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Chapter Fourteen
Later that evening, alone in her balcony suite, a much smaller version of the spaciousness that Jake occupied, Rylee changed into lounging clothes and waited for Carl to arrive with a digital file on the guest list.
They’d had the Bureau forward the information as soon as they had a completed copy and were now able to mark which names were people on their radar, and who they needed to be aware of.
His knock came as expected, and he entered, carrying a tray of champagne and two glasses.
“Hey, Carl. Sweet! I doubt I’ve ever had a business meeting with bubbly before.” Her laugh was contagious, and he joined in.
“Hey, girl. I couldn’t just approach the cabin without seeming as if I had a reason, now could I?”
“Works for me.” She waited until he’d pulled the cork and held out her glass. “So, we know that Abdul Hakim Machi and his clan are on the ship. I never thought he’d appear personally.”
“I was as shocked as you were. He’s using an alias, but we know from our research that it’s him. It seems there might be a personal reason for him to be involved. Remember when Leo and Jake were attacked in Miami five years ago?”
“Yes. It put Leo in the hospital for weeks and Jake quit college and paid the bills. It wasn’t long after, he sold his first app, right?”
“Yeah, for millions. He made a name for himself too. The guy’s a fucking genius, one our government would love to hire.”
She’d read all about how they had tried to lure him on board. “No deal though.”
“Nope, he wasn’t interested, had his own irons in the fire.”
“Guess he’d already been plotting the new app and needed to have the space and time to work on it his way. So, you didn’t say why Hakim is here in person.”
“From what we could make out from a new witness we’ve recently acquired – one of the attackers we now have in custody – due to Jake’s fighting abilities, Hakim’s young brother, who looked just like him, ended up in the hospital, shot in the back.”
“Shot?”
“The bullet did so much damage, he became a paraplegic. Due to getting continuous infections, he recently died. In his confession, the perp said the brother had held Hakim back from seeking retribution, said his getting wounded was Allah’s will. Guess Hakim’s faith isn’t so strong now with his brother gone.”
“Our files never showed anywhere that Jake used a weapon other than his fists.”
“He didn’t. Seems he grabbed the arm of one of the sneaky bastards who pointed his gun at Leo and forced it in another direction. It was just unfortunate that it swung towards Hakim’s brother at the exact moment the accoster pulled the trigger. The police arrived within seconds, in time to see Jake’s move and were able to collaborate his account.
“And folks complain the police are never around when you need them.”
Carl grinned and added, “Their appearance also ended the battle. Those men had to get their boss’s brother away, so they backed off, taking their wounded with them. By the way, the sorry son of a bitch whose finger did the dirty, showed up dead a few days later.”
He handed over a memory stick and a folder. “I brought you the printout of the guest list and the details of the statement from that prisoner. There’s a name on there that might shock you. Look under the P’s.”
Rylee did so and the name he knew would shake her foundation popped out from the others. “Ian Philips!”
“Only one of his many aliases.” Carlos’s voice held a warning.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Oh yeah. The game just got ramped up a notch. If the British have joined the field, there has to be a reason. They must know something we don’t.”
“Will you make the connection with him?”
Carl’s smile didn’t quite cut it – half joking but filled with worry. “If you feel you’d rather not take him on again.”
“Shit! The dude thinks he’s James Bond for chrissakes. Smarmy son-of-a-bitch can’t accept no when a lady tries to let him down gently.”
Carlos guffawed loudly. “Excuse me? You put the man in the hospital for a week to recover from your gentle persuasion.”
“How the hell was I to know his balls were so fragile?” Not wanting to seem unfeeling, she took her smirk to the other side of the room and was just in time to hear the receiver in Jake’s suite begin to record and Jake’s soft growl issuing a warning.
