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They won’t be with me, but they’ll certainly be around.
I meet Novak in the same café as before. As I walk in, I notice that his goons are conspicuously absent—as are the pretty baristas. Novak himself is sitting at the small table in the middle of the café, with nothing but a brown leather folder in front of him.
“All alone?” I ask, trying not to let my surprise show, and Novak’s thin lips curve as he stands up and comes around the table to greet me.
“I thought we could dispense with all the bullshit.” His pale eyes gleam as he shakes my hand. “We need each other, and I think it’s time we built some trust.”
I’m certain this is bullshit—his men are likely positioned as strategically as mine—but I let my stony expression soften slightly as I release his hand. “I couldn’t agree more.”
“Good.” He sits back down at the table and motions for me to do so as well. “Please.”
I take a seat and assume an impassive expression. “So, is the asset in place?”
Novak nods, maintaining his smug little smile. “She’s on the way to Esguerra’s compound as we speak.”
My pulse speeds up. Time and date of the asset’s transport—this is already something I can use. “Congratulations. That’s quite an achievement,” I say, keeping my voice even.
Novak accepts the praise as his due. “Thank you. It took a lot of work, but I did it.”
“So tell me about her, this mysterious asset of yours,” I say.
He drums his pale fingers on the table for several long seconds, then says, “Are you familiar with the financial structure of Esguerra’s organization?”
I stare at him. “No. Not particularly. I was his security consultant, not financial advisor.” This is not where I was expecting Novak to go. Could the asset be someone connected to Esguerra’s portfolio manager? I know the guy resides somewhere in Chicago, but I don’t see—
“So you don’t know that legally and practically, Esguerra’s wife is his business partner and stands to inherit everything in the event of his death?”
“No, but it wouldn’t surprise me,” I say slowly. Even back then, when I was still working for Esguerra, Nora, the American girl he kidnapped and then married, showed an unusual aptitude for her husband’s business.
Novak smiles again and opens the folder in front of him. “Yes. The young Mrs. Esguerra is quite something, isn’t she? Finished Stanford at the top of her class.” He takes out a photo and lays it in front of me. It shows Nora in a voluminous graduation gown accepting a diploma from a university official. Her smiling face is half turned, looking elsewhere, but even from this angle, it’s obvious she’s ecstatic.
“When was this taken?” I ask, puzzled. If Novak’s people were close enough to take that photo, they must’ve been close to Esguerra himself as well.
The Colombian arms dealer wouldn’t let his wife out of his sight for longer than a minute.
“A couple of months ago, at the spring graduation ceremony,” Novak answers. “Pretty, isn’t she? So small yet so strong…”
His voice is unusually soft as he says this, his touch almost caressing as he takes back the picture and places it in the folder. I lift my eyebrows, waiting to see where he’s going with this. Did he somehow develop the hots for Esguerra’s petite wife?
It’s odd, but stranger things have happened.
Closing the folder, he looks up. “I know what you’re thinking,” he says. “Why didn’t I have him taken out right then and there, at that ceremony? Why bother with you when I had a shot at him back then, all on my own?”
I incline my head. “The question did occur to me, but I assumed Esguerra’s security was tighter than your possession of that photo indicates.”
Novak’s lips stretch in another thin smile. “You’re right—the security was impressive. Still, if I really wanted to, I could’ve attempted it. I would’ve sustained heavy losses, but there’s a small chance I could’ve gotten through.”
“But you didn’t want to risk it?”
“Oh, I would’ve risked it… if Esguerra’s death was all I wanted.”
Now we’re getting to the core of the issue. “You also want her.” I nod toward the folder. “Is that part of it?”
Novak’s pale gaze hardens. “Yes… but not the way you think. You see, Nora Esguerra is not just a pretty face—she holds the keys to Esguerra’s kingdom. If I kill him, she simply takes over, and I have a new enemy to contend with—one with nearly unlimited resources and a very personal grudge against me.”
This is getting interesting. “So you want them both eliminated?”
“That was my original thought, but no. You see, Esguerra is smart—much smarter than most in our business. Nearly all of his holdings are legally titled, and everything is buried behind layers upon layers of shell corporations. If both Esguerras are killed, it will take me years to untangle the mess, and while I will have achieved the elimination of a rival, I won’t have access to what I really want.”
