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Rand didn’t know why Taha was important—Freya had meant it when she’d said everything was need-to-know—but Rand would bet the guy was connected to Diana’s abduction by a direct line.
“You’ve worked with Taha before?” Kira asked.
“All our artifact purchases are a matter of public record, as you well know.”
“Have you met him, then? That’s not public information.”
“How am I to know? We travel a lot for our purchases for the store. He probably has offices in Amman.”
Meaning he did have offices in Amman and Gardner was covering his bases in case some press release had mentioned a visit or deal struck there.
“It’s easy to open a storefront and hang a shingle,” Kira said. “Have you reviewed his business documents?”
“We hire people to do that kind of thing.”
“I know. You hired me to do that kind of thing once upon a time. But you’ve never asked me to look into this particular antiquities dealer. Why is that?”
“Probably because he was vetted before we hired you.”
“How many deals have gone through him?” she persisted.
“I don’t know. We buy a lot from the Middle East.”
“It would be a shame if I find evidence Taha is a fraud. So many of your company’s transactions could be suspect if he acted as broker. The law is clear: if you’ve purchased stolen goods, even unknowingly, you must return them to the rightful owners. And if you colluded with the thieves to knowingly acquire stolen goods, you’d be facing criminal charges.”
Gardner’s face transformed into an angry mask as he leaned into her. “You little bitch. This is about the NDA. You’re trying to get at us from a different direction. It won’t work. You break the NDA, and we own you.”
The man towered over Kira, and now he was leaning into her, like a cobra ready to strike.
Rand also coiled and prepared to defend, but he held back, giving Kira a chance to handle him first.
She pushed at Gardner’s chest. “Back off, Mason. I’m just telling you the truth. I came here to see the chain of title because my client is interested in buying. But I see a red flag in Harun Taha. I’m doing you a favor in telling you he’s likely to be under investigation. And if you buy this lot, you can’t stop me from reporting what I know. This and every transaction you’ve completed with Harun Taha will come under scrutiny.”
Gardner raised a fist, and Rand wasn’t about to wait to find out if it was a gesture or if he intended to strike. He grabbed the fisted hand and twisted Gardner’s arm until it was behind his back, then shoved the man away from Kira. “Careful there, Gardner. I don’t give a fuck who your daddy is. You threaten Dr. Hanson, and you’re dealing with me.”
“I didn’t touch her.”
“Only because I stopped you.”
“You lie. I never would have touched her.”
“You really think this fancy auction house, that deals with items worth millions, doesn’t have cameras in their conference room?”
Gardner’s eyes darted to the shiny dome on the ceiling, then cast a glare in Kira’s direction. “Don’t fuck with us, Kira, or you’ll never get another client again.” He turned and stalked from the room.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Rand pulled into an empty parking spot not far from Kira’s apartment building.
“Thanks for the ride,” she said.
“Of course.” He paused, then screwed up his courage. He didn’t know why this felt awkward or difficult. He usually had no problem asking women out. Hell, it was rare for him to be turned down, so he never sweated the asking. “Would you like to get a bite to eat?”
She glanced at her watch. “At three o’clock?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t know there were strict rules about eating times.”
She rolled her eyes. “It depends on if you’re hungry and just made the offer because you thought I might be hungry too, or if this is a sideways way of asking me out.”
