Page 86 of Broken Promise
“We found them.” Emilie’s smile telegraphed her glee at the find. It was obvious that she was enjoying this.
I held my breath and prepared for her to drop a bomb on me. Some shit like maybe I’d been connected to the diamond after all. But that wasn’t what she was saying. I frowned. “Who?”
“Oh c’mon, wake up.” She pressed a button. “Look familiar?”
She hit another key on her laptop, and the screen behind her lit up. Then two familiar images appeared. Another keystroke and their names were highlighted. I squinted when I saw the names on the images.
Fuck. Me.
“That’s Hans Vandergraff.”
Emilie smirked. “And his brother, Jakob Vandergraff.”
I could feel the stares of the others, but my mind was too busy racing with this new information to care.
Those were the bastards who had tried to kill Diana.
What was the likelihood that an old case would reappear in my life randomly? I massaged my temple, trying to calm the storm inside. They looked different than when I’d last seen photos of them. Back then they’d been barely more than teenagers. But now they were men. Big, beefy bastards who had learned the tricks of the trade in their father’s businesses.
All this shit was coming back to me because of the sins of my past. I’d taken out their father, and now they were coming for revenge?
No, that didn’t make sense. Why attack Diana? Despite how strongly I felt about her, she was a recent development in my life. So that made no sense.
Unless this all came down to the fucking diamond.
There were two alternative theories. One, Diana worked for a rival organization, and they had planned to take the diamond from her and were pissed when she didn’t have it.
Two, the Vandergraffs were her employers… and well, they were pissed she didn’t have it. So what had been their plan? Send in a beautiful woman to distract me? My stomach flipped as I realized why Diana had been so scared to tell me the truth this whole time. No wonder she’d broken into my safe and then run away. She’d seen the evidence that her employers were into way more shady stuff than she’d probably known.
What the hell were they thinking sending someone as green as Diana in to get close to a man like me?
* * *
Focus, dipshit.
If the Vandergraffs were in New York and had sent Diana, then there needed to be a change of plan. It was likely the FBI might not be able to protect her.
They’ll want to use her.
And that was the problem. I understood how shit worked. And with her so close to their clutches, I was afraid for her.
Way to protect her, asshole. You fed her to the leopard instead of the lion. Either way she still gets mauled.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen those two. I’m not sure why they’re reappearing now, but you have all my old intel on that case. There must have been something we missed. Otherwise, why would they be coming for us now?”
Emilie nodded at someone across the table. The man stood, then made his way to the front of the room.
Alan nodded to Emilie, and she brought up another image. I almost choked when I saw it. The next image was of the Vandergraff girl. The photo was taken at her father’s funeral. She looked even skinnier than I remembered her.
“This is Larissa Vandergraff.”
I swallowed but kept my face impassive. I’d been well trained.Never show any emotion. In the field that shit could get you killed. But internally, I was fucked. If guilt were a monster, it had morphed into something way the hell scarier than even that clown from Stephen King.
“Is that the only picture of her?” My voice was cool and detached, right? I fucking hoped so. “She’d be early twenties now,” I murmured.
Emilie smiled. “This is where it gets exciting. The daughter looked like she wasn’t included in her father’s businesses. She is a typical pampered socialite. Attended all the best private schools. Went to college at the University of Pennsylvania. But after graduation, the girl became a ghost. The brothers must have kept her cloistered; all photos we have of her are grainy at best.”
“Is there a point to all this?” I asked.
