Secrets of the Dead

by Kylie Brant

  Unless, she thought, wincing as she scraped the back of her hand on the edge drawing it out from beneath the desk, it happened to loosen and fall to the floor. Because it was useless to worry about what-ifs, she heaved herself to her feet and strode quickly toward the door. Stopped for a moment before retracing her steps. The desktop was tidy, with a laptop computer, its lid closed, a pen and a box of Kleenex. Eve tried each of the drawers and found them locked. Snatching a tissue, she wrapped it around the pen and tucked it into a pocket in her purse before heading toward the door. She would have been in the room for under five minutes. Mentally congratulating herself, she reached for the knob just as a loud knock sounded on the other side of it.

  Her hand froze in mid-air. She risked a glance at the peephole and a jagged blade of fear pierced her. Malsovic.

  Whirling, her gaze skated around the area, looking for a hiding place in case she needed it. Surely he wouldn’t come in. The knock sounded again, louder, and Eve wasted no more time. She chose the closet, feeling slightly foolish as she slid the door back as quietly as she could to step inside and close it again. He would likely go away once it became apparent Shuang wasn’t here, but his presence was slowing her escape. Eve couldn’t be sure how long she had before the woman returned.

  Under no circumstances did she want to be here when she came back.

  The thought froze in her mind as a knock sounded a third time, followed by the sound of a lock releasing. Eve shrank back in the corner of the closet, her purse clutched to her chest, wishing frantically for her weapon. But since she’d given up the knife she had nothing more lethal than the pen she’d just stolen off Shuang’s desktop.

  Barely daring to breathe, she strained to hear the small sounds that would give away the man’s purpose here. If he meant to wait for his boss, Eve was screwed. The knowledge stabbed at her like sharp little daggers. She couldn’t hope to evade both of them.

  Minutes ticked by. She heard fingers tapping on a keyboard. Then a vicious curse in Serbian. More tapping. He was trying to get into the woman’s computer, Eve realized. Unsuccessfully.

  Despite the danger, she found herself intrigued. So there was no honor among scumbags. No surprise there. But she couldn’t help wondering what the man was looking for. Surely Shuang would demand a full accounting of the day’s events from her employees holed up for the day with Declan and Malsovic would be included in that briefing, wouldn’t he? He’d been a part of the first attempt to abduct Royce. It made sense he’d figure into the next plan, as well.

  There was a small sound. Then footsteps scuffed on the carpet. Eve pressed herself back against the wall of the closet, scarcely daring to breathe. Surely it was her imagination that the man hesitated at the door for a long moment. Then there was the slight sound of the knob turning. Of the door closing.

  Her breath rushed out of her, a silent stream. Still it took another few moments ticking by before she could bring herself to slide the door back. Eve looked out the peephole. No one was in sight but the view was limited to almost directly in front of the door. Urgency rapping at the base of her skull, she gave it another thirty seconds before she eased the door open a bit, glanced out and stepped into the hallway.

  Her heart thundering in her ears, she strode to the stairway exit and pulled open the door, racing down the stairs as though a monster were chasing her. Malsovic was all of that. And Eve had come much too close to being discovered by him.

  She descended to the sixth floor and then the fifth. She heard someone in the stairwell before coming face to face with the other person.

  Xie Shuang.

  “Mrs. Gallagher.” The woman’s face was impassive. Eve knew she didn’t imagine the sudden flare of suspicion in her eyes. “You are a long way from the third floor.”

  “Am I?” Eve twisted around, as if trying to get a look at the sign on the landing above the woman. “It’s so easy to lose my bearings when I take the stairs.” She blinked and tried for a guileless expression. “Actually, I just came from trying to find you on the seventh floor.”

  “Come.” The word was more demand than request as the woman took her by the arm and turned her around to make the ascent again. “Walk with me and you can tell me what is so important that you felt you must see me.”

  “Well, because you told us to, of course.” Every muscle in her body tensed as she fell into step beside the woman. “You said to come up at the end of the day and collect our weapons. Our apartment isn’t the greatest these days. Or our neighborhood, for that matter. It’s just temporary I know, but I wouldn’t feel safe if we weren’t armed before we left the hotel.”

  “I didn’t realize the men were finished for the day.” Their steps echoed hollowly in the area as they climbed.

  “Well, I think they’re close. Declan and I have an appointment at the bank before closing time, and it’s imperative that we aren’t late. They really aren’t very understanding about things like that. It’s about our house, you see, and it’s just been unpleasantness all around ever since we put it up for sale.” She launched into a monologue about shifty buyers and unreasonable Realtors that had the other woman’s gaze going glassy.

  “Here we are.” There might have been a tinge of relief in Shuang’s voice when she reached for the door that would lead them out to the seventh floor. Eve had to lengthen her stride to keep up with the other woman, as they approached the room she had just left. “If you will wait for a moment.” Shuang didn’t even attempt to make the statement seem like a suggestion. “I will collect the weapons and walk downstairs with you. I would like to speak to your husband before the two of you leave for the day.”

