Elite Ops: Black Jack Part 31

"I'm a man of my word, Lord Harrington," Travis reminded him. "You know that as well as anyone."

Lilly looked at him in surprise. He sounded as though her uncle actually knew him.

Desmond shook his head as he turned to her. "Six years ago I contacted Mr. Caine to negotiate an agreement between Harrington Translation and Dictation and a much larger company intent on taking it over. Your father was buried in an internal investigation at the time and I agreed to handle the attempted merger. I contacted your Mr. Caine to aid in that."

"A legal negotiation?" she murmured as she turned to Travis.

He grinned, sliding a look at her from the corner of his eye. "I do stay within the law occasionally, my dear."

Desmond grunted at the comment. "We would have lost the company if it hadn't been for him.

With your father's death, and what we believed was your death, the family was in chaos for months."

"It appears to me that the family is still in chaos," she stated sadly. Her uncle shook his head before lowering it for long moments. Finally, he heaved another sigh before moving to a nearby high-backed leather chair and taking a seat.

"Mr. Caine contacted me with the information that you had been found," he stated as he leaned back. "He told me then that he had known of your existence for years and had remained quiet. With your injuries, though, he was afraid you wouldn't make it, and he wanted your family close if that were true."

Lilly remained silent. That didn't sound like the truth to her; it didn't feel like the truth, though she had no doubt it was what he had told her family.

"Why are we here, Lord Harrington?" Travis finally asked. "You sent Lilly's mother away and were rather intent on this meeting. I will a.s.sume there's a reason for it."

"Of course there is." Desmond glared back at him irritably before turning back to Lilly.

"Returning may not have been a good idea, child. Perhaps when Mr. Caine called I should have simply gone to the hospital alone and advised you to continue hiding."

"Why would you do that?" she asked, wondering herself why her intuition hadn't warned her to stay away.

"Because this family is more f.u.c.ked up than any dysfunctional American family that you'll find," he stated roughly. "Jared rather surprised me, though. I didn't expect him to disown you."

"Perhaps he doesn't like losing the additional inheritance," Travis suggested. Desmond shook his head. "Lilly's money is in trust. Nothing could be done with it until you turned twenty-six-if you were still alive, that is. And upon Lilly's death it wouldn't go to Jared anyway. It would go to a charity chosen in Lilly's name. Your brother's trust was set up the same way."

Yet another surprise.

"When was that decided?" Lilly asked. "Father told me nothing of this."

"And he wouldn't have until you were old enough to begin drawing from the fund," he answered her. "Unfortunately, you died' before you reached the age that you could touch your inheritance."

"What is the point of this, Uncle Desmond?" she asked.

"Someone tried to kill you six years ago, and then three times in the past six months.

It's hard to believe it isn't personal, isn't it, Lilly? And now you know there's less reason to suspect your brother. So tell me I haven't risen on your list of suspects."

Lilly looked to Travis, then back to her uncle. "I don't know who to suspect," she finally stated, wondering what the h.e.l.l was going on here.

"You were helping your father on that investigation," Desmond said then. "You were working with him and MI5 before you disappeared."

Now, she was shocked. Her father had made her swear to never reveal anything about the investigation. She stared back at Desmond silently, trying to figure out what he knew, and what he simply thought he knew.

"She has an excellent poker face." Desmond nodded toward her. "She always did have."

"What do you want, Harrington?" Travis sat forward now.

"I want my brother's killer. And I want the person trying to kill my niece stopped," he said, his voice soft. "I want the slow, steady embezzling of Harrington funds to stop, and I want my life back."

"And I'm to facilitate this, how?" Travis asked.

"Better yet, why should you be drawn in?" Lilly rose to her feet, tipped her drink to her lips, and finished it in one hard swallow before moving slowly to the bar. She needed a moment to think, to figure out what the h.e.l.l was going on here.

