“Orlando and six of his buddies didn’t survive the attack,” Shadow informed Jake. “The police are already in your place trying to figure out what happened.”
“Any idea who might have tried to wipe out my family?”
“No. I’ve sent word to Emilio in Sicily to see if he can find out who’s behind it.”
“Thanks. I’ll get in touch with my other contacts too.”
“Sorry about Orlando.”
“Yeah… thanks. He died protecting me. I’ll reach out to his family personally to let them know.”
“Cool. I’m out,” said Shadow and he left the penthouse suite.
“Did you find out anything meaningful?” Meg asked him after Shadow left.
“No. Only got some bad news. Orlando and half a dozen security men died at the villa. We still don’t know who ordered the hit on us.”
“Oh, that’s
“We’ll keep him in our custody until he talks,” said Detective Fred. “and even if he doesn’t, he’ll still be charged with attempted murder.” “Sounds like music to my ears,” Jake drawled. “How did you manage to subdue him?” “I didn’t, my wife did.” “Wh-what?” “I was just as speechless when I saw her in action. Imagine my awe when I discovered that I’ve been married to a grandmaster of martial arts all this time.” “Wow…” Detective Fred was impressed. “Don’t make it sound like a big secret,” Meg laughed. “You never asked me if I knew martial arts and I never spoke of it because it wasn’t a big deal.” “What level are you, ma’am?” Detective Fred asked her. “9th Dan Black Belt,” she replied smoothly. “Holy cow,” the detective breathed and Jake whistled. “You won the jackpot, Turner.” “Thanks, Fred,” Jake chuckled. “I think at this point, we need to arrange for more secur
The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever and Jake began to wonder if they’d been buried alive by his Serbian pals. He was struggling under Victoria’s weight and exhaustion was slowing him down.“Let me hold the lantern,” Megumi offered. ‘you’re carrying too many things already.”He passed the lantern to her without arguing. He was too tired to even talk.“We forgot to ask them how long this tunnel trip would take,” Meg said as she led the way with the lantern held in front of her.At some point in the journey, she’d taken one of her dresses from the carryon bag to make a sling which she tied around her shoulder and put James in it.“Imagine if there’s no end to this tunnel,” Jake rasped.“Please, don’t imagine such. There has to be an end to this nightmare,” Meg snapped.Jake chuckled and licked the sweat from his upper lip. He was so thirst
“Now, that Orlando is gone, you’re in charge,” said Jake.“Copy that, boss,” Darius replied promptly.“I need you to oversee the funerals of everyone we lost in that massacre. I will get in touch with my CFO to liaise with you on finances and settlement for their families.”“Noted.”“The survivors will also be compensated and relieved of their duties for the time being until the police conclude their investigations.”“They’ve been looking for you, boss. They said you were abducted from the hotel.”“I wasn’t abducted, I left with my family. The police led an assassin to us, probably unintentionally. We weren’t safe there anymore.”“I understand.”“I hope you also understand that I can’t give you my location for now. It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just a safety precaution, es
“Thank you, Pierce. Let me know once you’ve set up the ZipCom board meeting. Every other meeting should remain on hold until our IPO is cleared for take-off.”“Of course. Meanwhile, the police have concluded their investigation in Nebraska.”“What’s their verdict?”“They ruled it as a freak accident. Records show that the plant supervisor did carry out the necessary maintenance checks before work resumed that fateful morning. It wasn’t a case of negligence.”“Halleluyah,” Jake sighed.“FYI, Detective Fred has been searching high and low for you. He’s been here twice and I have assured him that I have no idea of your bearing since the incident at your home.”“I’ll call him when I have the chance. Does he have any information about the shooting?”“He wouldn’t say. He’s more concerned about finding you and y
In that split second, Jake practically saw his life flash before his eyes and how history was about to repeat itself. Without thinking, he lunged at Athena the Mamba, just as she squeezed the trigger.Jake felt the heat of the bullet whizzing past his shoulder and he heard Meg screaming behind him. He didn’t turn back to check if his wife was ok or not, because the next few seconds were crucial to his survival.“You motherfucker!” Athena cursed and kicked him in the groin.Jake doubled over but refused to let the pain stop him from fighting for his life. He rammed his shoulder into Athena’s midriff, knocking her to the ground.She’d lost hold of her gun during the fall and she scrambled to get it back. Unfortunately for her, Meg got to the gun before her.“Stand down, bitch,” Meg snarled, pointing the gun at Athena.“Be careful, babe,” Jake told her. He wasn’t sure if Meg knew how t
“What are you doing in Puerto Rico?” Dono asked in surprise.“Athena and her gang showed up with guns blazing,” Jake replied.“How did she find you?”“My wife made a phone call from her mobile phone. One hour later, our maisonette was ripped apart like a pinata. We narrowly escaped alive.”“Didn’t you tell her not to use her phone?”“Well, that won’t happen again because we left our phones behind in the Bahamas. We’re all stuck with this VPN-enabled phone now.”“Good. And Mamba?”“She’s dead.”“Are sure?”“Yes. I put a bullet in her head after my wife kicked her around. If she survives that, then it means she’s immortal and I strongly doubt that.”“Don’t worry, I’ll get a confirmation of that from Peggy and Brutus. They’ll clean up the place t
“I am sorry to inform you that we’ve reached yet another dead end in the investigation,” Detective Fred informed Jake. “We still can’t figure out who blew up your villa like that.”“Hasn’t anyone identified the attackers?”“No. The bodies found at the scene did not match anyone in our database of criminals. We did find some Russian-made weapons at the scene but we couldn’t trace them to any group or persons specifically.”“That’s disappointing.”“I understand but don’t lose hope. We’re still hoping for leads from various sources but for now, we’re closing the case.”“Already? It’s only been three months.”“Trust me, Jake. The state isn’t ready to invest any more resources into this. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open but that’s how far we can go for now.”“I see. T
“I’m glad you agreed to meet me in public,” said Jake, making himself comfortable on the cane chair.He was sitting across from the Russian guy who had demanded to meet with him 48 hours ago. Jake had chosen the patio of a classy restaurant as their meeting point.It was a pleasantly sunny afternoon and people were going about their business as usual, oblivious to the presence of armed security men in the area disguised as tourists.Ivan shrugged indifferently. “I could still kill you here if I want. Makes no difference to me.”“So, it doesn’t matter to you that you’ll be killed too?”“Unlike you, I do not fear death. As long as I succeed in my mission, nothing else matters.”“I see… what is it you wanted to discuss with me?” Jake asked, changing the topic which was now making him uneasy. “What do you want from me?”“That is a two hu