  “Of course.” Eve was all too happy to be left in the hallway as the other woman slipped into her room. There had been a small safe in the closet Eve had hidden in earlier. She wondered if that was where the weapons had been hidden. And in the next instant she wondered if she’d left behind any trace that she’d been standing in the small space next to it.

  She beat back the waves of paranoia that fluttered inside her for the time it took the woman to rejoin her in the hall. Although Shuang had carried the weapons away from the third floor room in a pile, this time she had a bag over her arm that Eve didn’t remember seeing when she’d been inside the office earlier.

  Anxious to get away Eve turned toward the elevator, unable to face a long walk down the stairway with the woman. Shuang looked at her oddly. “It seems you have lost more than the house you told me about earlier.”

  Her smile brittle, Eve said, “Pardon me?”

  “Your earring.” The woman tapped Eve’s left lobe as she moved past her. “You have lost it since I saw you this morning.”

  Chapter 7

  It was only day one, but Malsovic could already see what Shuang apparently did not. This newest plan of hers to snatch the boy was going to get them all killed. Well, not her, of course. Somehow she was never the one in danger.

  He stood impassively; his arms folded across his chest as he listened to Harris explain the details Gallagher had revealed that day. The beauty of the plan, according to the ex-agent was that they wouldn’t be mounting an assault on Raiker’s heavily secured facility. Their entry would rely on deception; a vendor making an expected delivery. And once inside, armed with false IDs and the necessary codes at every juncture their access would be unlimited. Their prints and iris scans would be added to the computer on site by an ex-colleague still in Raiker’s employ. The blueprints were detailed enough to show every nook and cranny of the property. Most importantly, they revealed the tunnels and spaces below ground where Raiker’s family was reportedly staying.

  Harris, Taufik and Amin took turns explaining what Gallagher had revealed that day. Malsovic said little. By the time he’d been forced to share his research with Shuang, the outline of the first kidnap attempt had been in place, if not the specifics. It should have worked. Logistically it had been m
uch more precise that her latest idea. And decidedly less risky.

  The woman was looking at him. Belatedly he realized he’d missed her question the first time she asked it. She repeated it now, her dark eyes snapping with temper. “Well? What are your thoughts so far, Lafka?”

  It wouldn’t do to tell her what he really was thinking. That this latest plan of hers would likely not lead them to the boy at all, but to individual body bags. He chose his words carefully. “We need positive evidence that the boy is there, on the property, in the underground shelter. Photo evidence.”

  “Of course.” She sounded annoyed. “Were you not listening? Gallagher agreed to supply such proof. What other reservations do you have?”

  “We would need to do a trial run prior to the actual attempt.” He studied the long mural like paper that had been tacked against the wall with notes and drawings of the details of the inner compound. “To test the accuracy of the information Gallagher gives us.”

  Shuang frowned. “That is more expense and risks tipping off Raiker to what is coming. Why would we give him a forewarning? The element of surprise is always best.”

  “But according to Gallagher, no one would realize there had been a breach if all works as it should,” he countered. He had a bad feeling about this idea of hers. Very bad. He did not trust the man Shuang had hired. But although he had continued his own research and pursued other leads in the months since they’d failed to abduct the boy, Malsovic currently had nothing better to suggest as an alternative.

  And if he did happen upon a substitute plan, he wouldn’t share it with Shuang.

  “We will see.” The words were dismissive, and stoked the resentment inside him that he normally took pains to hide. She turned back toward the other men. “I told Gallagher to bring proof tomorrow that the family is on site. You will continue with specifics on getting through every security level you will encounter on the property and begin to construct a list for what will be needed for your entry ruse. Malsovic will begin working on duplicating the necessary IDs from the one Gallagher left with you.”

  The other men nodded as if that was to be expected. Malsovic was a skilled forger. He had the necessary printing and digital equipment in his room. It was how he falsified the passports necessary to move the women out of their countries and into the United States. A man of his talents should be reaping far greater financial rewards than he was. The burn of that injustice was with him always.

  His cell vibrated in his pocket, but he knew better than to check it here. Whoever was contacting him would be someone whom he still kept on the payroll in hopes that his other leads would bear fruit. A feeling of urgency seized him even as he listened carefully to the rest of the men’s report. Time was running out. If he did not come up with another idea very soon, he would be front and center in Shuang’s next abduction attempt. Even if they were successful he didn’t trust her not to put a bullet in his brain the moment she no longer needed him.

  Èmó. The nickname was suitable. The woman truly was a demon.

  _______

  “It’s not just forced servitude.” Eve’s voice was adamant. “These women are sexual slaves. They aren’t free to leave. I sent you the pictures I took of the bars on their bedroom windows. We have to arrange their rescue.”

  Declan had listened to part of her story on the way over to the bank. Hearing it a second time didn’t lessen its impact. “Didn’t you say that the hotel had a history of that sort of thing up to seven years ago? Seems a bit coincidental that it’s back in the same business, even under different ownership.”

  Raiker’s expression was fierce. “Perhaps it isn’t the ownership that is the issue, but the players involved. How many women do you estimate are being held there in the hotel?”

  “Around thirty, Brina said.” There was a slight tremble to Eve’s voice, barely perceptible. “I should have taken a picture of the monitoring bracelet she wore on her ankle. It’s more evidence. I could get it tomorrow.”

