“Can I see it?”
“See what?”
“The ring. I can see the box in your hand.”
Before I could respond, she walked towards me. Locking my arms even tighter, I glared at her.
“I just want to see it. What’s the big deal?”
Frowning, I unfolded my arms and passed the box to her with reluctance and a warning. “Just be careful with it.”
Ainsley took the small box from me and opened it, pulling out the ring.
“It’s pretty,” she began, holding it up in front of her face and turning it in one direction, then another. “It’s a lot sweeter than that flashy one you got. Too bad you didn’t keep that one though. You could’ve sold it when you left Dorian’s and found yourself somewhere better to live than, well, here.”
It took every ounce of strength I had not to cuss her out. Every freaking second I spent with her was like nails on a chalkboard. As usual, Ainsley was completely unaware of my annoyed state of mind with her. She passed the ring back to me, but not without a final insult.
“Oh well, your loss.”
“Shut up.” I snapped, gritting my teeth.
I extended my hand, opening it. Ainsley dropped the ring into my palm.
“Let’s just go.” I grumbled, closing my fingers around it.
Ainsley didn’t say anything, just smiled at me in that snotty way she always did. Turning away from me she started to walk towards the bedroom door, when all of a sudden, I heard one of the security guards yell from the living room.
“No, no!” the voice yelled. It sounded like Robert, the driver.
With my free hand I reached for Ainsley’s upper arm and grabbed her. She froze and looked at me. Just then, the sickening sound of muffled gunfire rattled off the walls, followed by the unmistakable thud of bodies hitting the floor.
The front door to the apartment slammed closed.
“Find them!”
12
Exchange (Dorian)
I’d landed at a small private airstrip just outside of Pocatello.
While I waited for Ronan to arrive, I sat in my plane and finished up some paperwork before my flight attendant, Carly, approached me.
“Excuse me, Mr. Scott.”
I glanced up at her. “Hmm?”
I’ve just received word that Mr. Volk is close by. He should arrive here at the plane in less than a minute.
“All right, thank you Carly.”
With that, I stashed my work materials and picked up the case, placing it on the desk in front of me while I stood and adjusted my suit and tie.
Emerging into the late afternoon sun, I noticed Ronan’s limo pulling up. It was a helluva a lot cooler than Vegas in Idaho and sure as shit, a lot greener. Right about the time I reached the bottom of the stairwell, the vehicle came to a stop and the driver got out.
Nodding at me, he walked to the back of the limo and reached for the handle. “Mr. Scott, sir, good to see you again.”
I nodded at him in return. “Good to see you again, Ed.”
I climbed inside the limo.
“What’s up man?” Ronan exclaimed.
I slid into my seat and before placing the case on the floor, I looked at my good friend. We exchanged a brief handshake before I leaned back.
“Oh, the usual, you know… Espionage, killings, and fighting with Ainsley about all of it.”
Ronan leaned back in his seat and clapped his hands together, laughing. “I figured she’d be pissed.”
While he chuckled, I lifted the case up and dropped it into my lap.
“Hey,” Ronan said, gesturing towards it. “Sorry about having to reschedule on you. Things are tense right now. Can’t take any chances.”
I shook my head. “Not a problem. We’re here now.”
“In all seriousness,” he began, sitting upright. “Is there any possibility you’ve put yourself at risk by getting this for me?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got everything under control, man.”
Ronan nodded at me, changing subjects. “Hey, you know what today is?”
It’s not like I could ever forget. “Of course I do. First day of basic, fifteen years ago…”
Ronan smiled at me. “You ever wish we could have stuck it out and finished SEAL training?”
“Sometimes, yeah. I do. You?”
“Sometimes.”
After a quick shrug, he finished his thought. “It just wasn’t meant to be, you know?”
“Yep.”
Ronan leaned forward in his seat again, this time reaching towards the case and patting the top of it.
“It’s too bad Malcolm didn’t enlist, didn’t come with me. He could have been a totally different person today instead of what he’s turned into.”
I figured it was better to keep my opinions about Malcolm to myself. I didn’t respond, just nodded at him before changing the subject on my own.
“Do you have what I asked for?”
Ronan nodded at me and then reached down into a small compartment running along the door’s interior. He pulled out a large envelope and extended it to me.
“You know,” he began, easing back into his seat again after handing it off. “That information wasn’t easy to come by. What do you have in store for this poor son of a bitch?”
While he talked, I undid the clasp on the envelope. “That’s not really something I’m comfortable sharing with you. In case something goes wrong, you are better off not knowing the details.”
“I understand, man. Anything I can help with? I mean, other than this?”
I looked at him and continued. “No, this is plenty. I’ll just say I made a promise to someone, and it’s one I intend to keep. The information in this envelope will ensure that I can make good on it.”
“Well, I’ll tell you… Getting anything on this guy was not easy. This must be one hell of a favor, if you plan on going after someone like this.”
Now that I had the envelope open, I reached down inside of it, pulling the contents out about half way before sliding them down inside again.
“Like I said, the less you know the better. If you don’t mind, I want to just leave it at that.”
Ronan nodded his head with one quick snap. “You got it.”
Closing the envelope, I placed it on the seat next to me before resting my hand on top of the case and patting it a couple of times.
“Malcolm is slipping,” I said, locking eyes with Ronan. “He’s getting sloppy and careless. What the hell was he thinking, getting involved with a fucking loser like Todd?”
Ronan let out a long exhale. “We all know the same people – you, me, Malcolm. He had no choice but to go outside of the usual channels. The problem is that when you do that, you risk dealing with forces you can’t predict. The only thing he didn’t count on was the greed of his middleman. If Todd had been a good little soldier, I don’t think we’d be having this conversation right now. And me? Well, I would be royally fucked.”
I had to admit, what he said made a lot of sense even though I had no idea about the case’s contents. For much the same reason I didn’t want him knowing about the envelope’s purpose, he’d kept the details to himself about the case. That was fine with me.