"You argued with Mother when I left?" she asked as she moved past Isaac to pour herself another drink.

Desmond chuckled. "Oh yes, my dear. Your mother and I argued quite loudly and for well through the next day. When Ridgemore showed up, we argued quite a bit more. You know how it works. She screams until she gets what she wants, and if she doesn't get what she wants, then she makes your life h.e.l.l. Correct?"

Lilly poured herself another drink before turning back to him and leaning against the bar.

"Mother never screamed at me. Not when Father was alive, anyway."

His expression softened, turned gentle. "No, she didn't scream at you. Because whenever she did, she had to face not just your father, but also your uncle. We did our best to shelter you. Sadly, it seems it was in vain."

He was gazing at her as though he held some affection for her. The way he watched her when she was a child. He had spoiled her just as her father had.

"Your father and I had hoped that by combining forces we could compel your mother to allow you to have your dreams," he said quietly. "You wanted to join MI5. You wanted to be adventurous. She wanted you to marry well, have children, and become a rep-lica of herself. To her, that was her measure of success. Unfortunately, it seems to be how she and her friends measure their success. By how well they can turn their daughters into younger versions of themselves. She had your husband picked out, the s.e.x of your children and their names. She had already decided where you would live, close to her of course, and who your friends would be. It would be her way, or no way at all."

"You make her sound crazed. I mean, more than usual." She needed another drink just to hold back the anger that she was only now seeing this. And not because he was telling her it was the truth, because she had witnessed it herself.

"Not crazed, simply arrogant, and certain of her own power." He shook his head.

"She's royalty, remember?"

It was coming together so slowly, too slowly. Lilly felt the heavy weight of agonizing knowledge as it began to settle into her heart, to slice at her soul. She wanted to scream in denial, but she couldn't. She had to hold it back, she had to focus on the truth rather than the fantasy world she had lived in as a child. Desmond wiped a hand over his face as Lilly kept a careful eye on him, as well as Isaac.

"I was helping your father." He stared at the whiskey in his gla.s.s for long moments before gazing back at her. "G.o.d, he loved her." He leaned his head back against the chair and stared at the ceiling. "He loved you better, though, and she knew it."

Lilly's lips trembled for a brief second before she controlled it. Instead, she met Travis's gaze, saw the compa.s.sion in it, the regret.

"How did she manage it?"

Once again Desmond shook his head. "I don't know. Harold had figured it out. He told me that night, but he didn't tell me it was Angelica. He was going to fill me in the next morning. The next thing I knew, you were both supposedly dead. I only figured out it was Angelica about six months ago and have been trying to pin her down with hard proof ever since."

Lilly swallowed tightly as Travis moved from the loveseat to stand beside her, to lend her his support, his warmth.

"How did she find me? I changed everything about myself."

"Everything but certain mannerisms," Desmond pointed out. "You attended a party in Bangladesh a few years ago for the ruling family's oldest son. We were there, along with Jared."

Lilly flinched at the pain that struck her temple, as well as the memory. She remembered it. Clearly. She had been forced to leave the party early when Jared had kept hitting on her. He'd danced with her, flirted with her. Her own brother. It had been more than she could bear.

"Your mother commented several times that Lilly Belle was so similar to her Victoria."

He gave a harsh laugh. "h.e.l.l, I didn't even catch on."

"The pictures found in Desmond's files were taken by Samuel," Travis revealed.

"Your mother had him following you." He turned back to Desmond. "I'm guessing you stumbled across the pictures in Angelica's files and made copies."

Lilly watched as Desmond pinched the bridge of his nose and fought back the dampness in his eyes.

"I hired Isaac for his reputation and his ability to keep his employers alive," he finally stated harshly. "We've been trying to catch her embezzling the money. We've tried to find a way, especially since your return, to get the proof we needed."

"She's smart, and she has the money to hire others to do her dirty work," Travis said coldly.

