“You were distracted,” Vince stated from where he lounged by the bar. “If I was an enemy, you’d be dead.”
He acknowledged the fact. “What is it?”
His cousin seemed to scowl at him before he shrugged and stood. “I found something.” In his hand was a DVD disk inside a clear jacket.
“About the rat?”
Vince nodded once.
“Who is it?”
The hesitation made Ramsey go cold. Vince wouldn’t hesitate unless it was someone close to him. He steeled himself and resigned to it. “Who?”
His cousin moved around Ramsey’s desk, regret so palpable in his features, Ramsey briefly wondered if he should hold off, wait a few minutes, and have a drink first? He couldn’t. Whoever it was had put Jezebel and his child in harm’s way. No matter the relation, he would pay with his life.
“I watched the videos for the past few weeks and found nothing. I even outsourced them to a few of my people, and found nothing. This week, I went further back, months, then years and I discovered something that made me…suspicious.”
“Get to the point, Vince.”
With a nod, Vince moved around him to his desktop. He quickly placed the DVD into its drive, tapped a key on Ramsey’s keyboard, and waited for the monitor to come to life. As it asked for Ramsey’s password, Vince looked to Ramsey, who glared at him, before finally tapping the eight keys to access the computer.
The video file popped up and Vince clicked on it. “This compilation was taken from the last four years.”
Ramsey didn’t know he was holding his breath until his lungs began to burn. He inhaled deep and waited for the video to begin. As soon as it started, his heart stopped.
“Bastian.” His voice didn’t sound like him. It sounded soft, weak.
“I checked it numerous times, Ram. Almost every trip he made to Gwangju in the past four years, he visited the security room.” Vince’s voice was laced with anger.
“What did he do inside?”
“Talked with security,” Vince continued. “I checked to see if there was any one security personnel he always visited but they’re random. It didn’t matter who was in the security room watching the monitors, he still stopped in.”
“Is there another explanation?”
“Another explanation?”
“Was he fucking security guards?” The security force was male, but Ramsey would accept that his brother was gay or bisexual faster than he wanted to accept what he’d need to do if Vince was right.
Vince exhaled and shook his head. “There’s more, Ramsey.”
Ramsey ran a hand over his face. Fucking Bastian. Hannah would be heartbroken. One son was a rat, the other a killer. The thought sent Ramsey back to New York, on that beautiful August day when Austin Leeds ran over his niece…
He was already shaking his head as he asked, “Did he have anything to do with Lily’s murder?”
When Vince didn’t deny it, Ramsey leaned against the table for support and demanded, “Speak!”
“After I watched the tapes, I removed his laptop from his room and hacked it.”
“What did you find?”
“He knows code, Ramsey, well enough to hack a computer or a phone and reroute an IP address. Based on what I discovered, he’s on my level.”
Ramsey was already shaking his head. That wasn’t possible. Vince had been a computer genius from a young age and had gone to MIT to hone his skill. Vince’s level was excellent and exceptional. His brother didn’t know code. He hadn’t gone to school for it and he’d always done average in Computer Science. He wasn’t some sort of numerical genius. Bastian had barely made it out of business school.
“It’s not him.”
“I hacked his email as well,” Vince forged on. “I found three disabled ghost accounts and several contacts, including Thomas Klause.”
Disbelief gave way to anger. Tom Klause was the FBI Assistant Director of the New York Office, and had been on Ramsey’s tail for years. When they’d launched their investigation into him in 2007, Klause had been a field agent with political aspirations, but when the investigation went left, and Ramsey began demanding jobs, Klause had moved up the ranks.
“Was he our mole in New York?” Pat had been in talks with the FBI but it was possible that there were more.
“It’s possible.” Vince shook his head. “I found evidence of contact between them, emails that were wiped from the computer, countless back and forth communications. I’m still working on pulling the emails off of the server. I might have to send the laptop to a friend.”
“Where’s the laptop?”
“Delilah was asking for a laptop. I told Hannah she needed to borrow it for a few days.”
Ramsey nodded. He’d heard enough. “Where is he now?”
