by Rebecca Deel
“If you are contacted, get in touch with me before you do anything. Scam artists will try milking their marks for all their worth. You might be contacted to ask for more money. Not sure what form that will take or if Christine will be the one to contact you. Whatever you do, don’t send money without telling me.”
“I want her back, Remy. I don’t care what it costs.”
“I understand that. However, if Christine was kidnapped and you are given a ransom demand, it’s essential you don’t give in. If the kidnappers get what they want, they will have no incentive to keep her alive. On the other hand, if a scam artist is asking for more treatment money, you’ll be wasting funds better used with legitimate treatment. You have to trust me, James. We’ll find her and bring her home.”
“I’m counting on you. I don’t want to lose her.”
Next, he placed a call to Brent and put his cell on speaker.
“What do you need, Remy?”
“You’re on speaker with Lily, too.”
“How do you like the Big Easy, sugar?” he asked Lily.
“Hot and sticky with the most amazing food and coffee I’ve ever tasted.”
Brent chuckled. “I hear you. Been down there a time or two myself. What’s happening with the Wilder case?” After receiving a quick summary of their investigation so far, he said, “Huh. The cancer treatment is a surprise twist, Remy. I thought we might be looking at an abused spouse, an affair, or a kidnap for ransom.”
“We haven’t ruled any of those out, though the abused spouse scenario seems very unlikely. On the surface it looks like a treatment scam, but I’m afraid it could turn into a kidnap for ransom. Under normal circumstances, James’ company would be flush with cash.”
“What do you need from me?”
“Keep the plane on standby. We may have to fly out of here at a moment’s notice.”
“Done. Anything else?”
“Watch James’ accounts. I don’t want him making a payment if a ransom demand comes in.”
“Smart precaution. We’ll alert you if there’s any unusual activity. What’s your gut say, Remy?”
“Christine’s money is gone and the doctor will claim to need more money to completely cure her.”
“Agreed. Let’s find Christine and get her out of the doctor’s clutches before that happens. If we’re lucky, our tech geeks can recover her money. As soon as you know where you’re headed next, let me know.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Lily?”
“Sir?”
“Zane told me he did some research for you. Anything I need to know about?”
Lily’s eyes closed a moment. “I don’t know.”
Silence, then, “Tell me anyway.”
Dread filled her gaze. Remy couldn’t stand there and watch without touching her. She needed support and he desperately wanted to be the one she turned to for it. He went to her, wrapped his arms around her.
She buried her face against his shoulder for a few seconds, drew a deep breath and said, “Elaine Higgins contacted me by email, asked to meet me.”
“Who is she?”
“My birth mother.”
“Z ran a background on her?”
“That’s right. She has cancer and wants to meet me before she dies. Zane confirmed her claim and the diagnosis.”
“I’m sorry, sugar. Do you want me to have someone else come in to work with Remy on this case while you go see her?”
Remy was gratified to feel her arms tighten around him a fraction. He dropped a kiss to the top of her head.
“No. I haven’t decided if I want to grant the request. She dropped me off at a firehouse a few days after I was born, Brent. I don’t have any emotional attachment to her. She’s a virtual stranger to me.”
“Don’t wait until it’s too late, Lily. You won’t get a do-over on this one.”
“I know.” She sighed. “If I do decide to go, I’m taking Remy with me. This isn’t something I want to do alone.”
“A wise move. I’ll make sure you both have the time you need. Be careful. She and her family may want more than you can give, emotionally as well as financially.”
“That’s why I will take Remy along if I go. I need somebody thinking with logic and not tangled emotion to watch my back.”
“Where is your mother living?”
“Texas.”
“Keep me posted, sugar. Fortress resources are yours.” He ended the call.
A few seconds later, Zane called back. “Your lady is Trina Roberts. She’s a concierge. Trina makes a decent salary at the Grand, but every once in a while a deposit of $1,000 rolls into her account. The latest deposit was Tuesday of last week.”
