knew the man hated him and had sworn vengeance, the entire gallery in the courtroom heard him. Yet he hadn’t made a move toward Nick in all this time. Had he been playing a long game, working and planning with one of his family members to take Nick out?
“Can you check Cassandra’s travel since then? She’s supposed been in several places, at least according to her travel blog, magazine thing. Iceland, Hong Kong, and I think South Africa.”
“I’m on it. Give me a few minutes. Honey, can I get a Diet Coke, lots of ice? And my Skittles?” Destiny shot a cheeky grin over her shoulder at her husband. Turning back around, she looked at Nick. “That’s my thinking food when I’m going deep. My brain wants sugar.”
“You get me this information and I’ll buy you a case of Skittles.”
“Deal.”
He watched as she focused on her monitors and keyboard, and soon he realized she was engrossed in her task, and had blocked out everything around her. Dane placed a large glass filled to the brim with her requested drink along with a bowl almost overflowing with the colorful candy. Destiny reached out and grabbed a handful, popping them into her mouth and chewing while she worked.
Dane gestured toward the kitchen with a jerk of his chin and Nick followed, leaving Destiny alone with her computer.
“Coffee or Diet Coke? That’s pretty much all I’ve got to offer at the moment. Destiny cleaned out all the Diet Dr Pepper yesterday.”
“Coffee would be great.” Nick looked around and liked what he saw. The former foreman’s house had been extensively renovated and expanded. A large modern kitchen that had U-shaped white cabinets around three sides with granite countertops in a dark gray. State-of-the-art stainless-steel appliances with double ovens and a Viking refrigerator complimented the set up. It was a chef’s dream kitchen, and he couldn’t help wondering who the cook was in their family.
Nick took a seat at the eat-in breakfast area, and watched Dane pop one of those little coffee pods into the machine. Within minutes, he held a steaming hot cup within his hands. Taking a sip, he let the warmth seep into him, and a little of the tension in his muscles eased. He had the feeling Destiny was on the right track, and while he trusted all the people he worked with in Australia, and their computer techs were some of the best in the world, Douglas had told him time and again how good Destiny’s computer skills were. There was a story there, he was convinced, but until they were ready to share it with him, he was quite happy to let her do all the heavy lifting.
He had to admit he was surprised she’d discovered Alexandra’s subterfuge with Cassandra’s ID so fast. Calvin’s guy hadn’t found that yet, and Destiny took a whole five minutes to uncover the switcheroo. He’d better not mention to Calvin about the facial recognition software, or he had the feeling there’d be another country trying to convince her and this Stefan guy to sell.
Muttering sounds came from the office area, and Dane chuckled as he walked to the table with his own cup. “That’s my girl. She talks back to the computer when she’s working. Must not be too bad right now. I’m not hearing death threats and nothing’s been thrown across the room.” A loud bang almost immediately followed his words. “Oops. Guess I spoke too soon.”
“Gets a little involved, does she?”
“When she’s working on a project, I can lose her completely for hours. Sometimes days. It’s like she’s in a whole other world when she’s at the keyboard. Of course, I can’t complain, because her computer skills saved my life.”
“Really?”
Dane chuckled. “On the Dark Web, Destiny found out someone had put a contract on my life. Turns out somebody uncovered the fact that my name was changed when I was little, to protect me and my familial inheritance. My love came and warned me, and things kind of spiraled from there. We ended up in Vegas and got hitched there.”
“How big an explosion did Ms. Patti have about you getting married in Las Vegas?”
“It wasn’t her happiest moment, true, but she adores Destiny, so everything worked out. Besides, I’m not the only one who got hitched when she and Dad weren’t around to witness. Actually, Rafe and Tessa are the first ones who’ve had the whole big white wedding thing that Momma wanted.”
He knew Rafe had gotten married recently, and of course Ms. Patti and Douglas had renewed their vows. Seemed like most of the Boudreaus had met their soulmates and gotten their happily ever after. The only ones still unattached were Gage and Nica. He could only imagine what Ms. Patti had dreamed of for her baby girl’s wedding, whenever it happened.
“Hey, guys, come here.”
Nick eased to his feet at Destiny’s call, his muscles still achy and sore from the explosion, yet tense as anticipation raced through his mind. Maybe they were close to figuring out this intricate puzzle of players and could unravel who wanted him dead.
“Did you find something, hon?”
“Maybe. It’s weird. We determined Alexandra was the twin in Athens. When I checked Hong Kong, it’s clearly Cassandra. Iceland is Alexandra. South Africa is again Cassandra. It’s like they’re taking turns traveling, which makes absolutely no sense.”
Nick ran his hand through his hair, beginning to feel that ever growing sense of frustration rising. “What about the U.S. That was on the list Calvin gave me.”
Destiny swallowed down a huge swig of her Diet Coke before answering, a big grin starting to appear on her face. “That’s where things get interesting. Eight weeks ago Cassandra Bishop flew into DFW. Around the same time, there’s evidence that Jesse Norville also flew into DFW.”
“Jesse? I thought the only activity on his passport was the trip to London.”
“That’s true. Hislegalpassport was only used one time for the aforementioned trip. But, when I loaded his photo into the facial recognition program, it clearly shows him flying into DFW with Cassandra Bishop. They came in on the same flight from Sydney, nonstop straight to Dallas-Fort Worth. The facial recognition isn’t mistaken. Jesse Norville flew under the name Joseph Simons.”