  “Hold off on that.” Adam was silent for a moment. Declan could almost see the wheels turning. “I don’t want to put you or the girl in any more danger. Since your undercover assignment at the hotel is being conducted in conjunction with an FBI investigation into Royce’s kidnapping, protocol says I notify them first. They’ll bring in other agencies as they see fit.”

  “How soon?” she demanded. Declan slanted her a glance. She was visibly shaken. Of course neither of them had expected that their undercover mission would lead to discovering a human trafficking ring. “Every night that goes by these women are being sexually abused. And Brina seemed insistent that last night one of them was murdered.”

  The news was another shocker. “You were busy today,” he muttered. And her time spent out of the room had been nerve wracking for both of them. Switching the camera angles for the floors in question hadn’t been a problem. Finding reasons to get to his computer in a timely manner with the three men in the room had proven more problematic. Once Harris had followed him to the laptop and Declan had spent a couple minutes showing them the shot he had over the camera page depicting Raiker’s compound. He hadn’t been sure he’d get the cameras altered before Eve reached her destination, and the urgency he’d felt had been difficult to hide.

  “But she doesn’t have direct knowledge of the death.” Eve’s expression went mutinous at Raiker’s remark. He didn’t appear to notice. “It’s a tragedy, but the circumstances surrounding it will be investigated just as the women’s plights will be. I can’t tell you more than that until I’ve spoken to one of the feds.”

  “I want Brina offered a T Visa. She meets elements in all three categories; Process, Ways and Means, and Goal. She’ll cooperate with the investigation. Maybe some of the others will, too, but she has nothing to return to in her home country.” Declan narrowed his gaze at her. It was almost as if another woman were sitting beside him. One he hadn’t known for a handful of days. Hadn’t lived with as long. He’d already suspected there was more to her than she let on. Now he was sure of it. “She’s smart and not afraid to speak up, despite the risks. And she wants justice for her friend. She’ll make a strong witness. The T Visa will give her an option to change her status in the country from temporary to permanent if she wants it. She deserves that much.”

  “And you’ll make a strong advocate on her behalf. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. I’ll let you know when there’s a plan in place.”

  Eve looked as though she wanted to say more. But after a moment she took a deep breath and nodded. Digging into her purse she brought out something wrapped in a white tissue. “This pen was on Shuang’s desk. Maybe you’ll be able to get prints from it.”

  Everything inside him stilled. “You were in Shuang’s room?” Fear stabbed through him, cold and deadly as a blade. “You neglected to mention it.” And that, he thought savagely was likely not by chance. He should have guessed. The earphones Raiker had left for them were around her neck and the MP3 player clipped to the collar of her coat, rather than carrying both in her purse as she had this morning. He reached in his pocket, fingered the silver stud earring he’d found by his chair after she’d left the room for snacks. She could have lost it anywhere in her trips out of the room that day.

  She could have lost it in Shuang’s office. The knowledge had his gut twisting.

  “I didn’t have time to tell you everything on the way over.” Her gaze didn’t quite meet his. “I used a master key Brina gave me. I was inside long enough to plant the listening device.” Deliberately she fixed her eyes on the computer screen where Raiker was listening silently. “I haven’t heard anything of interest so far.”

  “Excellent.” Satisfaction laced the other man’s voice, an emotion that Declan found difficult to duplicate. “The device is powerful enough to pick up even a whisper in a space much bigger than that area. All in all the two of you accomplished quite a lot today. It gets ri
skier tomorrow. The closer you are to supplying them with all the information they need, the more danger you’re in. Shuang doesn’t strike me as one to leave loose ends.” He stopped. Seemed to consider for a moment. “What room were you working in today?”

  “Three eleven,” Eve and Declan said in unison.

  He nodded decisively. “I’ll get a few more people in a room as close by as I can manage. They’ll be armed and near enough to provide backup if necessary. I sent along a couple of location devices for the two of you to wear at all times. We’ll be monitoring your whereabouts constantly. Make sure you’re armed. And Eve?” When he was certain he had her attention he continued, “You did well today. But I want you to stick close to Declan tomorrow. Monitor the receiver on the bug. You’ll raise too much suspicion if you’re constantly roaming the hotel.”

  “She might raise suspicion if she doesn’t at least occasionally go on a food run.” Declan’s tone was wry. “Her appetite today didn’t go unnoticed.”

  “Just be careful. We already likely have the key players behind the abduction.”

  “But we’re no closer to answers about the mystery of Royce’s parentage,” Declan reminded the man. The assignment didn’t feel done to him. Not by a long shot. “Even if you raid the place and pick everyone up, there’s no guarantee you could get Shuang or Malsovic to talk. Just look at the two cop killers downtown. They haven’t said a word yet, have they?”

  “No.” After a pause Raiker continued, “And I’m not closing you down. Just reminding you of the threat level. It should be safe enough with the extra precautions we’ll have in place for tomorrow. Oh, and I meant to tell you, there was no luck with prints off the gun. There were plenty, but none popped in the databases that would give us an identity.”