"She sent a hit out on Lilly yesterday. They found the safe house she was staying at. Ten men arrived to kill her and the three young women she had taken refuge with."

"My G.o.d." Desmond sat forward, swallowed tightly, then looked to Isaac. "I may need another drink."

Isaac turned to the bar just as the large gla.s.s window of the room shattered. Travis pushed Lilly to the floor as Isaac was thrown against the bar by the bullet that slammed into his body and jerked him around. Another tore into his shoulder and he landed on the floor unconscious or dead, she wasn't certain which. The doors to the library flew inward and four a.s.sailants rushed the room, automatic rifles drawn and leveled on them as Lilly stared up in horror. Her gaze went around the room quickly. She couldn't see Nik. Where had he gone? Had he been in on this? Had he betrayed the Ops?

She had to swallow against the bile in her throat as pain pierced her head. Memories were swarming her now, racing into her brain with a speed she couldn't fight.

She was an operative. A highly secret operative, one whose very existence depended on the agency that had saved her. An agency whose survival depended on their ability to never be revealed.

"Well, Desmond, it looks as though you're as stupid as your brother." Angelica walked into the fray.

Resplendent in cream silk, she wore slacks, a matching top, and heels, which, combined with her light hair, gave Angelica the angelic appearance her name implied.

She appeared innocent, unthreatening, untouchable.

She stopped in the middle of the room and stared down at Lilly. Her head tilted to the side, and for a moment, regret flashed in her gaze.

Desmond sat down slowly in his chair, his hands resting casually on the arms as he leaned his head back and obviously fought with the realization that they may have failed.

"You always were a nosy little b.i.t.c.h." Angelica sighed as she glanced at Isaac's fallen body before turning back to Lilly. "You should have returned as my daughter rather than some little wh.o.r.e determined to destroy what I've built over the years. Really, Lilly? A call girl?" She shook her head. "I truly hope the money you made whoring was worth the loss of your life now."

Lilly eased up until she was sitting on the floor, partially s.h.i.+elded by Travis's larger body. "Anything would have been worth escaping you," she told her mother quietly. "I only wish I had remembered why I decided to remain dead to begin with. Tell me, what did happen the night you killed father?"

Angelica just glared at Lilly for what felt like hours, then sighed. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter now if you know since this will be over soon."

Lilly swallowed in relief, hoping that she had just bought them all a little more time.

"The night of the party, your father had been acting very strange. Actually, he had been acting strangely for several days before that. He had been very distracted and he claimed that he had been tied up in work, but I had a feeling that it went deeper than that. I knew he had been looking into the embezzlement of funds from our and other families' accounts, and up until that point I hadn't been the least bit concerned that he would trace anything back to me. Nothing could be traced back to me, after all. When Jared began working for Dunnolly & Dunnolly, I had gotten access to his pa.s.sword during a lovely family visit, and that's how I got the pa.s.scodes to the accounts of some of the other families. My accountant got the rest. He made it look like the accounts had been hacked from the outside, and after that, the money was difficult to trace, and even if they did trace it, none of the accounts were linked to me in any way. If any suspicions were to fall, it would probably fall on Jared. I suspect MI5 had him in their sights for quite some time. And besides, who in the world would suspect Angelica Harrington of pulling off such a crime? Really, it was the perfect setup."

"And you were just computer savvy enough to make it work with just a little help,"

Lilly said, her eyes narrowed. "I always was impressed with the skill you've managed your own wealth."

Angelica pursed her lips in annoyance. "Your father managed to trace one of the offsh.o.r.e accounts back to my accountant-the idiot." She looked scornful. "Once he matched that up to the fact the other families who were targeted were all represented by Dunnolly & Dunnolly, it eventually led him to suspect me. I had noticed that he was missing from the party that night and I went looking for him. He was in his study, on the phone. He sounded agitated, so I listened, trying to find out what he was talking about. Apparently he was on the phone with his MI5 contact and he told him or her that he knew who was behind the embezzlement and that he wanted to come in with the information. I couldn't let that happen.