“Can you tell where it’s coming from?”
“Shell company. It’ll take me some digging to find out who’s behind the shell. By the way, Trina drives a red sports car. Thought you might like to know.”
Finally, the case was starting to move forward. “Keep looking into the shell company. What you found is enough for us to pressure her to give up the doctor’s name. Thanks, Z.” Remy eased back from Lily, tilted her head up so he could see her beautiful face. “Ready to put the squeeze on Trina?”
Relief filled her expression. “Let’s go.”
Yeah, he figured Lily was ready to tackle something besides family angst right now. They rode the elevator down to the first floor. The concierge desk was across the lobby from the front desk. A dark-haired woman sat behind the desk, phone plastered to her ear as she typed on a computer keyboard. As they drew closer, they heard her making reservations at one of the more exclusive restaurants in the French Quarter for another guest. Once completed, Trina called the guest back to confirm the time.
She turned a bright smile on them when they stopped in front of her desk. “Hello. I’m Trina. How can I help you?”
“We need some information,” Remy said.
“What do you need to know?”
“The name of the doctor you sent Christine Wilder to.”
The smile slid off Trina’s face. “I’m sorry. I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
“Don’t lie to me,” he said, voice soft. “We know you’re getting kickbacks for referring people to this doctor. Christine’s husband hired us to find her. You are going to give me the name, Trina.”
“You’re crazy.” Her voice shook. “I told you I don’t have the information you want.”
Lily leaned close, her voice glacial. “You picked Christine up in Oak Hill last Monday, drove her here, then taxied her around the Quarter to sell her jewelry for treatments with another stop at Wicks for candles. You then dropped her off at the airport to catch a private plane. There are witnesses, Trina. If you don’t cooperate, we’ll be happy to share what we know with the cops. You could get jail time for fraud.”
“I didn’t commit any fraud.” Her dark brown eyes glistened with tears. “I only referred people to the doctor. They made up their own minds whether or not the treatments were for them.”
“The name, Trina. Now.”
“Charles Montgomery.”
Lily smiled. “That wasn’t so hard, was it? If you are a very wise woman, you won’t refer anyone else to this doctor. You’re being watched, sweetheart. We’ll know if you send another patient his way. Where is his office located?”
“Dumaine Street, 321 Dumaine. You can’t tell them I sent you. I don’t want them to know I sent them trouble.”
Remy studied her face and body language. “You’re afraid.”
“You bet I am. He has a couple of bruisers working for him,” she whispered fiercely. “I don’t want them to come after me.”
“If you’re afraid of them, why would you recommend this doctor to friends and hotel guests?”
“It’s good money and I need to pay off my college debt. This was an easy way to do it. It’s not like I make people take the treatments. It’s their choice.”
“Try working a second job,” Lily murmured. “At least you won’t end up in jail.”<
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They walked away from the distraught hotel worker and headed toward Dumaine Street. A last glance at Trina showed her on the phone. A legitimate business call or was she giving a warning to the doctor’s staff? Remy sighed. Only one way to find out.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Charles Montgomery’s office was located halfway down the block on Dumaine. The receptionist glanced up as they entered the office, her gaze cool. Lily figured Trina had called ahead, like Remy suspected. This was not going to be pretty. They couldn’t afford to cause too much trouble. She didn’t want to bail Remy out of jail here any more than she had in Oak Hill.
“Can I help you?” The receptionist didn’t bother to smile.
“We need to see Charles Montgomery,” Remy said, his voice grim.
“I’m sorry, sir. He’s not available. You’ll have to make an appointment and come back later.”
“That is not an option. A woman’s life is at stake.”
“All of our patients are critical. They come here with life threatening diseases. Even if I knew which patient you were talking about, we couldn’t divulge any information to you. We have confidentiality requirements to meet.”
Lily clamped her hand over Remy’s fist. “When is the next available time to see Montgomery?”
