Page 67 of Silent Menace
She swallowed hard. “I’ll do it.”
A triumphant smile lit his face. “Good! I could tell from the first moment we met that you were an intelligent woman. As long as you do as you are told, you won’t regret your decision. I take care of my own.”
She suppressed a new wave of revulsion. She did not belong to him in any way, shape, or form.
Either she managed to hide her reaction, or he chose to ignore it. Instead, he tapped his index finger on the table. “In fact, I’ve already taken care of the person responsible for your injuries. She won’t cause problems for either of us again.”
She?Hailey’s mouth went dry. He was talking about Stefania. Though Agent Sanchez had told them Mr. Luque was probably responsible, hearing him so casually take credit for her murder was revolting. Had she been executed because she’d gone after Hailey? Did he really take it so personally when one of “his” people was targeted?
But he’d said Stefania wouldn’t cause any more problems for either of them. Could he be referring to the hacking of Hailey’s computer? Eukaria’s accounts had been among the files affected. But she doubted it. The FBI had indicated Mr. Luque had another connection to her former coworker besides through Pendleton Accounting. Could she have offended him in some other way?
That would be a matter for the FBI to figure out. The more immediate implication of his words was a horrifying reminder of the danger she was in. If he’d killed both Peter’s client and Stefania in such a horrific way, he might use the same method on Hailey if he realized she was double-crossing him. Terror rippled up her spine. She couldn’t let that happen.
Mr. Luque watched, a smirk forming as the dots connected in her brain. He seemed to be taking pleasure in her reaction, her fear. She lowered her eyes, not wanting him to also see her utter contempt for him. This man was evil.
And she needed to keep things moving. This would be the hard part. “Can—” She paused, not having to fake her hesitancy. If she sounded too nosy or too confident, she’d tip him off for sure. He waited, studying her with a far-too-perceptive gaze. She forced herself to say the words. “Can you go over a few things with me?”
“Why?” He eyed her with suspicion, all hint of a smile gone.
“I need to know exactly what you expect of me. I don’t want to make any stupid mistakes like Frank did.” Sweat trickled down her back as he continued to study her. Would he buy her explanation?
“Why would you be concerned with anything more than the minimum asked of you?” He sat back and crossed one leg overhis opposite knee. But there was nothing casual about his stare. “Don’t misunderstand me, I appreciate and reward loyalty. But your change of heart from all out to all in is baffling.”
She took a deep breath. This was where she had to really sell it. If she didn’t, this was the end. “I’ll be honest, I’m not really okay with any of this. But you know that already.” She paused for effect. “But my daughter is the most important thing in my world.” She let her voice break on the last word. It wasn’t hard. “I’d do anything for her.”
“Admirable. But that doesn’t answer my question.”
She drew in another deep breath, this one shaky. “I’m not so sure Frank would have survived long enough to have his heart attack if you’d discovered he failed to report the embezzlement going on.” Mr. Luque didn’t refute her words, so she continued. “I also know that if I do something wrong and an audit is triggered, I’ll go to prison on money laundering charges just as quickly as anyone else—again, if you don’t have me killed first. Either scenario would take me away from my daughter. If I’m going to do this, I want to minimize every risk I can.”
The minutes stretched long as he continued to study her. Just when Hailey thought he was going to call her charade, he nodded.
“I can respect that.” He motioned to her laptop. “What do you need to know?”
PETERRELEASED A SLOW BREATH, grateful the FBI had equipped him with an earpiece so he could also listen in on the meeting. For a moment there, he’d thought Hailey had been made. Despite all the FBI’s assurances, they all knew help would take minutes, not seconds, to arrive if needed. Minutes Hailey wouldn’t have if things went down. Remnants of fear tried to take hold, but he pushed them back. He couldn’t let them take over, couldn’t let himself become paralyzed by the what-ifs.
Eukaria Investments’ CFO was a snake, and the possessive way he’d talked about Hailey had ignited a fury in Peter. Even worse, he knew it was an act. The man might talk about protecting his people, but Peter knew his type. The only thing men like him really cared about was themselves. If Alessandro Luque retaliated on behalf of someone under his protection, it was ultimately because he saw it as a personal affront, not because he cared about anyone else.
Peter really, really hoped the FBI got all they needed from this meeting. Alessandro Luque needed to go away for a long time.
He’d been praying nonstop that would be the case and that Hailey would come out of this unharmed. “Please let it be so,” he whispered.
He continued to pray as Hailey moved through various facets of Eukaria’s accounts. Despite the knot of unease in his gut, Peter’s admiration for her grew. She was doing great. If she could just keep up the charade a little bit longer—
Movement on one of the screens caught his attention. He focused on the edge of the trees separating the front parking lot from the road. Someone was trying, and failing, to stay out of sight. Was that one of the FBI agents? As the man aimed a camera at Alessandro Luque’s waiting car, Peter’s fists clenched. He grabbed his phone and sent a message to Special Agent Sanchez.
If the driver of that car spotted the man, Hailey’s cover would be blown to bits.
37
If Hailey thoughther nerves were bad earlier, she’d had no idea how high they could skyrocket. She’d been unable to connect to the conference room monitor, so now she was sitting next to Mr. Luque as they finished going over Eukaria’s records on her laptop.
She knew it was unreasonable, but having the large conference room table between them had given her a tiny sense of security. This arrangement left no barrier. She was inches away from a man who obviously had no regard for life and wouldn’t think twice about eliminating her.
But she’d done it. She had to keep up the charade a little longer to keep him from getting suspicious, but the FBI should have irrefutable proof that this man was fully aware of everything going on at Eukaria. Soon, this would all be over. They might even pick him up on his way out the front doors.
Just as they finished, Mr. Luque’s phone rang. He checked the screen and stood. “Excuse me.”
“Of course.” Hailey closed out the program and began shutting down her laptop. She was so glad to be done with this.
