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Regina Silver is good at what she does because of it. Nobody suspects her, and she uses cunning rather than strength to get the job done.
Mikhail discovered she occupies room 605. There is always someone happy to take a bribe for a decent amount of money and the receptionist in this hotel was no exception. The security cameras were dealt with, courtesy of a call from the company who provided them. A routine check was the excuse, but they have been tampered with to show the same image on a loop until our mission is complete. Mikhail has a duplicate key card, and we are going there now while Regina is at dinner with the crew. Our surveillance is tight, and we leave nothing to chance and, as we slip into her room under the protection of darkness, we take our positions and wait.
* * *
Half an hourlater it’s showtime and a text on Mikhail’s phone alerts us she is coming, and we take up our positions with Mikhail behind the door and me in the bathroom.
I hear voices outside and Regina says softly, “Thanks guys, see you in the morning.”
The door opens and as it slams, I hear a squeal, which is my cue to enter the room.
Mikhail has his large hand flat against her mouth and has secured her wrists behind her back as she struggles to defend herself using her legs. With a smack, he brings her down and I register the pain in her eyes as he damages something in her knee.
He works fast, and she is soon tied up on the chair, her hands tied behind her back and her ankles to the chair legs. He has stuffed a rag into her mouth so she can’t speak, and her anger is pouring off her in furious waves.
“I thought it was you, Regina.”
I say smoothly, sitting on the edge of the bed as I admire Mikhail’s handiwork.
“I’m a little disappointed, though.”
I shake my head as she glares at me with intent. “I thought you were better than this. I would want my money back if I had paid you as a hitman. It was too easy to restrain you.”
Mikhail laughs and pulls her head back by her hair, causing the tears to spill from her eyes as I lean forward and say evenly, “Why were you on my flight from Chicago?”
Her eyes widen because it’s obvious she didn’t know I was meant to be there, which tells me I wasn’t her intended victim.
I say in a whisper, “My brother will let you speak, but if you scream, he will snap your neck before you take your next breath.”
Her eyes are wide and full of fear, and I nod to Mikhail, who tears the gag from her mouth, causing her to gulp for air.
“I would start talking, Regina.” I say coolly and she hisses, “I was called out. It’s my job. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
There is a possibility she is telling the truth, but as we had eyes on her since she landed, we know her movements and she hasn’t been visiting the usual tourist haunts. If anything, she has been familiarizing herself with places Serena’s family visit and was followed out to Stoner’s ranch where she apparently spent an afternoon walking the perimeter.
I lean back and say with a sigh.
“Don’t treat me as a fool, Regina. We’ve been watching you since you arrived in Sydney. It appears you have developed quite the fascination for Joseph Stoner. I also happen to be meeting him, which makes me wonder if you knew that.”
“No!” Her eyes are wide, and she appears fearful. She realizes if I thought for one minute she was after me she wouldn’t be leaving this room and so I say evenly, “I will ask you again. Who is your intended victim and who ordered the hit?”
She drops her eyes and Mikhail forces her head up to stare at me and growls, “Answer my brother, because unless you give him the information he is asking for, your career is over, along with your life.”
She nods her acceptance and exhales sharply. “Serena Vieri.”
My anger is balling like an iron fist inside me as I picture what could have happened if I hadn’t intervened, and she groans.
“It was going to be easy. I had some drugs to put in her drink to cause a heart attack.”
Mikhail glances at me sharply and I say tightly, “Why?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. They didn’t give a reason. I was being paid a shit load of dollars for the easiest hit of my career. The rest doesn’t concern me.”
I feel my blood actually boiling and snarl, “Who ordered the hit?”
“It was anonymous. It came through the usual email I use, no questions asked, just half up front and the rest on completion. If the hit fails, they get their money back.”
“So, you are still planning on making the hit, anyway. That is why you were stalking Stoner’s ranch. I’m guessing you planned to get inside and carry it out before your flight back, knowing you don’t have long.”