The woman relaxed. “Oh, I’m afraid he won’t be available until next week at the earliest. Which day would be convenient for you?”
“Will he be back in town Monday?”
She turned to her keyboard, tapped a few keys, studied the screen. “He should be in the office at ten o’clock that morning. Would you like to make an appointment?”
“We’re not sure what our schedule will be next week. We’ll contact you if we’re in the area.” Lily smiled. “Thanks for your help.”
The receptionist beamed. “You’re welcome.”
Lily turned as if they were leaving, then stopped. “Does the doctor have any information about his treatments I can take with me? My mother has cancer. Unless Dr. Montgomery can help her, I’m going to lose her.” Just saying that made her feel strange, even though her birth mother was deathly ill. At least, Montgomery’s employee could hear the truth in her voice.
Sympathy filled the other woman’s face. “I’m so sorry about your mother.” She yanked open a drawer and pulled out a colorful brochure. “This explains the treatment’s benefits. The cost is dependent on the type of cancer and what stage it’s in. I’m sure Dr. Montgomery can help her, though. His cure rate is very high.”
Oh, yeah, Lily thought. Too high. She glanced at the brochure. No prices listed, not even a minimum fee. Not surprising. “Thank you for the information.” Hand still clamped over Remy’s, she nudged him toward the door. His rock-hard body resisted.
Crap. They didn’t need to raise any more suspicions right now. The doctor’s thugs couldn’t be too far from the office suite. She did not want to tangle with those boys yet. “Come on, baby. We need to find a place where we can stay with my mother while she’s being treated.”
“Oh,” the woman said brightly. “She won’t be treated here. The doctor takes his patients to Mexico. They come back tanned, rested, and rejuvenated.” She sighed. “The difference in them is amazing.”
Satisfaction curled through Lily. A new tidbit of information to feed Zane. “We’ll be back next week. Thanks again.”
This time when she nudged Remy toward the door, he went along with her. Back on the street, she glanced at him. “Looks like Christine may be getting the treatment in Mexico.”
“Good job back there, sweetness.” His cheeks flushed. “I’m glad one of us is thinking with logic.”
She shrugged. “You’ll be the one to do that if I go to Texas. Sometimes we get more information with honey than vinegar. Trina needed the push. Merry Sunshine didn’t. I also preferred not to have to deal with the bruisers Trina mentioned. That would tip off Montgomery for sure. Got a feeling we’ll need every advantage we can get.”
“Brent’s not going to be happy to find out where we’re headed.”
“Why not?”
“Fortress has a contentious history with Mexican officials.”
“Great. Hope he has some teams on standby to haul us out of jail. I don’t want to spend years lost in the Mexican prison system.” The idea of those horrendous conditions made her want to heave. She swallowed hard. If she even made it that far. Human traffickers were everywhere. Fellow operative Jon Smith’s wife, Dana, had firsthand experience with traffickers. Definitely not something Lily wanted to contemplate.
They returned to the hotel before calling Zane. Lily put him on speaker. “Hey, Z, we’ve got a name and general location for you.”
“Shoot.”
“Charles Montgomery. Apparently he has a treatment facility in Mexico. We need you to find it for us.”
A soft whistle. “Maddox won’t want to hear about the Mexican connection.”
“So I understand. Listen, check for a layout of Montgomery’s office building and see if he has a security system in place. If so, find out what kind and who services the system.”
Remy’s head whipped her direction.
“Got it. Anything else?”
She glanced at Remy. He shook his head. “Not right now. Thanks, Zane.”
“You’re going to break into his office,” Remy stated flatly.
“We need more information. The doctor may have something in his files to give us the layout of the Mexican facility. If we’re lucky, he might have his formula detailed somewhere.”
“I’ll do it. I don’t want you anywhere near that place.”
