AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Max stepped over the threshold and Nico shut the door behindhim.
“Thankyou.”
Nico had been in Rome when Max called to tell him about Jason’s return to Vegas and the Tangier. Less than twenty-four hours had passed since then, Nico’s speedy arrival a product both of his extraordinary attentiveness to the Syndicate and the fleet of private jets that were kept on hand for theiruse.
“Can I get you a drink?” Nico asked him when they reached the suite’s livingroom.
“No, thank you.” Six months ago, Max would have happily agreed. In fact, he would have downed the first drink and asked for a refill before they’d even gottenstarted.
Abby had changed all that, had changedhim.
The Syndicate had changed him too. His joining them had started as a way to fortify his response to the threat of Jason, but it had evolved into true loyalty. After being in the hands of the DeLuca family and Jason, Vegas was a mess. Max wanted to do right by it and by the Syndicate, and he couldn’t do it walking around with a twenty-four-hour-a-daybuzz.
Nico sat in one of the living room’s chairs while Max sat at one end of thesofa.
“What have we found out?” Maxasked.
The Syndicate had two extensive cyberlabs — one in Paris and one in New York. Max had paid a visit to the New York lab during a trip in July and had had to hide his shock. Occupying an entire floor of an office building in the city, the lab might have been a satellite location for the FBI or NSA. He could only assume Paris was as well-equipped. It wasn’t at all what he’d expected of an organization once routinely referred to as theMafia.
“Jason flew into New York City yesterday and went immediately to the meeting being held by the board,” Nico said. “He explained his absence as necessary due to the ‘misunderstanding’ with the FBI and made it clear he was back and incontrol.”
It made sense that the meeting would have been held in New York. It also made sense that Vegas reporters wouldn’t have known until it was too late to cover it there, which was probably why the reporter he and Abby saw on the news had been standing outside theTangier.
More than anything else, the casino was Jason’sbrand.
“Has the board put up a fight?” Maxasked.
“Not publicly. Not yet,” Nico said. “Jason is Chairman of the Board and a majority shareholder. As you know, there are ways to stage a hostile takeover, but they take time and planning. Jason was smart to stay away until the morning of the meeting. It prevented the board from putting any of the pieces in place that would be necessary to remove him on thespot.”
Max tamped down his frustration. Nico had taught him that anger was a weapon to be used judiciously. Anger didn’t change anything, and the Syndicate was all about changingthings.
“What else?” Maxasked.
“Jason returned to Vegas last night and went immediately to the Tangier. He installed himself in the casino’s Presidential suite and hasn’t left since,” Nicosaid.
There was something in Nico’s voice that caught Max’s ear, a hesitation that spoke of thingsunsaid.
“Why do I get the feeling there’s more?” Maxasked.
“Bruce Frazier was with Draper both in New York and when he returned to Vegas,” Nico said. “And he’s not the only one. For all intents and purposes, Jason has surrounded himself with a private security contingent of at least fifteen men, with Frazier continuing to act as his bodyman.”
Max stood and paced the room, trying to expel the fury that had bubbled to life in his veins, the curtain of red that dropped in front of his vision. Jason had been the architect of the destruction of Abby’s house — of her near-death — but Bruce Frazier had undoubtedly been the one to break into her house and start thefire.
“So Jason tries to kill Abby, shoots you, takes a long vacation, and comes back to Vegas like nothing happened?” He shook his head. “No. That’s not how thisends.”
“Of course not,” Nico said calmly. “He’ll be made to pay for his actions. The question is who will make himpay?”
Max looked at him. “I’m more than happy to do thejob.”
“I have no doubt,” Nico said. “But the FBI is involved now, too, and Jason has installed himself in a fortress of his own making. If anything, his profile is even higher now than it wasbefore.”
“What do you propose?” Maxasked.
Nico stood, walked to the bar, and poured a finger of Scotch into one of the crystalglasses.
“Let’s do some recon,” Nico said. “I’ll check with my sources at the Bureau, see what they know about Jason’s interview with them. We’ll have the people in Damian’s lab try to hack email and text, see what we can find out about Jason’s long-term plans. Once we have all the information, we’ll be better equipped to make aplan.”
“And in the meantime?” Maxasked.
