on the island than his
desire to buy the resort out from under his lifelong rival.
Karl was still laughing, and I perked one dark brow
at the perfectly coiffed and expensively dressed Talbot heiress as she covered
her mouth with her fingers to keep from chuckling back at him. “I’m glad to be
of service, but are you going to share the joke with me?” I asked the man.
The developer cleared his throat and muttered a
brief apology. “Ellison and I are both vying for several contracts right now
through the United States Southern Command, mostly logistical and
infrastructure support services. Altogether, they add up to a pretty penny, and
the requests for bids are all going through an officer by the name of
Buchanan.”
Nina straightened in her chair and omitted a high,
soft gasp of realization. “Miami? Is Buchanan stationed in Miami by any
chance?”
“Is that your researcher, Chloe?” Karl asked at
hearing a higher and more cultured voice than my own. Knowing Nina was helping
me—and Adrian—at great risk to herself and her position with her family, I had
concealed her true identity when I introduced her to the businessman at the
beginning of the conversation.
Now I carried on the pretense. “Yes, and she’s very
good, I assure you.” And that was true. Despite being a darling of socialite
gossip columns, Nina had managed to conceal more than four years of her
on-again off-again affair with black sheep billionaire Adrian Knight. I still
fought down resentment at the idea that she was his submissive before I was. It
was a smoldering envy complicated by the fact that I was genuinely beginning to
like her.
“Indeed,” Karl confirmed. “Miami is the headquarters
for Southern Command.”
Under her breath and almost to herself, Nina
murmured, “Whitney said she had just gotten back from Miami with Penn when I
spoke to her last night.”
Karl’s voice rose over the speaker. “No whispering,
ladies. Let’s not keep secrets.”
“My researcher is acquainted with Penn’s
new...assistant,” I rushed to explain, carefully .
“She got Ms. Yarborough talking last night over drinks.” And about more than
Miami, including Whitney’s mounting jealousy of me over Penn’s reluctance to
let go of our relationship and begin one with her. If only she’d known I’d have
gladly made her a gift of him, decked in bows and strung up with ribbon—by a
certain organ, if I’d had my way.
Richter’s tone fell and grew more serious as he
responded, “It sounds as though Penn is hedging his bets these contracts. After
coming out the worse for wear last time we tangled, I would dearly like to
catch Penn with his pants down and his checkbook out for the wrong people. But
I doubt he’s dumb enough to deal with Buchanan directly. There’s probably a
go-between, someone he thinks he can pay to take the fall if they get caught
fixing the bids.”
“Bribes,” I sighed as a drop down weary and heavy in
my over-padded leather office chair. “This is all about bribes.”
“What are you thinking, Chloe?” Karl pressed.
“Penn’s been trying to force a commercial developer
by the name of Adrian Knight to sell him an island off the coast of northern
Brazil. Something about its proximity to Venezuela.”
“Well well well ,” Karl breathed, “that makes perfect sense. Southern
Command coordinates all South American operations for the United States
military, and the southern arena includes Venezuela and their problem child of
the president.”
Thinking out loud, I mulled, “So Penn is sweetening
the pot on his bids by… What? Offering the island as some kind of base of
operations?”
“Most likely a listening post,” Karl explained. “It
would look like a completely unrelated deal, probably with Buchanan taking
credit for securing the landowner’s cooperation. I’d bet my bank account Penn
will register ownership of the island to a shell company far enough removed
from any Ellison holdings that no one will
desire to buy the resort out from under his lifelong rival.
Karl was still laughing, and I perked one dark brow
at the perfectly coiffed and expensively dressed Talbot heiress as she covered
her mouth with her fingers to keep from chuckling back at him. “I’m glad to be
of service, but are you going to share the joke with me?” I asked the man.
The developer cleared his throat and muttered a
brief apology. “Ellison and I are both vying for several contracts right now
through the United States Southern Command, mostly logistical and
infrastructure support services. Altogether, they add up to a pretty penny, and
the requests for bids are all going through an officer by the name of
Buchanan.”
Nina straightened in her chair and omitted a high,
soft gasp of realization. “Miami? Is Buchanan stationed in Miami by any
chance?”
“Is that your researcher, Chloe?” Karl asked at
hearing a higher and more cultured voice than my own. Knowing Nina was helping
me—and Adrian—at great risk to herself and her position with her family, I had
concealed her true identity when I introduced her to the businessman at the
beginning of the conversation.
Now I carried on the pretense. “Yes, and she’s very
good, I assure you.” And that was true. Despite being a darling of socialite
gossip columns, Nina had managed to conceal more than four years of her
on-again off-again affair with black sheep billionaire Adrian Knight. I still
fought down resentment at the idea that she was his submissive before I was. It
was a smoldering envy complicated by the fact that I was genuinely beginning to
like her.
“Indeed,” Karl confirmed. “Miami is the headquarters
for Southern Command.”
Under her breath and almost to herself, Nina
murmured, “Whitney said she had just gotten back from Miami with Penn when I
spoke to her last night.”
Karl’s voice rose over the speaker. “No whispering,
ladies. Let’s not keep secrets.”
“My researcher is acquainted with Penn’s
new...assistant,” I rushed to explain, carefully .
“She got Ms. Yarborough talking last night over drinks.” And about more than
Miami, including Whitney’s mounting jealousy of me over Penn’s reluctance to
let go of our relationship and begin one with her. If only she’d known I’d have
gladly made her a gift of him, decked in bows and strung up with ribbon—by a
certain organ, if I’d had my way.
Richter’s tone fell and grew more serious as he
responded, “It sounds as though Penn is hedging his bets these contracts. After
coming out the worse for wear last time we tangled, I would dearly like to
catch Penn with his pants down and his checkbook out for the wrong people. But
I doubt he’s dumb enough to deal with Buchanan directly. There’s probably a
go-between, someone he thinks he can pay to take the fall if they get caught
fixing the bids.”
“Bribes,” I sighed as a drop down weary and heavy in
my over-padded leather office chair. “This is all about bribes.”
“What are you thinking, Chloe?” Karl pressed.
“Penn’s been trying to force a commercial developer
by the name of Adrian Knight to sell him an island off the coast of northern
Brazil. Something about its proximity to Venezuela.”
“Well well well ,” Karl breathed, “that makes perfect sense. Southern
Command coordinates all South American operations for the United States
military, and the southern arena includes Venezuela and their problem child of
the president.”
Thinking out loud, I mulled, “So Penn is sweetening
the pot on his bids by… What? Offering the island as some kind of base of
operations?”
“Most likely a listening post,” Karl explained. “It
would look like a completely unrelated deal, probably with Buchanan taking
credit for securing the landowner’s cooperation. I’d bet my bank account Penn
will register ownership of the island to a shell company far enough removed
from any Ellison holdings that no one will
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