“Should I go to the funeral?”
“Yes. That would be expected. And Eli needs all the support he can get right now. I’m sure he’d appreciate your help.
“There’s something else you need to know,” Justice went on. “As you’re aware, Irelyn has a source.”
Comprehension came quicker this time. “This is the hit your source told you about,” Kennedy said. “But why couldn’t he tell you it was going to be Jonah?”
“He didn’t know who it was at the time,” Irelyn said. “By the time he learned the name, things were already in motion. I had no chance to talk to him before it was done.”
“So does this source work for the Slaters in some way?”
“Yes and no,” Justice said, then shot a glance at Irelyn.
Nick was surprised at the glimpse of vulnerability in the woman’s eyes. Even though she was as beautiful as a porcelain doll and he’d occasionally seen evidence of a real person beneath her careful façade, he’d sure as hell never thought to see her looking so fragile.
“My source is a contract killer,” Irelyn said.
“A hit man?” Nick asked.
“Yes, he does that, too, but his specialty is orchestrating murders. I knew he was going to set one up for the Slaters, but as I said, he often doesn’t get told the target until the last minute. Since I can’t let on that I’m fishing for information, I have to be as subtle as possible. Jonah’s murder took place before I knew it was going to happen.”
“He’s the one who arranged Thomas’s murder, isn’t he?” Kennedy’s voice, soft and without inflection, brought immediate silence to the room.
“Yes,” Irelyn answered in an equally soft voice.
“Did you know he was going to have him killed?”
“Not until it was too late.”
“How did he set it up to look like a robbery?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes…I think I need to.”
“I don’t know all the details. He learned about the young man’s release from prison.”
“His name was Miguel Ruiz.”
“Very well. He learned about Ruiz and how close he was to his family. He told him to follow your husband. That he would be stopping at a grocery store in the evening. Your husband wasn’t to come out alive. He threatened Ruiz’s family.”
“I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t he go to the police…tell someone?”
“My source…he’s incredibly adept at discovering his mark’s weaknesses and using them to achieve his goals. Perhaps he knew Ruiz didn’t trust the police.” Slender shoulders lifted in a slight shrug. “I don’t know.”
Nick narrowed his eyes on Irelyn. “How the hell would he know Thomas would be going to a grocery store?”
Irelyn shook her head. “Again, I don’t—”
“It’s my fault,” Kennedy said.
“How was it your fault?” Nick asked.
“Almost from the moment I learned I was pregnant, I started having these wild cravings. Thomas stopped by the grocery store almost every night to pick up whatever I was craving that day. It became our little joke.” She swallowed a small sob. “Some joke. It got him killed.”
Before Nick could dispute that, Irelyn beat him to it. “Don’t be ridiculous. If it hadn’t happened in a grocery store, it would have happened somewhere else. Your husband was marked for death the moment he launched his investigation into the Slaters.”
“But how did anyone know about his investigation?” Kennedy asked. “He never even told me or Nick what he was doing.”
“The Slaters have eyes and ears everywhere. If he did research on his computer, made phone calls at the station…” Justice shrugged. “That’s one of the ways they’ve been able to keep their nose clean for so long. They have a lot of people looking out for their interests.”
“And now they’ve gone so far as to kill a family member.” Kennedy shook her head. “Just how screwed up do you have to be to do something like that?” She turned to Irelyn. “This source you have. What good is he if he doesn’t tell you anything in time?”
Justice leaned forward, blocking Irelyn from view as if protecting her. “Irelyn was doing her best to find his target. Even though Mathias is as cold and heartless as death, I don’t think any of us even considered Jonah. The thought of a father arranging his son’s murder…” Justice shook his head as if still trying to wrap his mind around the concept.
“Why now?” Nick asked. “Jonah has been in prison for almost three years. And from what Eli said, neither Mathias nor Adam has visited him in all that time. What did he do to piss them off?”
“I’m responsible for that.”
They all whirled at the sound of Eli’s voice. If a person could remain alive after getting the life knocked out of him, that man was Eli Slater. His face had lost all color, and his eyes were sunk into his head.
“It’s not your fault, Eli,” Justice said. “Jonah was a grown man. He made his own decisions.”
“I should have found another way to tell him about Teri.”
“What happened?” Nick asked.
With zombie-like movements, Eli moved farther into the room. The instant he reached a chair, he dropped into it as if his legs could no longer hold him.
“He insisted on knowing the details of her death. Like any sane man who learned that the woman he loved had been killed and in such a sadistically vile way, he went ballistic. We both knew Mathias had eyes on him at all times. He screamed into the cameras that he was going to kill the old man.”
He shook his head. “The thought even went through my mind that Mathias would do something, but I convinced myself that even my father wouldn’t go so far as to kill his own child. I thought he might have him beaten to teach him a lesson. I forgot who I was dealing with…should have known…should have done something.”
“What could you have done?” Kennedy asked.
“Hell if I know. Found some protection for him. Supplied him with a weapon.” His hand made a weary swipe down his face. “Help him escape. Anything other than just sitting on my ass and letting him get killed.”
