On The Rocks (22 page)

Xander’s brow cocked. “You should know, Ri’s
not a friend.”

“
Sim
. He said you wouldn’t feel the
same. But being friends and working together are two different
things.”

Abrahan slid a glance toward the lemon
trees. Pushed away from the table and stood. “Follow me,
please.”

Shoving the jewelry back into the craft bag,
Xander snagged the handles and trailed Galletti into the
garage.

The storage building was a car enthusiast’s
wet dream. At least twenty rides, all different models. All of them
shiny. All of them expensive.

Phil would have a field day in here.

“Nice collection,” Xander said, gaze out the
glass walls. “And view.”

Abrahan kept moving, tossed over his
shoulder, “It gets better. If you please…”

Xander continued playing follow the leader,
going down a set of steps and into a hallway carved through the
rock. They passed an offshoot, and his head twisted but there was
nothing much to be seen. Just a seemingly endless hallway cut in
basalt.

Eventually, they came to a huge steel door
in the center of the main corridor.

Xander pulled out his phone, snapped a
picture. Thumbed over the audio icon, and slipped the phone away
again.

Leaning forward, Abrahan opened his eye wide
for the retinal scanner. The sound of a lock disengaging echoed
through the hallway. Then he input a series of digits on a backlit
keypad, each press of the button registering as a different
beep
. A
thunk
later, he grabbed the handle and slid
the heavy door back on a track that sent it disappearing into the
wall.

Once inside, he closed the door behind them
and the locking mechanism engaged.

The view really did get better. Outside the
walls of glass here, the sea went on forever. Xander stepped close
to the edge and looked down. The sheer drop was roughly four
stories that ended in jagged rocks and churning water at the base
of the cliffside.

That’d be a nasty-ass fall…

A soft whir started and the wall began to
part at the center seam.

Xander stepped back.

“If I wanted to kill you, would I not have
done it earlier? You only have one guard.”

“That’s just the one I let you see.” Xander
motioned to the water, where a bevy of boats rode the gentle waves.
He didn’t know a soul on any of the vessels, but Abrahan didn’t
need to know that. “And you’re right, the view here is better.”

“Humbling, isn’t it? My favorite place in
the world.” Abrahan grinned and spun away. “I apologize for my
subterfuge with the diamond. Allow me to correct it.”

He went over to a vault. Worked the dial and
pulled the heavy door open. Stepped inside.

Xander stayed back, but caught sight of the
numerous guns tucked away in there. He eyed the laptop on Abrahan’s
desk. A variety of cables were beside it, one of which was charging
the man’s cell phone through the computer’s USB port. Checked the
ceiling for cameras. Found none. Went over to the corner where the
south- and west-facing walls joined.

There was a vertical steel beam at the
juncture, part of the structural support for the room, with three
huge hooks jutting out from its side— one at the bottom, one
dead-center, and one at the top.

Looped through each hook was a thick cable,
the three wires running parallel over a little cove of sea and
rocks before connecting to a matching hook-and-beam combo at the
corner of the garage almost thirty meters away.

“What are those for?” he asked.

Abrahan came up behind him, glanced at the
wires. “A remnant from when this was a hotel. There was a pulley
system I had removed, but they hung advertising there for the boats
to see.” He held out his palm. “Perhaps this one is more to your
liking?”

Xander took the loose stone and the loop
Abrahan had brought with him. He studied the rock and nodded. “It
is.”

Returning the loop, Xander pocketed the
stone. “And now that we’re square, if there’s nothing else…”

“As I said earlier, I have a business
opportunity I believe you are the right fit for.”

“Gotta be honest with you. Your approach was
wrong. I don’t do business with people who try to get over on
me.”

“I’m purchasing the CIA’s NOC list.”

The walls were wide open, but it felt like
all the air had gone out of the room. It couldn’t be this easy.
Right?

“But…” Xander said cautiously, “You have my
attention.”

A smile stretched Abrahan’s lips. “I know
you have contacts that would benefit from knowing if agents have
infiltrated their organizations. That type of information could
turn a rather handsome profit. You agree?”

