Her Sweet Liberation: Billionaire Secrets - Book Six Read online

  Except that he had planned on shielding Lindsay and Nena from all of that unpleasantness but the woman's damned unpredictability had thrown him yet another curveball.

  The dot on his screen indicated the mobster was on Constitution Avenue, near the Smithsonian Museum. For sure the guy wasn't there to broaden his cultural horizons.

  "Which park are you at?" He asked his operative, but he already knew the answer.

  "Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center Playground."

  "God damn it. Watch out for the following target; male, 6'4", leather jacket, shaved head, Russian. Don’t let him get near Nena or her babysitter."

  "Roger that."

  "I'm on my way."

  ********************

  Dale looked as determined and focused as ever as he sped down Constitution Avenue in his Ferrari F430, but in reality he had never felt so confused. Saving Nena was his top priority, that much was clear, but beyond that he didn’t have a clue. The hour he had just spent with Lindsay had been life changing in ways he could never have imagined. Sex was never something he had been afraid of. Not even after him and Ruben had been scarred together as kids. Or maybe they had both been more affected by the experience than either of them had wanted to admit. The girls had been older than them. It seemed like a kids fantasy come true, being trapped and forced into doing stuff with older 'women', but in reality it had been terrifying and then afterwards there had been the bullying, the threats to tell their parents that the boys had forced themselves on the girls instead of it being the other way around. The girls had even pretended to be pregnant just to mess with the young boys heads. Like typical guys they had tried to laugh it off and then silently agreed to never, ever talk about it again.

  Maybe sex was a little scarier for him than he had allowed himself to admit.

  He knew what the experience had done to him - he had turned into an obsessive sexual machine who couldn't bear to have a woman on top of him. What it had done to Ruben he could only speculate. All he knew was that his close friend had very, very particular tastes in his women and did things to them that seemed to turn them into stalkers overnight, and one night was all he ever wanted with them. That was until he had met that crazy little hottie Suzy of course. Hell, even he had even wanted her for himself at first, but that was only until he had seen Lindsay and everything in his world had been upside down since then.

  He passed the Smithsonian, peering out the window to locate the Park and then glanced at his tracking software. Piotr wasn’t far away, a couple of hundred meters at most.

  He needed a plan.

  Lindsay wasn't answering his calls and he had no idea where she was yet. She had lost her chaperone in one of the stores downtown and was now AWOL.

  "Should have tracked her." He hissed. But that was more Clayton's style. He wanted to trust Lindsay and he wanted her to trust him but unfortunately that idealism had put her and her niece at risk.

  He scanned the street and found what he was looking for. Piotr was in his badly pimped mobster mobile with two other goons. Dale breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn't taken her yet. Nevertheless, with just him and his lone female security detail at the playground, the mobsters outnumbered them.

  There was a cop on the beat not far away.

  Should he wait and see or take action?

  The latter was always his style. This vile scum wanted something from Lindsay and they weren't likely to go away until they had it. On the other hand, once you start giving to people like that it would never stop. Ever since Clay had gotten involved with his own dangerously hot computer geek lady and her mafia connections all of their lives had gone haywire. This mess was bigger than anything they had ever taken on before. They were powerful men, all three of them, with almost limitless resources, but the Russian mob was vast, ruthless and maybe beyond even what they could control with all their wealth and expertise.

  He got out of his car and began walking straight towards Piotr and his men. He stared over at the beat cop as he did so and eventually caught his eye, nodded to him in recognition. The cop watched him but didn’t nod back in return. Sure of the policeman's attention Dale directed his gaze back to the car, willing Piotr to look at him. The mobster turned his head, saw him and the car began to shake visibly as he struggled to get out his weapon. This was one loose end he would happily take care of.

  Dale pointed with his long arm to the street cop and continued to advance. The mobsters followed the line of his finger and the struggled to arm themselves halted. Debt collection from the man they still thought was Marco would have to wait for now.

  Dale reached the car and leaned on the side as the window rolled down.

  "I'll give you whatever you want." He said. "Just leave the girl and her niece alone. For good."

  Piotr glanced at the street cop who was watching them from across the street.

  "Ten thousand dollars. Used notes." Dale nodded. "For me. My friends also need money." The two accomplices laughed. "Ten thousand. Each. Used notes." Dale went to move away but Piotr slammed his hand down onto his fingers. "And for my boss, fifty thousand."

  Dale thought for a moment. He could have that kind of chump change in an hour or less, but he wouldn’t let them know that or the price tag would skyrocket upwards.

  "I can get that kind of money, but it'll take some time."

  "One hour, or we take child." Piotr responded.

  "I can definitely get it, but I need a couple of days--"

  Piotr reached up and went to grab his tie but held back, glancing at the street cop who was talking on his radio. Piotr watched as he put the radio away and started at a run down Constitution Avenue away from them and then disappeared into a side street. Piotr raised pointed his gun upwards from inside the car.

  "Get inside." He growled. "Or we sell little girl to highest bidder in market for white slave."

  Dale looked back at the park and could just make out little Nena on the swings. Was this it? Had he failed her? When it really counted had he made a false move?

