Page 26 of When He Lies
Yes, Simone was physically delicate. He never would have thought she could be capable of murder. Then again, he hadn’t thought she was a thief, either.
“This was a vicious kill,” Hugo muttered. “It was brutal. And…” An exhale as his words just drifted to a stop.
Alexei’s killer had to be one of them. Either Ryan or Simone.
“Frederick, I know it’s you.” The voice wasn’t just disgruntled. It was pissed. Coldly furious. “Don’t ever fucking call me and just leave me hanging. You got something to say, then you say?—”
“Alexei is dead.” His voice cracked. “And I have a big problem on my hands.”
“What?”
“S-Simone Sailor.” She was the problem.
Hugo was shaking his head. Over and over.
Frederick ignored him.
“Who the hell is Simone Sailor? And why should I care about her?” Konstantin demanded.
“Simone Sailor was, um, my personal assistant. Or I thought she was…and she stole from me.” This made him look incompetent, and he hated that. His rage seethed as he added, “Alexei found out. She must have killed Alexei.” He didn’t mention Ryan Quinn. Maybe if he didn’t mention Ryan, then the billionaire would stay alive. Frederick could fix the mess with him. Still get Ryan’s money. Somehow. “She killed Alexei, and now she’s vanished.”
“That sounds like a fucking you problem.”
What? “What does that even mean?”
“It means…you solve this problem. You find the bitch. You bring me her heart. Alexei was my cousin. My favorite one.”
All of the blood seemed to drain from his head. Frederick felt his body sway. He’d known Alexei worked for the other man, but he’d had no idea at all that they were related. Could this situation get any worse?
And so much for getting Konstantin to help him make the body vanish. This did not seem like the right time to ask for that particular favor.
“You make her pay,” Konstantin raged, “or I destroy you. That’s why it’s a fucking you problem.”
He lowered the phone. Swallowed three times. Then rasped to Hugo, “She has to be on foot.” Right? She must have run? On foot. “Find her. Search for her. Now.”
“What about Ryan?” Hugo whispered.
He muted the phone. No sense in putting Ryan Quinn on a death list, too. At least, not until he had Ryan’s money. “He lives. She dies.” His breath panted out. “Understand? Spread the word. Pull in any help that you need to get this done.”
“But…” Hugo glanced back at the body, then his stare returned to Frederick. “What about the egg?”
Simone—Simone had stolen the egg during her trip to the gallery. Either on the first trip or on the second damn one. She’d left a fake one in place of the real egg. He’d known it was a forgery the minute he touched the thing. Thirty million dollars feels different.
That bitch. She did deserve to die.
But he would let someone else do the dirty work. Not like he wanted to get bloody.
As far as the egg was concerned, he was not mentioning it to the man on the phone. The egg came from him. He will lose his mind if he finds out it was taken. Wasn’t it enough that Konstantin already lost his cousin? No sense informing him that the egg Frederick had been supposed to protect for him was in the wind.
“Simone must still have it.” She’d better have it. “Bring it to me. Bring her to me. Then she’s dead. Happy now?”
Hugo did not look happy. But he said, “Deliriously so,” as he turned and stalked toward the body.
“We have to get rid of his body ourselves,” Frederick choked out.
Hugo glanced back at him.
“Do you think we need to dismember him?” Frederick asked. No, time to rephrase. “Are you going to dismember him?”