Lily stopped pacing in the middle of the living room. She turned, faced him. “Remy, we’re good partners because we have different strengths and can capitalize on them.” She moved closer still, dropped her voice. “You’re good at logistics and tracking. I rock at this. It’s part of the reason Brent hired me.” That and her skill with weapons. Looking like a sweet, innocent young woman was a side benefit as far as he was concerned. Most people underestimated her.
“I don’t like it.” The muscle in his jaw twitched.
Stomach in knots, her gaze locked on his. “I’m never going to be a sweet housewife who stays at home and raises a brood of kids, Remy. If I ever do have children, I’ll ask to be reassigned to less dangerous missions. But this is who I am. It’s what I’m trained for and what I’m good at. If you can’t accept that, the two of us don’t have a chance together. Do I need to have Brent assign me to another partner?”
His hand cupped around her nape and tugged her up against his hard chest. “No one is watching your back but me, Lily.” Fierce emotion burned in his dark gaze. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t questioning your skills.” He leaned down, his lips brushing hers as he spoke. “I’m going to have Neanderthal moments, honey. It’s a knee-jerk reaction when the woman I’m crazy about is involved in something dangerous.”
Her lips twitched. “Thanks for the warning.” She cupped his cheek with the palm of her hand, reveled in her right to touch him. “I imagine I’m going to have the same problem when its your safety on the line. We’ll protect each other,” she said and pressed her lips to his.
Remy wrapped his arms around her, deepened the kiss for a moment. He drew back, leaned his forehead against hers. “Deal.”
An hour later, Zane sent the schematics for the building and alarm system to their email accounts. Lily studied the alarm. Pretty basic. Unless the good doctor had beefed up security with something not on file, breaking in shouldn’t be too much trouble. She never assumed this type of work was a piece of cake, no matter the appearance. That was the path to true disaster. All she could do was prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and deal with whatever came, just like the Navy SEALs. Fortress operatives were trained to think on their feet and Remy was among the best she’d ever worked with. Between them, they could handle any surprises that might pop up.
“What do you think?” he asked, looking over her shoulder at the schematics for
the alarm system.
“Doable without too much difficulty.” She glanced up at him. “What about breaching the building?”
“Best shot of getting in with minimal chance of discovery is here.” He pointed to the back entrance. It opened onto an alley behind the building. “From there, we can access the stairwell to the second floor.”
“Security cameras?”
“None that Zane could find record of.”
“Doesn’t mean there aren’t any. We’ll have to watch our step. Motion sensors?”
“Doesn’t appear to be any.”
Lily shook her head. “Crap system,” she muttered. “Then again, Montgomery probably doesn’t have much in his office but the tools of his scam. I doubt he has money in the office. Computers can be replaced easily enough. All he has to have is an off-site backup and he’d be up and running within a day or two.”
“You’re sure you want to do this?”
“It’s the only place we’ll get any extra information. Otherwise, we’ll have to go into Mexico blind. I’d rather avoid that scenario if possible.”
He gave a nod. “All right. Let’s plan this op, then. I want you to come out of there without a scratch.”
She leaned up, planted a kiss on his mouth. “Same goes, Remy.”
They waited until full dark to put their plan into motion. Remy and Lily left the hotel with their backpacks and joined the crowds on the streets in the Quarter. Hand-in-hand, they walked to the nearest restaurant and ate another excellent meal. Once the bill was paid, they entered the hallway where the restrooms were located. They continued to the rear exit. After making sure the door wasn’t rigged with an alarm, they slipped out into the darkness of the alley behind the building.
Keeping to the shadows, she and Remy walked the few blocks remaining to the doctor’s building. Circling around to the alley, Remy drew her into a deep shadow near the entrance. He held up his hand to signal her to wait. They remained motionless for long minutes. Finally satisfied they were alone and unobserved, he nodded at Lily.
She pulled out her lock picks and went to work. Within thirty seconds, the door was unlocked. She and Remy slipped inside the building and pressed their backs to the wall. Enough light shown through the windows that they didn’t need their night vision glasses.
