The words were calm, but his gaze murderous. Evan wasn’t sure if Christopher directed the sentiment toward him or toward his father, but knew he’d just made an enemy.
But this wasn’t Evan’s first enemy. It wouldn’t be his last.
Vince evidently decided his son’s lessons in humility were over, because he didn’t stop him as he turned again to leave.
“There, glad we got that settled,” the drug lord said as he took another bite of his eggs Benedict.
“Well, thank you for understanding, Mr. Cady,” Juliet said to him. Evan noticed she wasn’t really eating, just pushing her food around on the plate. He didn’t blame her. He’d lost the taste for his.
“Vince, please, Lisa. Call me Vince.”
“Vince.” Juliet smiled at the older man, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. Her instincts were right. Vince Cady wasn’t to be trusted.
Cady lifted his water glass. “Here’s to a fruitful business partnership for years to come.”
Juliet and Evan both lifted their glasses. Evan gave his own silent toast: Here’s to the day we take you and your entire enterprise down, you bastard.
The clinking of glasses was sweet to his ears.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The auction late that afternoon wasn’t very different from other ones for art or antiques. It certainly wasn’t like the cattle auctions Evan had been to a few times as a child, with a guy up front speaking very rapidly and with a Southern accent. This was much more subdued.
Some people were here bidding on items for themselves that they would either keep or sell later. Others were representatives of a specific buyer. They were authorized to bid up to a certain amount and no more. Bidding was tricky; definitely an art form.
Acquiring the drone override codes would be difficult. Although not everyone would be bidding on them, there were at least three parties who were here specifically to do so, Evan knew. Omega had given him and Juliet an unlimited ceiling for bidding for the codes. After all, Omega would recoup the money when Cady was arrested and his accounts frozen in the next few months, after Evan had a chance to glean as much information as possible about the drug lord’s associates and suppliers.
Keeping the codes from reaching the streets was critical, but just as important was figuring out how and from whom Cady had gotten them in the first place. That’s why Omega hadn’t just taken the drone codes by force. They needed Cady’s connection inside the military. Undercover work was the only way to figure out who that was. If Evan and Juliet didn’t win the codes in the auction, then Omega would have to move much more drastically. Figuring out Cady’s supplier would no longer be an option. It was better if Evan and Juliet could just buy the codes. Their cover would remain intact to use as long as possible.
Never burn a cover if you didn’t have to.
But bidding was a skill. Going in with an extremely high bid would do nothing but throw suspicion on Evan and Juliet. They would need to use all their cunning in the bidding process. Win, but make sure it looked close.
Evan was ready to get this all over with. There were just too many unknowns on the yacht. Things he couldn’t control. The situation with Vince that morning was just plain weird. Christopher had seemed ready to kill them at any moment. And Heath Morel being here had Juliet in a frenzy.
Potential for disaster abounded. And although Juliet thus far had held up pretty well, better than most people would have under the circumstances, Evan wanted to get her off this ship and back in a situation where they had more control. Maybe not the upper hand, but at least a hand. Right now it felt as if he was trying to do everything with both hands tied behind his back.
Not to mention the storm had really picked up and was rocking the yacht, even with its powerful stabilizers, all over the place. Almost everyone had a slightly green tinge.
Evan looked around for various items as the auction continued, some art of questionable origins, and weapons, both legal and illegal. These weren’t what Evan and Juliet were here for, although every once in a while they would bid on something just to shake things up a bit.
Another piece of artwork came up for auction. Juliet sipped at the champagne a waiter, struggling to keep glasses upright on his tray, had provided. “I’m going to bid on that,” she murmured.
Evan turned to study it more closely. “Why? Do you know something about it I don’t?” She had learned a lot in the past year as an analyst, Evan knew. She had deep knowledge of many more cases than just the ones Evan worked on. Perhaps this piece of art held some importance.
“I know it’s hideous.”
He looked over to find her smiling at him. “And that’s why you want to buy it?”
“Yeah, you could hang it in your bathroom.”
Evan grasped her hand and linked their fingers together. He gazed at the painting more closely. It really was ugly.
“Um, yeah. Maybe we should pass on that. Save us the paperwork and explanations later.”
“Oh, all right. I’m disappointed.”
Evan smiled to see Juliet relaxed enough to make a joke. Keeping a firm grip on reality was important when undercover. Despite the mishap with Christopher last night, she seemed to have rebounded quite well.
“You’re doing great.” Evan leaned over and kissed her temple, whispering the words in her ear. “Hang on just a few more hours and we’ll be done here. You’re amazing.”
Juliet smiled at him crookedly. He knew she didn’t believe him. He wished he could make her realize how amazing she really was.
The bid for the drone codes came up, drawing Evan’s attention away from Juliet. This was it.
The bidding started slowly. Everyone’s attention focused on this big-ticket item regardless of whether they