“In the gym.”
“Get him here.”
With a nod, Vince headed for the door. Tucking his gun in the back of his pants, Ramsey walked over to the bar. He’d always suspected Bastian, his brother’s jealousy and envy was plain as day, but he’d never expected to be proved right. His own brother. His younger brother. His only sibling.
Pouring a shot of whiskey, he tossed it back and shook his head. He’d spend the rest of his life making it up to his mother, but it had to be done. Bastian betrayed him, betrayed the family. There was only one way to end it.
***
Jezebel surfed the net, checking American news, stock news and finally, just surfing for the hell of it. She found a clothing site she liked and began perusing new suits. Why not? She didn’t have anything to do and once the baby came, she’d have to have some power suits that were a few sizes larger.
She was in the midst of adding to her growing wish list when a light knock sounded at her door.
“Come in.”
Sarah stepped in and closed the door softly behind her. If there was one thing that Jezebel had learned about Sarah Stone in all of their encounters it was that she was incredibly stylish. Her sense of style was conservative, very Jackie Kennedy, but Sarah Stone always looked good. Today, she wore burgundy pants, a pink chiffon blouse, and a burgundy sweater with horizontal black stripes bisecting the middle.
Jezebel closed the laptop, smiled and waited for the other woman to take a seat in the chair beside her bed. She pulled it closer to the bed, much like Delilah did whenever she visited.
“How do you feel, unni?” the petite woman asked with a smile. Jezebel had come to learn a few Korean words in her time here and most had come from Sarah. The term Sarah used was one of respect for a close older female. Considering she wasn’t five years older than the woman, Jezebel had found it odd at first, but she’d come to learn that Sarah was very traditional.
“Much better.
The woman’s face fell. “I should have done more to keep him away from you― ”
“Sarah, you couldn’t know,” Jezebel interrupted. She’d heard the apology numerous times from the timid woman. The intruders had happened upon Sarah’s room first, and had had her lead them to Jezebel and Delilah’s rooms. Thinking they were there to protect them, Sarah had been eager to help.
She sighed. “Thank you…you’re very kind, unni.”
“How are you?” Jezebel wondered, taking in the pale, pinched features and the way Sarah’s eyes darted down as if scared. Sarah had suffered so much. She’d lost her daughter, her home, and her husband just didn’t seem to care about her. From what she’d observed the few times she’d seen them interact, Bastian didn’t care for the marriage and Sarah was stuck.
“Fine. Thank you for asking.”
“Sarah…” If Jezebel had thought she was close-lipped, Sarah Stone proved to her that she wasn’t. “I’m here if you need someone to talk to. I may not have the best advice to give you, but you can always talk to me and rest assured that I won’t tell anyone what you say.”
Dark eyes darted to Jezebel’s and she nodded. A sad little smile touched her lips and a faraway look entered her eyes. “I miss my daughter.
”
“Of course you do.” It had barely been three months. Jezebel couldn’t imagine what Sarah Stone was feeling. “She was a beautiful child, Sarah.”
The other woman nodded quickly. “She was everything to me.”
As sadness swept through her body, Jezebel listened. “When you have a child, it changes you.” Sarah’s eyes grew teary and Jezebel blinked to keep her own tears at bay. She wanted to be strong for the other woman. “You forget everything else, and you just want to be her mother. You want to protect her from everything, keep her safe, happy…alive.” A little whimper escaped the woman’s lips. “I failed as a mother…”
“Sarah―” Jezebel attempted to cut her off but Sarah’s voice only rose.
“…I failed to protect her and now, my Lily is dead.”
“Sarah, it’s not your fault.” Taking the pale, thin hand pressed to the edge of her bed, Jezebel clasped it between her own. “Lily’s death was tragic and horrible and I hope that the persons who had anything to do with it get what’s coming to them, but this wasn’t on you.” She tightened her grip when Sarah seemed ready to interrupt. “You couldn’t have known, Sarah!”
Sarah’s head lowered and through her sniffles, Jezebel knew that she cried.
