“Chao and her security chief were our principal contacts with Triple M,” Jarvis replied.
“But Global had other clients. It could have been one of them. Besides, I had someone investigate Hanna before I married her. There was nothing in her background that was questionable.”
Montgomery took a deep breath, another sip of his water, and cleared his throat.
“Sir, why would anyone other than your ex-wife want your daughter-in-law and Haley dead?” Jarvis asked.
Montgomery sagged in his chair, and made no response for several minutes before asking, “I don’t know.” He looked into space as if trying to come up with a plausible response. After several seconds he said, “So, how are we going to proceed?”
“Before we get to that, may I ask you something?” Hunter asked.
Montgomery nodded.
“How did you become involved with Hanna Chao in the first place?”
The older man turned his eyes away from Hunter and shook his head. “It happened several years after my wife passed away. I was lonely, and this exotic, brilliant, beautiful young woman… She overwhelmed me,” he paused. “I was such a fool.”
“Why did you divorce her, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“After Roger was born, she asked me to tear up our pre-nup. She said it wasn’t fair to our son. I refused. She became more and more insistent. I told her I would always provide for the boy. But that wasn’t enough.
When Roger turned five years old, she became obsessed. She threatened to move away and take him with her. She knew how fond of the boy I had become. She told me she wouldn’t let me see him if I didn’t agree.”
Hunter could sense the man’s emotion, “So why didn’t you agree?”
Montgomery’s face reddened, “Roger’s not my son.”
Hunter gave him a questioning look.
“I had a vasectomy long before I married her.”
“Was she aware of that?”
“No,” he said with a shake of his head.
“So, he’s not your heir?” Hunter asked.
“No. In the divorce settlement I agreed not to make her infidelity public. As far as I’m aware, Roger doesn’t know I’m not his biological father.”
“Then why did you keep Chao in in your company?”
“Like I told you. She’s brilliant. She runs our international operations. Just because I was a foolish old man, I didn’t see why the organization should suffer for my vanity, but this…I can’t believe she would….” He stopped in mid-sentence and tried to calm himself. “Besides, since I told her I knew that Roger wasn’t my son, she had nothing to gain…no reason to … to do this.”
“So much for Occam’s Razor,” Hunter said. “If she’s not behind it, and Pirolli wouldn’t act on his own, who else would profit by murdering your family?” he asked.
After an hour or so they took a break. Hunter stepped out of the conference room to call Lena. He stood looking out the windows in the corridor as he placed the call. In his peripheral vision he noticed a familiar face in the reflection of the glass, Draco, one of Ivan Coslen’s henchmen on Global Security’s staff. Hunter saw the man step back trying to conceal himself while he was talking to Lena.
When Hunter finished the call, he went back to the conference room. “We have company,” he told Montgomery and Jarvis about the sighting.
“Did you see anyone else?” Jarvis asked.
“No, but I’d bet you he brought some thugs along. As I recall, Draco wasn’t the lone wolf type.”
“How did he know we were here?” Montgomery asked.
“Did you notice if anyone followed you?” Jarvis asked him in response.
Montgomery shook his head.
“They must have planted something in your car. I assume they’re tailing you until they figure out what we’re doing, and come up with a way to stop us. I think we need to get you out of here to someplace safe, until we come up with a plan,” Jarvis said.
Hunter nodded, “O.K., I’ll distract Draco while you get Mr. Montgomery to his car. We’ll meet up at our inn. Give me ten minutes,” he said and walked out of the room.
Draco was still manning his post, leaning against the wall about 30 feet from the conference room door, near an intersecting corridor that led to the main lobby. Hunter walked past him without any sign of recognition. There was no one else in either corridor.
Hunter suddenly pivoted, grabbed Draco by the lapels of his jacket, pulled the jacket down around his arms, immobilizing him, and smashed the back of his head against the corner of the wall. Before Draco could react, Hunter turned him around and slammed the front of his face against the wall. He duck-walked the half-conscious man along the corridor into the men’s room ten feet away.