  The back door popped open and a burly mobster stepped out. Dale allowed himself to be shoved into the seat with a blow to the back of the head to keep him obedient. It wasn't what he had envisioned as he raced across town to Constitution Avenue, but at least he had bought Lindsay some time, maybe. Maybe she could make break for it and get away with her niece before the mob caught up with her.

  Now he just had the little problem of saving himself.

  ********************

  "Marco, please, you've got to help me. I'm begging you." There had to be something of the old Marco in there, that cool young guy who had wanted to change the world.

  "What has that prick gotten you involved in Lindsay? That family is up to its neck in dirty money and organized crime. I'll make that guy pay if it’s the last thing I do before they take AltNews away from me."

  He held up the locket.

  "You gave me a pretty good smack in the jaw Lindsay, and maybe I deserved it, but you didn't see me get this, did you?"

  "Marco, it won't make any difference, it's just pillow talk."

  "You fucked him."

  "No I didn't. Not that time."

  "Oh well that's just fine then because all the other times you fucked him don't count, right?"

  "Who I fuck or don't fuck is none of your business Marco and that locket is mine."

  "It's a surveillance device paid for by AltNews, so no, it's not yours, it belongs to me and it contains disclosures of public interest. Mikhail Boyevik, an American citizen, was essentially 'disappeared' by your fuckbuddy without trial or due process and you think that's okay? In a democratic society? In the United States of America?"

  "Marco, they have Nena. They want money."

  "No. Fuck no. Don’t say that Lindsay." Blind as he was with jealousy, still he couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to the little girl, or of being in anyway responsible for her danger. "I told you to drop this story."

  Lindsay couldn't raise her ey
es to meet his. It was the worst part of this whole rotten deal.

  "Look at me Lindsay. Is that who I was speaking to just now? The Russian mob?"

  She nodded her head. He would have to know the full truth.

  "And they think you assaulted one of their guys today. They want money from you too, but I swear to you I'll straighten all of this out. Believe me."

  "How the hell did this happen?" Marco was in shock.

  "Dale…he was trying to help me with a debt they claim I have to them. One of his security people overpowered a guy who was with me and then Dale gave him wad of newspaper cuttings instead of cash."

  "That son of a bitch." He held up the locket again. "This stuff may not stick but he'll have a hell of a time explaining it." He began walking away.

  "Where are you going Marco?"

  "I'm getting this story and this audio online right away. It's over for that asshole."

  "Nena is in trouble, I need two thousand dollars and I don’t have it."

  It stopped him in his tracks. Sure he blamed Dale for messing up his life and taking Lindsay away from him, but he wasn't so heartless that he could ignore Nena being in trouble. He would do anything to help her and then he would crucify Dale for having brought even the merest shade of darkness into her world.

  He looked at Lindsay.

  "How much can you raise?" He said.

  "I've got about eight hundred bucks in my account and I have a few things I can pawn. There's my mom's wedding ring, my dad's--"

  "You don’t need to do that."

  His tone had softened, Lindsay watched him in amazement. He was coming through, despite his hurt and despite everything that had happened, some part of the old Marco was still there.

  "Look, I don’t have much either Lindsay, but whatever I have is yours. Wait here, I've got some cash in the house."

  He disappeared to his bedroom and left Lindsay standing in the hall. She had never felt so small, so humbled. How could her life of defiance and fierce independence have come to this? All she had ever wanted to do was tell the truth and make the world a better place.

  When Marco returned he had an envelope. He pushed it into Lindsay's hands.

  "It's nearly three thousand dollars. I wish it was more."

  "Oh my God Marco.…" It was too much. Tears rolled down her pale cheeks.

  "Take it. I'm not broke yet but that's all I have here."

  He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.

  "I'm coming with you." He said, but she pushed him away.

  "No. You can't. They told me to come alone. If they see anything, anyone at all, God, I don’t know what they would do to her."

  Marco nodded and stood back.

  "Stay in contact. Call me as soon as it's done. I'll come get you."

  She threw herself forward and gave him one more hug, fighting to hold back more tears. Marco swallowed hard. If only she could want him the way he wanted her. Why couldn't she see what was standing there right in front of her instead of falling for that cold-hearted billionaire asshole?

  "Go on." He said. "Go get her. Call me as soon as you can."

  She let him go and nodded her head, wiping the last tears away before walking back up the hall. Watching her walk leave was one of the most painful thing Marco had ever done. When the door closed he held up the locket in his right hand.

  "Now for you Hargrave. Let's see you buy your way out of this shit-storm."

  He turned and walked down the hall to his office. Taking Dale Hargrave down was going to be the saddest, emptiest victory of his life.

  ********************

  Clayton Hargrave wasn't in the mood for beating around the bush. Dominic Troy may be his brother's personal Head of Security but that meant nothing if Dale had disappeared on his watch.

  "We need full disclosure Dominic. I understand your loyalty to my brother but Dale's life could be at stake here. Now spill it. No omissions."

  Dominic took a deep breath. He had sworn secrecy to his boss, but on the other hand, Dale had said nothing about disappearing into thin air.