“I’m so sorry, Sarah.” She stroked the trembling hand. “I’m so sorry that you lost your little girl.”
When Sarah lifted her head, her eyes were red, her face tear stained and shining, her lips trembling. She nodded. “So am I.”
***
“What is this shit, Ramsey?” The words were growled upon Bastian’s not-so-gentle release into Ramsey’s office. The two, stone-faced men holding him stepped back as he stumbled to find his footing. At Vince’s nod, they turned and walked from the room.
Perched at the front of his desk, an empty whiskey glass next to his right hand, Ramsey surveyed his brother. He was dressed for exercise in a loose-fitting, gray T-shirt, black sweats that came to his knees, and dark sneakers. Sweat glistened on his body, likely a result of both his workout in the gym and the struggle he’d put up against the men who dragged him here.
“The day before I buried Lily,” Ramsey began, surprised at the unwavering firmness of his tone. “I pressed a kiss to her cold forehead and swore to her that I wouldn’t rest until I found every person responsible for her death.”
Bastian’s brows lifted in confusion.
“I’ve found many,” he continued. “Men who were plotting and scheming against me; men who murdered an eleven year old girl to teach me a lesson. I found many, and I did to them what they did to my Lily.”
“Good.”
Ramsey ground his teeth together before speaking again. “But one eluded me.”
His brother frowned, hands curling into fists at his side. “Who?”
Ramsey barely resisted the urge to snarl. Instead, he kept his voice cool, calm. Never let them see you lose control. “Why did you kill your daughter, Bastian?”
The shock of being discovered made him still. Bastian’s face drained of all color and he stared at Ramsey without blinking for long minutes. When he finally did blink, it was rapid. Bastian shook his head, slowly at first and then with quick twists. “No, Ramsey.”
“Was it worth it, brother?” He hung onto his control by a thread as images of Lily and Bastian flashed through his mind. When she was younger, barely able to remember it, his brother had shunned her. It wasn’t obvious, but Bastian avoided the child. Ramsey should have known. Lily had been a beautiful child. Huge black eyes had dominated her tiny elf-like face. She was timid, slightly shy with strangers, but once she opened up and smiled… But Bastian had been immune. He’d ignored her. Ramsey hated himself in that moment. If he searched his memory hard enough, he’d find all the clues. He’d failed her, failed Lily worse than he could have ever imagined. “Was being Dragon more important to you than your own daughter?”
“Nothing was more important to me than Lily!” Bastian snarled. “How fucking dare you?”
“Why’d you do it, Bastian?” Ramsey took a step toward his brother. He wasn’t fooled. Bastian’s outrage was an act, much like he’d pretend to mourn, to cry. “Why kill your own child? Why not find another way to get to me? Your own child, your own daughter?”
“I would never harm Lily!” He shook his head. “Whatever information you have is wrong!”
“You’re good at feigning innocence, aren’t you, brother?”Ramsey took another step. “Good at pretending you’re something you’re not?” He closed the distance between them. “Poor, stupid, alcoholic Bastian. How could he possibly be a threat to anyone but himself?” Ramsey circled him slowly. “Poor, stupid, Bastian, who married a girl because he felt like he had to.” When he was standing before his brother again, looking into eyes that were the exact replica of his own, Ramsey snarled, “Poor fucking Bastian, who murders his own child because he wants the power and prestige of a title that isn’t his.”
“Fuck you, Ramsey!” Bastian hissed. His eyes grew red. “I would never, ever, hurt my daughter!” When Ramsey opened his mouth to speak, Bastian growled, “She was mine damn it! The only thing that was really mine! I loved my daughter. I didn’t always show it, but I loved Lily!”
Ramsey stepped away and drew a breath. “You’re going to die today, Bastian.”
His brother paled further and Ramsey was swarmed with memories of Bastian as a baby, as a little boy, as a teenager, hanging onto his older brother’s every word… Once, Bastian had idolized him. Once, they’d been true brothers, bound by blood, loyalty, respect and love. He pushed it away, locked the memories in the steel box he’d examine later.