Hunter pushed his captive into one of the stalls, removed his weapon from the shoulder holster, and the earpiece he was wearing out of his ear. Then he pushed the barrel of the automatic weapon he had confiscated hard up against Draco’s temple.
Hunter slapped Draco’s face. “Who else is here?” he hissed.
“No one.”
Hunter pressed the weapon with more force against the man’s head.
“You’re lying,” he said and switched off the safety.
“No, wait! There’s one man in the lobby and another in the car outside the main entrance.”
“Only two? I don’t believe you. You’re not brave enough to only have two!”
Draco’s eyes widened as Hunter pulled the gun from the side of his head and pointed it directly in front of his eyes. “No, I swear!”
Hunter’s eyes bore into Draco’s. He lowered the weapon and held the earpiece up in his left hand, “Tell your guy in the lobby, you have me here, and you need a hand. If you try to warn him,” Hunter returned the weapon to his face.
Draco did as instructed, when he finished, Hunter took the earpiece back and hit him with the gun knocking him unconscious. Five minutes later Draco’s accomplice was lying on the restroom floor next to him.
23
Ten minutes later, Jarvis’ hotel room, Poughkeepsie, New York
Before their meeting with Montgomery that afternoon, Hunter and Jarvis had decided to recommend that Montgomery appoint Jarvis to run Global Security, and terminate Hanna Chao since they could not rule out her possible involvement in the plot to kill Haley. In expectation of Montgomery’s assent, Jarvis had already begun to identify the thugs and murderers Ivan Coslen, who had replaced Pirolli as the head of Global, had hired, and who remaining among the staff he could trust.
After dealing with Draco and his accomplice, Hunter met up with them. Jarvis told him Montgomery had agreed with their plan, and had reached out to corporate counsel to fill him in on the changes he had authorized at Global Security.
“I’ll take Mr. Montgomery to Philly with me. It’s time for him to see his granddaughter,” Hunter shifted his eyes to Montgomery and saw the tears welling up in the older man’s eyes.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Jarvis asked.
“I hired good people to guard Haley and my family. We’ll be fine. After you give us the all clear we’ll come back. When will your people get here?”
Twenty-two hundred hours,” Jarvis replied, reverting to military time. “I’ll give you a sit rep tomorrow.”
Hunter handed him the two Sig Sauer 45s he had confiscated from Draco and the other man. “Make sure no one’s following you,” Jarvis said.
Hunter nodded, “And you watch your six,” Hunter said as Montgomery and he left the room.
* * *
“Did you tell Haley I’m coming?” Montgomery asked when they were getting off the Schuylkill Expressway at the City Avenue exit. They were less than ten minutes from Hunter’s home.
“Lena told her. She’s very excited to see you,” he paused. “Before we left Caracas, I promised her that when it was safe, I would take her to you.”
Montgomery wiped the tears from his face with a handkerchief with his initials embroidered on it. He was
visibly nervous about the impending meeting.
“It’ll be alright,” Hunter said quietly. “I’m sorry we didn’t do this sooner.”
“I understand…” Montgomery suddenly looked stricken.
“What’s wrong?” Hunter asked.
“I don’t have anything to give her. You know a gift…something.”
When Hunter pulled into his driveway the front door opened and Haley ran towards the car. Montgomery quickly got out of the vehicle.
“Grandfather!” Haley said and ran into his arms.
Hunter watched as the two of them embraced. He could see the tears glistening on their faces.
“My God! You’re so grown up!” Montgomery’s voice cracked with emotion. “I missed you so much,” he paused. “I miss your father and your mother. Thank God, you’re ….” He choked back a sob.
Lena stepped outside with the baby in her arms. Hunter walked over to her and she handed their son to him. “Let’s give them some time alone,” she said and they walked into the house.
Later that evening Jarvis called Hunter. “I’ve been in contact with 15 of my former associates at Global. Based on what they told me, I’ve got confirmation of Coslen’s core group. When Draco tells him what happened, he’ll go on high alert.”
