The Mercenary by Katherine Garbera Page B

she’d made was now in the past and she was starting from scratch and learning about herself again in the process.
     
    Burati called Phillip as soon as he was done alerting the media to the fact that Olivia Pontuf had been kidnapped.
    “I can only talk for a moment,” Phillip said.
    “That’s fine. I haven’t gotten any closer to finding Olivia. Lambert asked me to notify the media that she has been kidnapped and I did.”
    “Good. Please keep me informed of any information you get. Do you have someone you can trust who works with you?” Phillip asked.
    “I can get Barack again. Why?”
    “I want to set up a bug here in Lambert’s office and I’d also like to have some photos taken of the files in the secretary’s office. He moved some of them before we were able to read them.
    “I can do that. When do you want me to do this?”
    “Soon. I will let you know when we can be sure that Lambert won’t be in. I’m almost to the mine so I’ll have to let you go for now. Thanks for the call.”
    “You’re welcome,” Burati said.
    He hung up and called his cousin to tell him that he’d pay him well for one night’s work. He warned the other man that they wouldn’t have a lot of notice. Barack was used to doing work when asked and had no problem with it.
     
    Kirk didn’t like the way Lambert had played this latest bit of information, but he did admire the man. He was smart and they had to take that into account when they were dealing with him. Olivia had left the room and he let her go earlier because there was nothing he could say to change her mind about the man he was.
    And he didn’t apologize for who he was. He simply wouldn’t because he knew he was a necessary evil.
    “Anna is on the phone with the Pontufs. They are very concerned about their daughter and are not sure who to trust. We are lucky that they know Anna. Is Olivia on the line?” Savage asked.
    “No,” Kirk said. He’d sent her out of the room and told her to go lie down and rest. He needed some time away from her. She was distracting him. Last night when he’d held her in his arms, he’d realized just how much he’d enjoyed it. And that was something he couldn’t afford to let happen now.
    “Just Laz and I. Do you need her?”
    “In a minute. We aren’t going to let them know that you are working for us. I think the less they know the better. Lambert had already called them before Anna did, so we don’t want to tell them anything that will change their attitude toward him and possibly put their lives in danger.”
    “Have you thought about asking Charity or Justine to come to Johannesburg and serve as bodyguards for them?” Kirk asked. Charity and Justine were coworkers of Anna’s at Liberty Investigations. The firm was a top-rated investigation and security firm. The three women worked together like a well-oiled machine. Having worked with them in the past, Kirk was very impressed with the three of them. Those women could kick some serious ass.
    “We have. Charity is on her way. Justine will be coming in the next day or so. She’ll help us to gather information to put Lambert in jail,” Jack said.
    “Good. I want this wrapped up as soon as we can. Olivia’s not going to last too long in this kind of environment,” Kirk said.
    “I think we can wrap this up in three or four days tops. Do either of you have any contacts with the diamond consortium?”
    “I don’t,” Kirk said.
    “I might,” Laz said. “Let me see what I can come up with. That is a hard nut to crack. They are very particular about who gets into that organization.”
    “I know. I’ve been online and on the phone trying to find someone we can use on the inside, but I haven’t gotten very far,” Savage said.
    “We might have to just use Anna and Charity on the inside with the Pontufs. That will be enough to get us some information on whatever Lambert has planned. Olivia managed to get some information that will implicate him in the black-market