Love and Let Die (Masters and Mercenaries #5)(82)

“Yeah, she took a bullet from a man who didn’t want her dead. I wasn’t in on that plot. I was aiming for Alex’s heart.” Jesse ducked Simon’s swinging hand. “Asshole. I thought he was the bad guy. Every single member of this team has smacked me for shooting my brother, but he wasn’t my brother at the time and I didn’t even get him. I got Charlotte. Which is kind of my point. Do you think she’s madly in love with Nelson and is willing to sacrifice her life?”

It was a little bit of a conundrum. He couldn’t imagine Nelson and Charlie together.

“I think Charlotte is damn good at her job. If she thought the risk was worth the reward, she would take it.” But Jesse’s words were worming into his head. It was a different situation. She could easily have just shown up at his place without the song and dance routine in St. Augustine. She’d put a good two years into that operation. What did she really get out of it?

“If it means anything, I believe her,” Simon said. “I think she’s done just about everything to protect that sister of hers. Her sister admitted that she was the one who wrote to Nelson.”

Of course she would if they had gotten their stories straight. Ian had lost the opportunity to question them separately since he’d been far too angry to think rationally.

There was logic to what Charlie did to him.

He went through the photos Adam had left. Four pictures of two men Ian would deeply like to murder, and in a horribly visceral way.

How much of Charlie’s story had been complete bullshit? The scars on her body were real. He’d seen the pictures of her mother’s murdered body.

Was Charlotte so cold that she would work with the same syndicate that murdered her mother and tortured her for years?

Logically, he knew it could happen. She could have been indoctrinated. It had happened many times before. She could be a deeply good actress.

“What’s he doing? He looks like he’s going to kill someone,” Jesse whispered.

Fuck. Jesse was turning into Adam 2.0. He had to shut that shit down. He narrowed his eyes and gave the new guy his most intimidating stare. “Are you volunteering? It’s been a couple of hours since I killed someone and I’m starting to get the itch.”

Jesse grunted a little. “See. Just like the damn Army.”

“I’m bringing Sean into this. He was in Florida with Charlie and this affects him, too.” Ian found the phone and dialed his brother’s cell.

“This is Sean. Hans, are you trying to cook the duck or make it your bitch?”

He hated interrupting his brother at work, but he needed advice. Actually he really hated needing f*cking advice. What was he? A “Dear Abby” fan? God, Charlotte had taken his dick. “Sean, it’s Ian. I need to conference you in on something.”

The sounds of a busy kitchen came over the line. “Sure. Give me a sec. Don’t you stop stirring that sauce. I swear to god I’ll murder you if it scorches.”

The door opened and Adam escorted Grace inside, each taking empty seats.

“Doesn’t this affect Charlotte, too?” Alex asked. “Shouldn’t she be in on this?”

“She’s taking a time out.”

“Hey, Sean,” Adam said, leaning toward the speaker phone. “You missed out yesterday. Big Tag made a porno with his wife.”

Grace gasped. “Adam, you are not supposed to talk about that.”

“Shut up, everyone.” He was going to stop this soap opera in its tracks. “We have something serious to talk about. Sean, can you talk?”

“Yep. Adam kind of had my attention at porno,” Sean’s voice said over the speaker phone. “Grace, love, you don’t need to be looking at big brother’s junk, though I’m sure it took up most of the screen.”

“He wasn’t naked, Sean. Charlotte was,” Grace said.

“Oh, well, that’s totally different.”

Ian took firm control of his temper. “Eli Nelson is working with the Denisovitch syndicate.”

Thank god that got everyone quiet.

Grace picked up one of the pictures as she sat down at the conference table. “This is Russia. I thought he was supposed to be in India.”

“Yes, I believe that’s what Charlotte said. Charlie wants me to think he’s in India, and Nelson obviously wants me to head to Russia.” That was a problem for him. He just needed to figure out why it was a problem. He could go one of two ways.

Eve studied one of the pictures. “He’s relaxed. He isn’t worried or tense. Do you see the slump of his shoulders?”

Yes, the f*cker seemed to be having a lovely time plotting with the Russian mobster. “Yes. I see that.”

“Denisovitch, the first one, Charlotte’s dad, he was the Russian Nelson set up as the terrorist out to buy the uranium from the Irish mission,” Adam explained. It had almost cost Liam his life, and it had certainly cost him his brother. “Or he was at least working with Denisovitch in order to make the threat credible. Did he assassinate his partner so he wouldn’t have to share the money? Was Mikhail in on it?”

Ian shook his head. “I don’t think so. From all the intelligence I’ve gathered over the years, Mikhail was deeply loyal to his brother. If he’s in bed with Nelson, it’s for one of two reasons. One. He doesn’t know that Nelson was the assassin who killed his brother. He believes Nelson’s story, which is very likely that Charlotte killed her own father and stole his money. Two. My intelligence is wrong and all three are in on it together.”