She sighed and took Rachel’s hands in hers. They were as cold as ice. “What can I do to help?”
The calculating look she knew so well had once again taken up residence in her sister’s eyes. “There’s this bank account Larry uses. I’m not supposed to know about it, but I do. God knows what he uses it for, but huge sums of money go in and out pretty regularly.” Rachel’s eyes sought hers. “Use your contacts at Treasury to have the funds frozen, maybe you can get them to start an investigation.”
On what grounds? Naomi was about to say, but a warning bell had gone off in the back of her mind. She knew herself well enough to pay attention when that bell rang.
“Nomi, this is life and death. Are you listening to me?”
Life and death, yes. And then it hit her like a thunderbolt.
PAULL BROUGHT his assault rifle to bear on Thate. “You may have had Jack and the girl fooled, but not me. It was obvious you were Xhafa’s man all along.”
“Lower your weapon,” Thate said softly.
Jack noted the change in his demeanor. Out here in the wild he was more confident, if not more aggressive. The kid’s appearance could explain the cease-fire, but something in this encounter didn’t feel right.
“Fuck you, sonny,” Paull said.
Jack put his hand on the barrel of the ArmaLite and pushed it down. “Do as he says, Dennis. Confrontation isn’t going to get us anywhere.”
When Paull had reluctantly lowered his weapon, Thate said, “Follow me.”
His men parted and he took them through the underbrush toward the area where they’d been fired upon en masse. There, they found seven men sprawled on the ground. Some had been shot, others had had their throats slit.
Thate pointed. “Here are Arian Xhafa’s men. The snipers in the trees are also dead.”
Paull gaped. “I don’t believe it.”
“Examine for yourself,” the kid said. “Xhafa’s men are Muslim, my men are Russian.”
Paull put up his weapon and, crouching, went from corpse to corpse. Even he could deduce the truth from the full, curling beards, the fanatics’ eyes.
Thate smiled at her. “Kazanskaya, yes.” He turned to Jack. “This was why I was sent here: To find out who was backing Xhafa with money and arms.”
Jack gave him a hard look. “And did you?”
“I was forced to escape before my assignment was complete.” His grin returned. “But now, thanks to you, I have returned to finish what I started, and to wreak my revenge on Arian Xhafa.”
NINETEEN
“HOW IS she?” McKinsey said when Naomi slid into the passenger’s seat. She was just finishing a call.
Through the windshield, she could see the Mercedes, BMWs, and Porsches, arrayed like trophies on the street. “When you lie down with a scorpion, you’re bound to get stung.”
“She’s your sister. That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”
“Rachel didn’t love Larry or her kids, she loved his money.”
“Yeah, but still. Don’t you want to stay with her?”
“I told her I couldn’t stay.”
McKinsey cleared his throat, then started the car. “I’ll drive you home.”
“We’re going to the main branch of Middle Bay Bancorp on K and Twentieth.”
“It’s almost three,” he observed.
“I called the president of Middle Bay. He’s expecting us.”
McKinsey wrapped his fingers around the wheel, but he didn’t put the car in gear. “My opinion? I think you ought to be with Rachel. She needs you now. I mean, who else does she have?”
“Rachel is more self-sufficient than I am.” Naomi gestured with her chin. “Drive.”
McKinsey sighed, then turned off the engine. “Why the hell are we going to Middle Bay Bancorp?”
“Because that’s where Billy Warren worked.”
“So?”
“He was a loan analyst.”
McKinsey shook his head. “I don’t follow.”
“What if Billy discovered something unusual was going on inside the bank?”
There was a skeptical look on McKinsey’s face. “Like what?”
“Like large sums of money going in and out that weren’t being reported.”
“Naomi, Billy Warren was shtupping Dardan’s main squeeze. This has already been established. He was killed by Dardan’s people.”
“But why was he tortured? The question has been bothering me from the beginning. No, Billy had discovered something someone badly didn’t want uncovered. Now drive.”
“Naomi, this isn’t a good idea.”
She looked at him, finally. “What isn’t?”
“Middle Bay is the wrong direction for this investigation to go in.”
“Is that a warning?”
“I’m just trying to protect you.”
“Pete, I’ve been to Roosevelt Island.”
“Come again?”
“I’ve seen the girl—Arjeta Kraja.”
“Would you please start making sense?”
She had to give him this, there was not a flicker in his eye.
“I followed you yesterday morning. I saw you going out to the island on a motorboat. Who were you with and what were you doing there, Pete?”
“Naomi, trust me, you don’t want to pursue this.”
“No, actually I do.”
He stared out the window; his fingers drummed anxiously on the wheel.
“Pete, either you take me to Middle Bay, or I’ll call a cab.”
“It’s just that…” He turned to her. “Do you remember our first day on the job together? We were sent to pick up the FLOTUS. On the way there, we got sideswiped by a van driven by a drunken driver. Anyway, you were trapped on your side of the car. We couldn’t use the Jaws of Life because you were jammed up against the door. It took me over an hour to get you out.”
“I remember.” Naomi was acutely aware of the wariness in her voice.
“I don’t want to have to do that again, Naomi. Because this time I might fail.”
She gave him a wan smile. “Forget it, Pete, it’s D.C.”
He didn’t laugh.
“Pete, we’re partners; I shouldn’t have to ask this. Do you have my back?”
“Isn’t that what partners are for?”
She nodded. “Now are you going to drive or am I going to leave you here?”
“DENNIS, ARE you okay with this?” Jack asked, as Thate, at the head of his dirty half dozen, led them along the roundabout route he had first suggested, east, then north, then northwest toward Tetovo.
“Do I have a choice?” Paull grumbled. “I fucked up, Jack. I don’t know what got into me. I should’ve listened to your instincts.” He shook his head. “But to be led to Arian Xhafa by this kid.” Paull glared at Thate trekking easily and confidently up ahead. “I mean, this kid should still be sucking up his mother’s milk, for Christ’s sake.”
“He didn’t have a mother,” Alli said.