“We’ll have to move fast,” Hunter said.
“I’ll have my people ready to detain Coslen. Then we can question him and find out who’s behind this.”
Hunter conveyed the plan to Montgomery. They would have everything in place by Monday morning.
“So, you’ll be leaving tomorrow?” Lena asked Hunter.
He nodded.
“Do you think this Coslen character and his people will put up a fight?”
“Probably. But Jarvis is one tough son of a bitch.”
“Promise me you’ll stay out of whatever happens,” she said.
Hunter smiled, “I promise. My job is to keep Mr. Montgomery safe.”
One of the security guards Hunter had hired knocked on the door jam.
Hunter looked up.
“Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Carson. Detectives Benson and Loman are here. Were you expecting them?”
Hunter’s eyebrows raised. He shifted his eyes to Lena and back to the guard.
“O.K. Take them to the den,” he replied.
Hunter smiled at his friends when he walked in the room. “What’s up guys?” he asked.
“Ophelia told us you were home,” Benson responded.
Hunter gave him a questioning look.
“Andrea told her you were bringing Haley’s grandfather here.”
Hunter nodded. Benson waited a beat and said, “I thought you told me they were estranged.”
Hunter shrugged, “It’s a long story.” This was followed with another moment or two of silence.
“We wanted to give you an update on the investigation,” Jake said. He gave Hunter the dead intruder’s identity. “Do you have any idea why a former enforcer of the Medellin Cartel would break into your house?” he asked.
Hunter shook his head.
Benson stood silent during the exchange. He took a deep breath and exhaled, “When I was a rookie detective like Jake here,” he nodded at Loman, “Arnie Goldstein, my rabbi on the force, who coincidentally happened to be Jewish, took me under his wing. Arnie was a real character. You know he would let me try to figure shit out on my own, and step in at the last minute before I stepped on my dick.”
Both Loman and Hunter listened intently, apparently not knowing exactly where Benson was headed.
“Anyways, whenever we would interview a suspect, he would ask me, ‘Benny, do you think he’s telling us the emess?’ At first, I didn’t know what he was asking me. But I didn’t want him to think I was a complete idiot, so I’d just shake my head. After a few times I finally asked Arnie what ‘emess’ meant. He said, you got such a good head on your shoulders I keep forgetting you’re not a member of the tribe. Emess is a Yiddish word that means the ‘truth,’ but without any bullshit, if you know what I’m sayin.”
Hunter gave him a blank stare and asked, “Don’t you think I told you the truth?”
“Hunter, as Arnie would have said, we’re ‘mishpocheh,’ that means family; we have each other’s back. Capice?” Benson paused and locked eyes with Hunter. “Anyway, we did a background check on you. And guess what? There’s absolutely nothing about Hunter Charles Carson before you moved here. It’s like you just materialized out of thin air. So, if you’re in some kind of trouble, we want to help you and Lena, and Haley and Carlos. So, tell us the emess.”
Hunter felt both touched and embarrassed. He could feel the heat of the blush on his face. “You’re right. I owe both of you a complete explanation,” he took a deep breath, “and Ophelia too…The thing is I need to ask you to give me a few more days.” He could read disappointment on Benson’s face. “Please. I promise you I’ll tell you the whole story. Warts and all.”
Benson shifted his eyes to Loman, “What do you think, partner?”
“I think he’s telling us the emess.”
He turned to Hunter and said, “All right then, but do me a favor.”
“Sure.” Hunter replied.
“Be careful.”
24
Monday morning, June 4,2018, Washington, DC
They had arranged to meet at Triple M’s corporate office on Q Street in Washington D.C. Jarvis and Stephen Farber, the corporation’s General Counsel, were waiting in Montgomery’s conference room. Farber had already been read in on the plan to terminate Chao and Coslen.
“The timing of the terminations has to be precise. We don’t want to tip Coslen off before we make the move,” Jarvis said as he concluded his briefing.