The room grew silent again. Kennedy looked around at all the sad, serious faces. This was wrong…so very wrong. How could one man be responsible for so much destruction and get away with it for so long? And not just get away with it, but also thrive. He was evil incarnate and had to be stopped.
A new resolve swept through her. “The only thing to do is continue what we’re doing. Once I start working for Adam…move into his house, have access to his computer, if there’s anything to be found, I’ll find it.”
“And what if you find nothing?” Nick asked.
Though surprised at the vehemence in his voice, she gave him the only answer she could. “Then we’ll have to find another way to get what we need.”
Nick surged to his feet and began pacing. She wasn’t the only one who noticed his odd behavior. Grey was watching him curiously, too.
Finally stopping in front of Kennedy, Nick said softly, “Don’t do this, Kennedy. We’ll find another way. I got a couple of leads from his office we can check out. Let’s work with what we’ve got. I swear to you…on my life, I will not rest until both Mathias and Adam are behind bars. But you working for him… That isn’t the way to get to them.”
“What are you talking about, Gallagher?” Eli asked. “You got a few names from his office…basically you got jack shit. This is the only way. Without Kennedy, we’ve got nothing.”
“I don’t accept that.”
She took Nick’s hand and asked softly, “What is it? Why have you changed your mind?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” His arm swung out in a wild gesture. “Hell, Mathias had his own son killed. Do you know what he would do with you? He wouldn’t give ordering your death any more thought than he would in ordering a takeout meal.”
“Aren’t you the one who didn’t like changing the rules in the middle of the game?” Irelyn asked.
“
Mathias Slater changed the damn rules when he had his son murdered.”
Kennedy dragged her gaze from Nick’s worried face and took in everyone else’s expressions. There was anger and sadness but also determination. They believed this was the best way and that she could do it. She had to believe it, too.
She got to her feet. “Nick and I need to talk. I’ll go into the office as usual tomorrow.” She glanced down at her watch. “Or rather today. Eli, if you need me to do anything—help with the funeral arrangements, make calls, whatever you need–just let me know.”
Taking Nick’s hand once again, she pulled him to the door. They were in the car, headed back to her house, when he let out a long, ragged sigh and said gruffly, “You’re still going to do this, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t lose you, Kennedy. Not again.”
A strong surge of love swept through her. When all of this was over, they would explore their feelings and desire for each other to their hearts’ content, but until then she needed him to understand one thing.
“I don’t want to lose you either.”
His smile was oddly sad. “Then we’re in this together, no matter what.”
“No matter what.”
Chapter Thirty-two
Kennedy typed the last word of the cover letter for the quarterly financial report. Finishing it was the most productive thing she had accomplished in days.
Eli had been absent most of the week. Two days after his brother’s funeral, his daughter Violet had fallen on the playground at school, bumping her head. They’d been in the middle of a meeting when he’d received the phone call. If anyone had ever doubted his love for his children, the stark look of fear on the man’s face would have dispelled even the most cynical.
Violet had been diagnosed with a slight concussion, and Eli had opted to work from home.
The death of Jonah Slater had been a major news story for several days. As expected, Mathias Slater had made the most of the tragedy. He’d held a news conference, and with tears streaming down his face, demanded justice for his son. The irony would have been laughable if it weren’t so incredibly horrific.
Other than her appearance at the funeral, looking like a thin, pale wraith, Eleanor Slater had been strikingly absent from all press coverage. She was reportedly in seclusion, devastated by the loss of her youngest son.
The funeral had been a sad, odd event. With Eli on one side of the room, the rest of the Slater family on the other side, and Jonah Slater’s flower-draped casket in the middle.
Eli had made no concessions. Even the press had mentioned that there seemed to be strife inside the powerful family. Of course, none of the articles said anything negative about the Slaters, even Jonah, who to most of the world was a convicted criminal. Which made Kennedy wonder about the sheer gullibility of the average citizen. The lack of bad press for such a powerful family should have been a clue that someone with too much money and power pulled strings behind the scenes.
She admitted that she had once been a member of the gullible club. Before Thomas’s death, she had never noticed the lack of scandal or negative press on the Slaters. In a world where reporters seemed to claw like voracious buzzards for the most salacious and scandalous information, the lack of negative media coverage was a glaring anomaly.
Her plan to entice Adam had stalled out for the time being. She had seen him at the funeral and caught a glimpse of him at the televised press conference but nowhere else. Attending social gatherings where she could flaunt her relationship with Eli had understandably been put on the back burner. Their plans were in a holding pattern until life could get back to the semi-normal one they had been living.
She and Nick had reached a strangely, easy relationship. There was no mention of the future, their feelings for each other, or those deliciously hot moments up against the wall of her living room. But there was something there—an invisible yet powerful hope. For now, that was enough to sustain her.
“Well hello there.”
She’d been so lost in thought, she’d forgotten where she was. Jerking to attention, she looked up into evil, ugly eyes. Moving her gaze slightly, she noticed something else alarming. Helen, the woman who’d been watching her for days as if she thought she would steal something, had disappeared. And now Kennedy was alone with Adam Slater.
