He doesn’t answer, so I do it for him.
“Détente, Fournier. We are at an impasse. I don’t have a death wish, and you don’t want to lose your billions and spend the rest of your life behind bars.”
“What is it you want?” It sounds like it hurts him to ask those words.
I meet Vicky’s gaze as I answer him. “Absolutely. Nothing.”
My Tink blinks twice, stares, then slowly, she smiles at me. Such a beautiful smile.
And I’m quite enjoying myself.
“Nothing?” Fournier repeats in disbelief.
“I know you can find me if you try,” I say. “I also know you’re a businessman, and you don’t go in for deals you can’t win. Be aware that I’ve sent off dead-man switches to lawyers in Switzerland, Brussels, and New York. If I die, or forgot to send them a quarterly confirmation, they’ll open those packets. If anything happens to Vicky, let’s bequiteclear on one thing: I know where you live.”
The line is silent for a long time. “You fuck me, I’ll kill you.”
“That’s what a standoff is, Fournier.”
“Then we’re done,” he says.
“Not…quite.”
“What the hell else?”
“Do let Lukas know that Vicky’s investigation has been concluded.” I throw a cheeky grin at her. “Same rules, Fournier. Tell Van Wyk from us that there’s no statute of limitations on murder. If we so much don’t like the smell of our shadow, we’ll give the District Attorney enough to throw away the key.”
“You keep your little investigator under control. If I find she’s still investigating—”
“You can’t hurt either of us without the price being higher than you want to pay.”
“On that, you’re wrong. Unless you’re willing to sacrifice your life to avenge hers.”
I meet Vicky’s gaze, and her eyes are wide with fear.
“I’ll keep her close,” I say. I was planning to anyway.
“You do that.” Fournier grinds out. “Is that all?”
“Last, but not least, Amelia is to meet her sister. Unescorted, unwatched, and in the presence of a lawyer chosen by her sister. Within the next week. If anything happens to Amelia before or after this meeting, we’ll know. And the DA will be getting averyinteresting file.” I pause to let that sink in. “NowI’m done. Have a good life, Fournier. Let’s hope we never have to speak again.”
I end the call, strip out the sim card, and bend itbetween finger and thumb. It gives with a satisfying snap.
“Holy shit, Alex,” Vicky murmurs. “Can you do all that?”
“Not really, no. But Cadrion’s rotten through and through, and I’m betting Fournier doesn’t even know how bad it is.” I gesture at my monitor. “Besides, I wasn’t kidding about Ironvale. That really is the nuclear option.”
“And Van Wyk? I don’t have that kind of proof.”
“No, but you convinced me, and I convinced Fournier.” I grin at her. “You’ll have to let Lucy know of course. Just… do it from an anonymous email account, will you? I’ll set you up an encrypted VPN.”
“I can do that myself.” She pushes up from her chair, and she’s steady as she walks to me, no sign of frailty left. The nightmares are much reduced too, and she looks better for more sleep.
Four days wearing nothing but bathrobes, this one silk that hugs her body, and I still can’t concentrate when she moves. Even more so as she leans in for a kiss, her palm caressing my jawline.
“I’d tell you I love you,” she murmurs, “but I don’t want your prodigious ego to get any bigger.”
“I’d tell you I love you,” I reply, sliding a hand inside her robe to cup her breast. “But you know what they say?”