“Who are you going to designate to replace the COO?” Farber asked Montgomery.
“I’m going to temporarily assign someone from my staff. We’ll probably have to let every C level executive in her operation go, to make sure we cut off her access.”
“We’ll have IT sweep all of the systems, change the access codes, check for bots, and do backgrounds on the rest of the personnel,” Jarvis added.
Hunter remained silent as the details of the transition were discussed by Jarvis, Farber and Montgomery. Farber assured Montgomery that the non-competes the executives had signed were fully enforceable and gave him a rundown on all the legalities
Hunter had little interest in the corporation, he was only there to find out who was behind the conspiracy to kill the Montgomery family and to eliminate the threat to Haley. So far, Hanna Chao was still a suspect, but Hunter needed to make absolutely certain before he acted.
“I want to be there when your men take Coslen down,” he said when the final arrangements were agreed upon.
Forty-five minutes later, Hunter was waiting with Jarvis’ assault team outside Global’s office in Louden County, Virginia. At precisely ten hundred hours Jarvis entered the lobby.
“Hi Mr. Jarvis, it’s great to see you again. What brings you back?” Jim Hannigan, the security guard at the front desk, a retired New York police officer who Jarvis had hired when he was number two at Global, greeted him warmly.
When 12-armed men walked in behind Jarvis, Hannigan asked, “What’s going on Mr. Jarvis?”
“Jim, we’ve been sent here by the CEO to take over the operation. Please step away from the consol.”
Hannigan hesitated for a moment, looked over at the armed men, stood up, and stepped out from behind the security desk.
Jarvis nodded, and directed one of his people to take over the consol. “Shut down the elevators and communications systems and change all the access codes,” he directed his man.
“Is Coslen in?” he asked the security guard.
“Yes sir.”
“Who’s with him?”
Hannigan gave him the head count. “Mr. Jarvis, am I fired?”
Jarvis smiled, “No. Just hang tight for now, OK?”
Jarvis nodded at Hunter and the two of them, along with th
ree of the assault team members, got in the elevator. The remaining members of the team moved to their assignments.
When they stepped out of the elevator, the man at the desk outside of Coslen’s office leaped to his feet, reached for his weapon, and shouted, “Who the fuck are you?”
Two of Jarvis’ men subdued the man before he could unholster his weapon.
They quickly moved to the office door, with their weapons drawn. Jarvis nodded gave the silent three count, one of his men pressed the button unlocking the door and they rushed inside.
The back of Coslen’s chair was facing them. “Ivan! Stand up with your hands raised!” Jarvis ordered.
There was no response.
Hunter stepped over to the chair and turned it around. Ivan Coslen was slumped over. His face was frozen in a mask of agony. Dead eyes, stared back at him, there was drool at the corner of Coslen’s mouth. Hunter leaned closer and detected a familiar odor he could not quite place.
“Shit,” Hunter hissed.
Jarvis moved closer to examine the corpse, after a minute or so he said, “He can’t have been dead for more than an hour or two.”
“How do you know that?” Hunter asked.
“The body doesn’t stink yet. See the blotchy skin under the eyes,” he pointed to the bags under Coslen’s eyes, “livor mortis isn’t complete.”
“What’s that smell?”
Jarvis moved his head to within inches from Coslen’s face and sniffed, “Smells like almonds.”
Hunter took another whiff and nodded.
“Could be arsenic or cyanide, probably self-induced.”
Hunter gave Jarvis a questioning look, “And you know that because?”
Jarvis shrugged, “Because there’s no signs of struggle. No bruises, or torn clothing,” he lifted Coslen’s hands, “No skin under his finger-nails.”
Within an hour the entire building was secure. The local authorities had removed Coslen’s body. Jarvis’ people had contacted all remote operations and passed on the new chain of command and reporting protocols.
“I informed Mr. Montgomery about Coslen,” Jarvis told Hunter after the police had completed their interviews.
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