Destined for Power by Kathleen Brooks Page B

always Mallory.
    “I’m sorry to see you again under these circumstances. I let your head of security examine the wreckage as you requested. Mallory is very informative. She and the NTSB investigator are looking over some of the details now.”
    “Was it an accident?” Reid asked as he watched Mallory over Agent Hectoria’s shoulder. She distracted the investigator again and took some more pictures.
    “We won’t know until the investigation is complete. The black box was recovered and has already been sent off for analysis,” she told him noncommittally.
    Mallory stood up and shook hands with the investigator and paused when she saw Reid. “Please keep me up to date. If you’ll excuse me, I need to have a word with my head of security.”
    Agent Hectoria handed him her card and went back to the group of investigators as Mallory slowly made her way toward him.
    “Reid.”
    “What did you find? You said on the phone, to whoever this Ahmed guy is, you would know instantly.”
    “Not here. Let’s go back to the hotel. You drive.”
    Mallory walked past him and got into the passenger seat of the truck. He paused when she winced in pain. By the time he got in, she was on her phone sending all the pictures she had taken to someone. “Would you please . . .?”
    “Hold on,” Mallory reprimanded as she typed out a message. Moments later the phone rang.
     
    Mallory’s heart pounded. She had known it the second she saw the wreckage. The plane had been taken down by a SAM. The phone rang, and she answered it immediately.
    “I got your pictures,” Ahmed said. “We are of the same conclusion. My wife is looking at them now. Bridget has experiences with bombs as well.”
    “What did Nabi find?”
    “An employee of Luxus was found murdered. Single gunshot to the front of the head. He was an assistant to their head of security. Dario was his name.”
    “There must be a link.”
    “Yes. And Bridget says it was a shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile for sure. One of the newer generations, too, since it hit the side of the plane as opposed to tracking the heat source and hitting from behind.”
    Mallory’s mind raced as images from the previous seventy-two hours snapped into place. There were still some gaps, but it was a start. “Thank you. Let me know if you find out anything else.”
    Mallory ended the call and saw Reid watching her. “Take me to my car, please. I need to get some things from it, and then we can go to your suite and talk.”
    Reid looked at her suspiciously but turned the truck into the parking lot. It didn’t take long for him to spot Mallory’s car. He pulled into the space next to hers and got out. Mallory opened the purse she must have retrieved from upstairs and unlocked the car. She opened the hood and pulled out a small bag.
    “Let’s go. But not one word until I say so, okay?”
    Reid pursed his lips but nodded. She tried to think of how to say all the things that needed to be said. Sixteen years of feelings, thoughts, and events that had been left unmentioned—ignored and pushed to the side.
    Her heart was racing by the time she stepped into his suite. Mallory opened the bag; Reid went to the table and picked up his phone. She pulled out the scanner and turned it on. She swept the room for bugs while Reid listened to voicemails. She breathed a little easier when she determined the room was clean.
    “I can’t believe this,” Reid said as he turned off his phone. “A member of my security team was found murdered.”
    “Dario. Yes, I know.”
    “How do you know? Who were you talking to? What is going on, Mallory?” Reid asked angrily.
    “I think someone is trying to kill you.”
     
    Reid didn’t know what to say. “Kill me? Why?”
    “Your security assistant was murdered and your plane was shot down by a missile. You tell me why. What have you done that would warrant someone trying to kill you?”
    Reid’s phone rang again. He picked it up when he saw it was from Luke.