“So you want me to sell for you?”

“In a way, yes. I need a face.”

“What’s wrong with your face?”

A muscle jumped in Abrahan’s jaw, but Xander
paid it, and the man’s missing ear, no mind. Waited for an
answer.

“I’m not a salesman, Mr. Duquesne.”

“Xander’s fine. And what’s wrong with your
brother? You might not have pushed me from this window, but I doubt
he’d hesitate.”

“Sanzio’s in no condition to do what I need.
This is far too important, and you already have the connections.
Sanzio won’t be involved at all.”

“What’s the split?” Xander asked.

“The seller wants eight million. Your buy-in
is four.”

“Equal partners?” He hadn’t expected that.
Hell, he hadn’t expected to get offered to purchase the NOC list in
the first place.

“A test is one thing, Xander. But I wouldn’t
insult you by offering anything less. We’re alike, you and I.
Businessmen. And in business such as this it’s important the risks
are equal. I have the source. You have the contacts. We each bring
one half to the table. It’s only sensible the split be fifty/fifty,
thus eliminating any need for either of us to betray the
other.”

“Who’s your source?”

Abrahan laughed. “I wouldn’t be a necessity
if you knew.”

“Don’t misunderstand my meaning. How do I
know the info you’re selling me is legit, and not some—” he
motioned toward the bag where the necklace sat— “overpriced
stone?”

“I guarantee the source is directly
connected to the CIA. If you can’t take my word for it, then we
can’t make a deal.”

Brow knit tight, Xander paced across the
office, thinking it over. Or at least appearing to think it over.
Too eager and he’d draw suspicion. But inside he couldn’t be more
pleased. He pulled up to the open window and turned back.

“When?”

“Soon,” Abrahan said. “I’m getting things
settled with the seller as we speak. Once you transfer the funds
from your account, we’ll make the purchase. This way, you can see
everything is on the up and up.”

“We’ll do one better,” Xander said. “You
purchase it, I'll pay you right after the info comes in.”

“You don't trust me?”

He lifted the craft bag. “Not in the
least.”

Abrahan grinned, paced over to where Xander
stood. “We have a deal then?”

Xander extended his hand and Abrahan clasped
his palm. He’d finally moved one step closer to getting to
Metis.

And one step closer to stealing time with
Kizzie.

Date redacted

Undisclosed Location

SOMEWHERE IN THE world, on a table in a room
with the curtains drawn tight, the puzzle was coming together.

The lower left quadrant was now filled in,
rising like a knobby, misshapen square within the rectangular
confines of the border. The leaf-covered branch was nearly done,
the animal's thin green tail hanging low, low, low and then curling
in on itself, over and over and over until the very tip.

The right wasn’t as far along, but still
progressing quite nicely.

There were many pieces to go yet. But Metis
found it interesting how, in a pile of close to seven hundred
cardboard slabs —a pile that seemingly made no sense and sometimes
felt confusing— the next piece always managed to turn up when
required.

Almost… serendipitously.

No.
Coincidentally.

Yes. Coincidentally.

Quite the contrary to operations Metis was
accustomed to. In the Delegation, coincidence was the result of
careful planning...

But Metis was not at the table with the
puzzle.

Metis was in a chair pulled to the table by
the bed, manipulating the trackpad of the laptop on the left— the
one with the white cursor blinking, blinking, blinking against the
void.

And then, words the agent did not enter
appeared on the screen:

Operation Eagle Scout. Status?

Metis replied:
Pending
.

Erased it.

Not the right word. It sounded like things
were stalled. Inert until further notice.

But Eagle Scout was already coming together…
In motion… Developing.

Yes. Developing.

Congressman Wheaton had not yet announced.
But he’d yet to send over the money Metis demanded either. No
matter. He had a few days left.

Metis typed
developing
, and then
twisted in the seat to face the handful of bone-colored file
folders stacked on the thin floral bedspread. Each held Intel for a
different sort of puzzle; knobby pieces not obviously connected,
just waiting to be fitted together.

