Her heart clenched at his steady words.
“I want to believe you,” she whispered.
“You can,” he whispered back. “You can, Eden.”
He crouched down and lifted Suzanne up as gently as Leland had, then his radio crackled. “Ash, we’ve got a problem.”
Eden didn’t recognize the voice.
Raiden finished stuffing supplies back into his utility pouch and stood up. He made a motion and Asher shifted Suzanne into his arms. Raiden spoke into his microphone. “Nic, get down to the basement, now!”
“What’s the problem, Cullen?” Asher asked.
“There’s a tank that’s coming down the boulevard. Right now, everyone is ignoring it, thinking it is part of the parade, but it’s not. It’s coming straight to the bank.”
A tank?
Eden heard the door to the stairway open again, she put her head out and saw a young blonde man in uniform. It had to be Nic. “This way,” she motioned.
Raiden brushed past her holding Suzanne. “You’re blocking for me, Nic. We’re taking her through the gate. Need to get her to a hospital. Asher, tell—”
“I’m on it,” Asher said as he waved Raiden away.
“Cullen, Raiden just trached Señora Azua. He and Nic will be coming out with her. She needs transport to a hospital. You got it?”
Eden heard Cullen say, “Rafa.”
“I don’t care if it’s a fucking water taxi, just get ‘er done. I asked Kane for files on some people thirty minutes ago. What’s his problem?”
“Ash, this is Kane. I’ve been monitoring all the chatter. Been waiting for you to have a moment to go offline so I could give you the debrief, or did you want me to cut in and debrief you now?” His tone was sarcastic.
She saw Asher wince.
“Roger that.” Was Asher’s response.
“Ash, this is Leo.” That was a new name. “Rafa’s in position to pick up his aunt. The hospital has been notified. We also have eyes on the tank. It’s an Alvis Scorpion.”
“Oh shit. Are you sure?”
Asher seemed really worried. This was not good.
“Yep. One of Rafa’s friends posted it on their Instagram.”
“Did you say Instagram?” Asher asked.
“Can it, Thorne,” Kane grumbled. “We’ve got to get everybody the hell out of there, now.”
Asher turned to Eden. “What’s your gut telling you? Who’s the bad guy? Becker or Carlson?”
Eden grimaced and ran her fingers through her tangled hair, then gave up. “Carlson’s an asshole, no doubt. He got us the hell out of dodge when we were in trouble though; why would he do that if he wanted to serve us up to Maduro?”
“On the other hand, Becker’s reputation with the IMF is pristine, the work he’s done for different countries has been unbelievable. I thought he came from money, so I don’t know why he would be trying to siphon off more.”
“Okay, you told me what your head is telling you. What’s your gut saying?” Asher was looking at her encouragingly. It was clear he really wanted to know what she thought.
“They’re both dirty as fuck. I don’t know why. But as soon as I saw that note from Suzanne, it clicked. Gerta’s not in on it, and it’s scaring the hell out of me that Leland’s up in that office with them. Not so much Becker, he won’t get his hands dirty, but Carlson? He’ll kill him.”
Asher nodded.
“You got that, Kane?”
“Got it.”
“What have you managed to find out?” Asher asked.
“Nomad Security is as clean as everybody in the industry thought.”
Eden opened her mouth to protest, and Asher held up his hand.
“But,” Kane continued. “Now that we did a deeper check, it turns out that Phil Carlson retired in New Mexico seven years ago. Supposedly, he came out of retirement for this gig, but it wasn’t him. Phil’s still in New Mexico and this guy, whoever the hell he is, has taken his place. He could be working with Becker, he could be a plant for Maduro, or he could be freelance. Don’t know yet. But Eden, your gut was right.”
“And Becker?” she asked.
“He comes from old, old, old money. The kind that’s been helped along by profiteering on every single war since the Dutch War of Independence, and right now his nephew is being investigated for having ties to the blood diamond trade.”
Eden looked at Ash. They were in perfect accord.
“The bastard. The absolute bastard. He’s using his knowledge on the IMF to figure out how to line his pockets.”
I am not going to cry. And if I am, it’s because I’m angry, not because I’m disillusioned.
“Get the fuck out of there,” Kane told Asher.
“I’m going to get Eden out. Then I’ll work on getting the rest out.”
“Bad plan. I’m staying.”
“Going black for a minute,” Asher said.
“Don’t—” Kane was shut off before he could finish.
Chapter 10
The sheen of tears in Eden’s eyes had damn near gutted him.
“Eden?”
“I’m staying,” she said fiercely. “You need my help.”
“Talk to me. We have thirty seconds, then you can be Wonder Woman, I promise.”
He couldn’t help himself, his fingers brushed at the soft, delicate skin of her tearstained cheek. “Just tell me, Baby.”
“People are starving, dying, being butchered. He was supposed to be their savior, but he’s profiting? He’s trying to make these conflicts last longer so he can make money?” There was such anguish in her green eyes.
Her hand whipped up and grabbed his. Her grip was strong. “Promise me we’ll get him. We’ll make him pay. Promise me we won’t ever let him do this again.”
Asher grinned slowly. She was like a diamond, so many facets that