Panic threatened, and Kennedy battled it down with a fierceness that would have done Irelyn proud. How many times had she gone over this scenario with the woman? There was nothing this man could say or do she wasn’t prepared to handle. And she had Nick. He was looking out for her, had his eyes on her at all times. Even now, he was watching and waiting, ready to intervene if necessary.
“Hello,” Kennedy said coolly. “May I help you?”
Again, that disconcerted look came over his face. If she hadn’t despised this man with a deep abiding hatred, she might have enjoyed this little game. Unfortunately, this was deadly serious.
“I…uh.” His eyes darted to the closed door of Eli’s office. “I came to see my brother. Is he in?”
She frowned up at him as if he were an imbecile. “Surely you know about your niece’s accident. Your brother has been with her all week.”
“Oh yes, of course. I just thought he might’ve come in today.”
Dismissing him in silence, she turned her attention back to the paperwork on her desk. She knew he wouldn’t walk away. He had come to see her, of that she had no doubt. Why, was another issue.
“Have lunch with me.”
The words were blurted out with the finesse of an awkward teenager. Raising her head, she gave him another cool smile. “I can’t leave the office unattended.”
“No worries.” He pulled his iPhone from his pocket and pressed a key. “Helen will be back in just a moment.”
So he had been the one to get Helen out of the office. Apparently, she worked for both Adam and Mathias. Good to know.
Since spending more time with him was something she had to do, no matter how distasteful, she said, “All right.”
She withdrew her purse from a drawer and then pulled out her keys to lock her desk. On returning them to her purse, she palmed her cellphone, hit a button on the side and then dropped it into her jacket pocket. Nick might not be able to get to the office in time to follow them, but the microphone she’d enabled would ensure he heard their conversation.
As she passed under the camera, her only link with Nick right now, she looked up and gave him a look that he hopefully interpreted correctly. She was fine. Everything was going as planned—at least from her perspective. Question was: What were Adam Slater’s plans?
Nick weaved in and out of traffic, his focus on Slater’s silver Bentley two car lengths ahead of him. Kennedy had looked confident when she’d walked out of her office, but he knew her better than anyone. The vulnerability had been there, too. She had no experience in handling snakes like Slater. If the bastard put one hand on her, Nick would be there.
When Justice had suggested that Nick play Rachel Walker’s boyfriend, he’d been doubtful. Then when she’d supposedly begun a relationship with Eli, they’d had to cast him in the role of a jealous ex-lover, which he had liked even less. Now he was glad for the role. A jealous ex-boyfriend would work well for this cover, because Adam Slater needed to know of his existence. Even though Nick would have to refrain from beating the crap out of him, getting in his face with some well-chosen threats would be gratifying and useful.
Earbud in place, he listened as Slater strived to be charming to an obviously unimpressed and underwhelmed Rachel.
“I’ve made reservations for us at Mitch’s. You’ve probably never been there, but—”
“Why would you assume I’ve never been there?”
“Have you?”
“No. But your assumption seems odd.”
“Just a turn of phrase. That’s all. So tell me about yourself, Rachel.”
“What is it you want to know?”
“Everything.�
�
“Why?”
“Because you interest me.”
“How so?”
There was a long pause, and Nick could just imagine the discomfiture on Slater’s face. The man finally gave a surprisingly honest answer. “Because you’re not scared of me. Instilling fear in people has its advantages but can grow old and tiresome.”
“People fear you?” She sounded insultingly surprised.
Confident male laughter and then, “The whole world fears the Slaters.”
“I don’t.”
“And that’s why I have to have you.”
“You’re married. Or did that conveniently slip your mind?”
Nick grinned. Kennedy wasn’t allowing him any leeway.
“Yes, I’m married,” Slater said. “Not happily, though.”
“Why don’t you leave her?”
“Unfortunately, there are many reasons to get and stay married. Love is rarely one of them.” A long pause followed, and then Adam said, “Here we are. How about we leave off the discussion of my unhappy marriage and talk of more pleasant things?”
“All right. Perhaps you can start by telling me what you want from me.”
Kennedy held her breath as she waited for Adam’s response. Was she being too bitchy? Since this wasn’t a normal personality trait for her, she worried she was going a bit overboard.
Instead of the disconcerted look he often had with her, he gave her a heat-filled glance. “That, my dear, is exactly what I want us to talk about.”
Even though she wanted him interested in her enough to take the bait, his look sent shivers down her spine. She allowed him to help her out of the car and then fell into step beside him as they headed toward the restaurant. Right before she walked inside, her eyes darted around and found what she was hoping to see. Nick sat on his motorcycle about ten yards back. Though he wore sunglasses, she had no trouble seeing the determined expression on his face. If anything happened, he would be there for her.
With that reassurance, Kennedy entered the elegant restaurant with a renewed confidence. She could do this…she was sure of it.
Nothing To Lose: A Grey Justice Novel Page 26