Metis read the name on the flap of the first
folder: Bill Connolly. Set it aside.

The next folder: Lennox Tate. Set it atop
the first.

Next folder: Kizzie Baldwin. Set it on the
pile with Tate.

Next: Rachel Hayford. Sent to the same
stack.

Another: Xander Duquesne.

Metis turned to the screen of the laptop on
the right where two men were in the over-bright office. A tap of a
button and the volume increased:

“
The seller wants eight million. Your
buy-in is four.”

“
Equal partners?”

“
A test is one thing, Xander. But I
wouldn’t insult you by offering anything less. Like me, you are a
businessman. And in business such as this, it’s important the risks
are equal. I have the source. You have the contacts. We each bring
one half to the table. It’s only sensible that the split be
fifty/fifty, thus eliminating any need for either of us to betray
the other.”

“
Who’s your source?”

Wouldn’t Duquesne love to know.

Wouldn’t they all?

The conversation on the screen
continued.

Metis went back to the folders.

Started yet another pile with Duquesne’s on
the bottom. Atop that, Naima Karam’s and Phillip Marchande’s. As
for the Gallettis, the agent pulled those folders aside. The
brothers had served their purpose. Soon they'd be two pieces no
longer relevant to the puzzle at all. Pieces no longer relevant
were eventually eliminated.

On the screen of the laptop on the left,
more words appeared that the agent did not type:

Operation 3-19:

Suboperation Light Bearer. Status?

Suboperation Clean Sweep. Status?

Voices seeped through the laptop screen on
the right, and Metis eyed it intently. On it, Duquesne and Galletti
shook hands, the deal done.

Beside Suboperation Light Bearer the agent
typed
Developing
.

As for Suboperation Clean Sweep…

Metis retrieved a burner phone. A picture
had been stored on it earlier. In the photo, a little boy held a
tub of popcorn in his lap.

Moments later, the image was bouncing off
cell towers, en route to its destination: Sanzio Galletti’s cell
phone.

Galletti would never get the message —his
phone had long since been abandoned— but Agent Hayford would.

And in a few hours, quite by
coincidence
, the next two pieces of the puzzle would be
linked.

12

Amalfi, Italy

HAND LIFTED IN a wave, Abrahan stepped back
as the guard pulled the SUV out of the drive and onto the two-lane
highway that passed by La Casa Sulle Rocce. Once the taillights
disappeared around a bend, he turned to face the view he’d come to
love so much.

To the south, the gorgeous Amalfi coastline
unfolded like a scene straight out of a picture book. To the west,
the limitless sea, a deep aqua today, zigzagged by shimmery gold
sunlight.

Flawless.

Just like his meeting with Xander.

In spite of Sanzio’s objections, partnering
with Duquesne would be a very good alliance. And immediately
profitable. The man might spot an up-sell when it came to diamonds,
but where the list was concerned he’d just been bested. Metis only
wanted two million for the NOC list. For the cost of lunch,
civilized company, and a fair price on one of his flawless stones,
Abrahan pocketed two million for himself.

Easiest money he’d ever made.

And the potential for more was endless.

Smiling, he tipped his head back and enjoyed
the warm breeze against his face. The soothing crash of the waves
on the cliffs played only twenty meters away, and he took a moment
to savor the peace.

A soft brush to his back had his eyes
opening. Sabine was there, her angelic face smiling up at him. She
smoothed her other hand up his chest and curled against him.
Ordinarily he’d have shunned the public contact, but today it felt…
good.

“Everything went well?”

“Yes.” He said nothing else and her smile
wavered.

He knew she wanted more. Wanted him to speak
to her about business things the way husbands spoke to their wives.
Xander and Naima were very affectionate, something that seemed
incongruous for a man with a reputation such as his. Surely he knew
that loved ones were a weakness to be exploited. Perhaps because
they were newlyweds and the bliss hadn’t begun to tarnish? Whatever
the reason, there was such a look of longing in Sabine’s eyes as
she watched them that it brought an unfamiliar ache to Abrahan’s
chest.