Page 75 of Conquered Betrayal
My lips parted. She’d been tracking me?
Then her eyes narrowed. “Don’t look at me like that. It was worthwhile in the end, wasn’t it?”
I duplicated her expression, but wasn’t able to argue. I’d been keeping tabs on her for years, then sent Walker to find her. Glancing at Marley, I said, “I haven’t seen my wallet since yesterday.”
“Mahn has a plane parked on the tarmac,” Walker interjected, taking Verdugo’s place when he moved off toward the bunker. “Your stuff could be there.”
“Probably a safe bet since I was shipped in a crate.”
“That’s a fun ride, isn’t it?” he replied, his tone dry.
“The best.”
“We would have been here sooner,” Alina cut in, “except when we realized your brother had gotten both of you, we called up your friend Walker. The douchebag thanked us for the info, but wouldn’t take us along for the ride.”
“That would be me.” Walker waved at them.
Both of Jolyn’s friends narrowed their eyes, unimpressed.
“So we had to rent a plane, obviously,” Alina continued. “We stocked it for war, then because the plane’s so small, we had to stop about a hundred times to refuel.”
“Five times,” Marley offered.
“Close enough. And now we’re here.” She turned to Jolyn fully, her eyes sad. “I’m sorry we didn’t get here in time to help you.” She gave her friend’s elbow a squeeze.
“Well, the Clyborne guys didn’t get here on time either, so you’re doing all right.” Jolyn stepped out of my arms and gave her friend another big hug. “It’s amazing you traveled this far for me.”
“Are you kidding?” Alina held her at arm’s length and gave her a little shake. “Of course we did. We wouldn’t leave you in a—” She stopped speaking, dropped her hands, and spun to stare at Verdugo walking away with her guns. “They work for Clyborne?” She chased after him. “Hey! Who do I see about my application?”
25
JOLYN
Two paper grocerybags balanced in my arms, I kicked the door to our condo closed with the heel of my shoe, then noticed Landon’s loafers left haphazardly by the door.
“Hello?” I called, striding through the foyer to place the bags on the kitchen island. When I didn’t get a response, I poked my head down the hallway. “Landon?”
“In here,” he answered.
Tossing my keys beside the groceries, I kicked off my flats and padded down the carpeted hallway, my fingers trailing along the wall below the photographs I’d hung last weekend, ones we’d taken in Stanley Park about the same time we decided to buy a new place together.
The sound of the TV pulled me through to the den where I found Landon lounging in his favorite spot on the sofa, a glass of scotch in his hand. On the flatscreen, a news program flashed pictures of my brother. I tensed.
“…the CIA and CSIS’s cooperative investigation into the corrupt dealings of formerly renowned CEO Emerson Mahn of Mahn BioIndustries. His untimely death due to a hunting accident triggered a full-scale probe into the affairs of MBI, which traced through multiple shell companies to find numerous black market transactions. Several more people have been detained for questioning. Jolyn Mahn, only surviving heir to the Mahn empire, has not been implicated in her brother’s corruption and has been said to be cooperating fully with authorities. We’re following this story as it develops. In other news, will Jinka Cola Company rebound from its disastrous launch of vitamin water? We’ll be asking the experts right after this.”
Landon clicked it off and rolled to his feet to stalk in my direction wearing the suit he’d put on this morning to go to the office.
“I won’t be sad when this story dies for good,” I muttered.
Standing in front of me, Landon cupped my jaw in his hands, affection in his gaze. “Don’t count on it.” He brushed the hair away from my forehead to trail a finger along my cheek. Shivers cascaded down my neck. “It’s a scandal for the ages. Drugs, guns, mobsters, corrupt officials—everyone who had a finger in Mahn’s pie is going down. There isn’t an end in sight to those who would confess what they’d been a part of. And with Clyborne taking care of the shifter side of things, we can keep knowledge about us safe.”
I understood even if I didn’t like it. Now that the media attention on me had died down once they realized I knew little of my brother’s dealings, it was starting to feel more like background noise.
“How was your day?” he asked, giving me a kiss on my forehead.
“Stressful.” As every day was now. Dismantling Mahn BioIndustries was taking longer than I’d anticipated, but I wouldn’t be preserving any part of brother’s legacy. Instead, I was using its equity to start trust funds for those affected by his actions, his victims and their families. From the outside, it looked like I was cannibalizing the company. The shareholders who hadn’t jumped ship as soon as my brother’s heinous activities were revealed to the world were frothing at the mouth.
“You know you don’t have to do this.” He straightened the lapel of my suit jacket.