  When Shirley, the security detail assigned to Nena, tried calling her boss and got no reply she took it to be an emergency. He always answered for her and didn't feel like screwing up twice in one day. She had expected him to be there by now so she scanned up and down the street at the same time as she put a call in to Dale's Head of Security to put them on alert. When she saw her boss's car still running at the side of the street with the door open her heart sank. She headed back to the playground and introduced herself to Nena and her babysitter. The young woman was suspicious but she was also aware of the relationship between Dale Hargrave and Lindsay so she didn't freak out.

  The news of Dale's disappearance had rippled quickly through the Hargrave organization and then to Mayweather Services. Within an hour Clayton and Ruben were together in Ruben's place while Nadia and Suzy were on their way back from their interrupted vacation. Dale had been incredibly secretive ever since they had returned from Point Nemo, missing days at work and being defensive about his activities. If it had been anyone else they would have had him shadowed and investigated, but this was Dale and they had decided to trust him.

  Now the details would have to come out.

  "It's a girl." Dominic said at last.

  Clayton and Ruben showed no reaction other than to exchange a glance. Dale Hargrave didn’t lose his head over women, but then again, the same could have been said of either of them until just a few of months ago.

  "Keep going." Ruben said.

  "After Point Nemo he started seeing this woman. She's a reporter."

  "Back up there. A reporter?" Clay was incredulous. "Dale hates the press. What the hell was he doing with a reporter?"

  Dominic shrugged. "Beats me. She's hot though. He's been chasing her and asking us to gather information on her work, her boss, her past, her personal life. You name it, he wants it."

  "Who is she?" Ruben asked.

  "Her name is Lindsay Day. Here's a picture of her." He handed his phone to Ruben. The immaculately turned out billionaire took a quick glance and then curled his sensuous lips in anger. He said nothing but handed the phone on to Clay.

  "Well, she's definitely hot alright." Clay said. "Who does she work for?"

  "A news media startup called AltNews. All online stuff. But it's about to fold. Dale made sure of that."

  "She was at Point Nemo." Ruben said. "She was the first hostage Boyevik leveraged us with."

  Clay looked at the picture again and the recognition dawned.

  "God damn it, you're right." His mind worked fast. "She knows about Boyevik and our little hostage crisis. Of course she's been leading Dale on. The little news-rat wants her story. God damn it, how could Dale be so damn stupid?"

  "With all due respect sir," Dominic interjected, "he was fully aware of her intentions and has containment plans in place. There's never been a hint of the story going to publication despite all the time they've spent together."

  "How much time is that?" Clay asked.

  "Hold it Clay." Ruben interrupted. "We can get to the bottom of their relationship later, what we need now is a clue as to where Dale is. Dominic, what's your take?"

  "Lindsay Day has legal guardianship of her eight year old niece. A little girl by the name of Nena. Dale suspected she was in danger of kidnapping from the Russian Mafia. He was on his way to check on her when he disappeared. We had a run in with the mob earlier in the day."

  "This gets better and better." Ruben smiled. He was worried about his friend but he was also in his element. While most people would pray for an end to a nightmare like this, he was ready to take on the mob for as long as it took and hostage crisis was his thing. He had rescued Clay and now he would pull Dale's ass out of the fire. His two best friends, two of the sharpest men he had ever known, were coming off the rails because of love?

  The world had been turned upside down.

  "Tell us about the 'run in'." He said.
<
br />   "Mr. Hargrave called us out on an emergency. He told me to have a thousand dollars in cash and an envelope full of dollar sized newspaper cuttings to look likethe same amount. We were involved in a small time pay off to the local mob, a character called Vasily Petrov and one of his goons Piotr. It was to take place outside the AltNews offices. We ended up giving Piotr the fake cash as Mr. Hargrave believed giving them the real money would only lead them to ask for more and he wanted this thing ended. We were ready to take them on but things went off the rails when Ms. Day disappeared. She left his home, ostensibly to go shopping, but gave her bodyguard the slip. Mr. Hargrave was understandably furious and that's when he set out to find Nena and her babysitter."

  Clay looked over at Ruben and shook his head.

  "I can't believe this is happening again. What's your take?"

  Ruben opened his laptop and pushed it over to Clay. "Look at this." He said. "This right here."

  "Why this one?" He asked, looking at the blip of the tracking device on screen.

  "It was activated earlier today outside the offices of AltNews. This is Dale thinking ahead. That's Piotr. Find him and we have Dale."

  Clay nodded and got to his feet.

  "Let's get going. Where do you want me and my people?"

  "Sit down Clay." Ruben said. "I've already got operatives closing in on him. You need to stay out of harm's way. I don’t need two Hargraves in the hands of the Russian mob."

  Clay didn’t move.

  "This is my brother we're talking about Ruben. I need to be there."

  "I've got a hunch about something Clay." It was all Ruben needed to say. He was notoriously right in these situations.

  "You better not be going out on a limb on this one Rube." He sat down again. "Now shoot. What's the plan?"

  ********************

  When Lindsay reached the playground there was no sign of Nena, her babysitter or Piotr. She was reluctant to make a call in case Dale was tracking her phone but she had no choice. She had to know that Nena was still okay. She was relieved when Tanya picked up on the first ring.