“Okay.” Bastian drew a few deep breaths and nodded. “Why am I dying today, brother?”
“I could have forgiven you many things Bastian, but I will never forgive you for this.” His brother lifted a brow. “You were involved in a plot to murder your own daughter.” Bastian’s jaw tightened but he waited. “You were involved in the plot to kill Jezebel, cut my child from her belly and videotape it for my viewing pleasure. You were involved in the recent break in, where Jezebel was kidnapped by Chang’s people. And you’ve been in contact with the FBI.” Ramsey felt the weight of those things like a thousand boulders pressing directly on his shoulders.
He’d only had the feeling twice since taking the reins of the Double Dragon. The first had been as he watched Lily code. The second was right now.
Bastian’s lips lifted but it wasn’t a smile. “I wasn’t involved in any of those things.” He shrugged. “But you’re convinced that I was, and that’s all that matters, isn’t it? How will you do it?” He didn’t wait for an answer but turned to face Vince, who’d drawn his weapon at some point and lifted it as Bastian moved. “Or are you not even going to waste your energy on me? Vince, are you going to do it?” He shook his head and faced Ramsey again. “How? Gun? Knife? Are you going to torture me before you kill me, Ramsey?”
“You deserve much worse.”
“I know what I deserve,” Bastian stated in a calm voice. “I know exactly what I deserve but I didn’t do any of the things you just listed. I loved my daughter. I would never harm one hair on her head because she was mine.” His brother’s eyes teared. “She wasn’t yours, but mine, the only thing in my life that was―”
“Of course she was yours!” Ramsey snarled.
“Not of course,” Bastian interrupted with a bitter hiss. His face contorted in pain. “You think I don’t know about you and Sarah?”
“What are you talking about, Bastian?” Everyone knew about he and Sarah, of how close they’d been, how close he’d come to marrying her before he realized that wasn’t what he wanted. At least, not then. He’d been young, just out of university, and he’d wanted more. He’d wanted to see life outside of South Korea, outside of family and traditions…
“Just admit it, Ramsey. You fucked her, ruined her for anyone else, and the old man made me clean up your mess!”
Ramsey drew back. “I never touched Sarah.�
�
Bastian scoffed. “I’m dying today, Ramsey, remember? You don’t have to keep lying. Vince would never think less of you. Not the great Ramsey Stone.” It was said in a mocking tone. “Let’s all tell the truth for once.”
“You can start by admitting to what you did,” Ramsey spat.
“You can start by admitting that you screwed my wife enough that there was a high possibility that Lily was yours!”
He was trying to throw him off. That could be the only explanation for the madness and utter bullshit spewing for Bastian’s lips.
“I never touched Sarah. You know this. I know this. Whatever you’re doing isn’t going to save you.”
“Liar.” Bastian sighed. “Do you know the few times we fucked, she called your name?” At Ramsey’s lifted brows, his brother scoffed. “I cleaned up your mistake and not a month after we married, she was pregnant.”
Ramsey shook his head.
“I thought Lily was yours.” He exhaled roughly. “And I was terrified to test her those first years to see if I was right, so yes, I tried to distance myself. And of course, there you were, willing to father a child I thought was biologically yours.”
A glance to Vince revealed the same confusion that must have been stark in Ramsey’s features.
“I finally tested her when she was four. I was surprised, but I was happy that she was mine, all mine, and not yours!”
“What were you doing in the security rooms?” The question came from Vince.
Bastian turned to him. “What are you talking about?”
“The past four years you’ve been to the security rooms on almost every trip to Gwangju.”
“Is it a crime to check the security systems to make sure it’s up to date?” Bastian snarled. “Does that make me guilty?”
“Yes, it does, particularly when the reason for the security breach was that some disgusting rat with knowledge of this house and its security system overrode the commands Vince coded.”
Bastian turned back to him. “And you think that person is me? That I wrote a code to overturn Vince’s command?”
“You’re good at writing codes, Bastian.” Ramsey smiled coldly. “Don’t seem so shocked.”
The Dragon (G.O.N.Y. - Double Dragon) Page 23