"While he was finis.h.i.+ng up his call, I slipped into my office next door, got the gun I kept in the safe there, and went in to confront him." She laughed. "Actually, I should say that he confronted me. He asked me if I had overheard his conversation and I told him that I had. He asked me to turn myself in, which I found hilarious. Really, why would I want to do something like that?"

"So you killed him," Lilly said, her tone tight with fury.

"Yes," Angelica said, coldly. "That would have wrapped things up nicely. The party was still in full swing and the study was far away enough that no one heard a thing. I was just about to call one of the a.s.sociates here and tell them to dispose of the body when you came knocking. I hid behind the door, and when you came in, I knocked you unconscious."

"And your so-called a.s.sociates put Lilly and her father in the car and sent it over the cliff,"

Travis said. "You were hoping that the explosion from the car crash would disguise the fact that your husband had been shot."

"So clever," Angelica said mockingly. "Yes, that's what I was hoping. And I was sure that I could move the process along quickly enough that no one would look at his body too closely. Who wouldn't try to accommodate the grieving Lady Harrington who had just lost her husband and daughter in such a tragic accident?"

She looked at Lilly. "Well, almost lost. I had been convinced that your body had been washed out to sea." Angelica shook her head. "Well, we'll see if we can't make your death a fact this time around."

Lilly laughed. "Oh, and how will you manage it this time? That bullet to the brain wasn't exactly fun, Mother."

"You're such a disrespectful little b.i.t.c.h," her mother sneered. "Do you think I'm not aware that you spied on us? Sitting in the trees watching the family from afar?

You would have never stayed away. Eventually, you would have returned. And we couldn't have that. The trust fund your uncle watches so closely is too important. The charity." She smiled slowly. "Well, it needs your money far more than you do."

The charity. Lilly felt her heart speed up further, a sense of realization flooding her senses.

"The charity is a terrorist fund," she whispered, her hands beginning to shake as the weapon tucked at the small of her back began to burn against her flesh with her need to use it.

"Of course." Her mother smiled. "Those quarterly donations of the interest ensures that I have a steady supply of men to do what needs to be done. The world is in horrible shape, darling. It needs some discipline."

Discipline. The world needed discipline.

"Lilly Belle has such enemies as well." Angelica clucked. "Such a shame. They broke in while I was shopping and killed you, your lover, and your uncle and his bodyguard." She looked at Isaac's still form. "Handsome man. It's a shame he had to be so d.a.m.ned ethical."

A movement at the front of the room, behind the men surrounding Angelica, caught Lilly's attention. Nik. He was slowly easing along the edge of a heavy armoire to a.s.sess the situation.

"Poor Mother." Lilly sighed. "You can't get your way, so you kill. But do you truly believe we're the only ones who know this?"

Angelica laughed. "You have no proof, darling. What you do have, however, is the ability to irritate me and to take the money I promised my friends." She glanced to one of the hard-eyed men beside her. "Truly, there's nothing you can do. It's over, darling. You'll die for good, you'll be mourned, and I can grieve the death of yet another husband who died trying to save you from the people you managed to tie yourself to. Wh.o.r.es such as yourself do manage to create bad situations. It's a proven fact."

"You watch too much television." Lilly followed Travis as he eased to his feet.

"It's not going to be that easy."

Angelica stepped closer, her expression hardening. Her hand lifted and she slapped Lilly across the face. Lilly didn't even try to avoid it. She took the blow. When her mother was dead or in prison, then Lilly wanted no doubts in her own mind as to the choices she had to make.

Nik was now in position. Desmond was slowly sliding his hand into the side of his chair. Lilly prayed he was moving for a weapon. She realized that Isaac was conscious, as she saw his good hand slide beneath his body.

This was the only chance they were going to have.

"Your weapon, Mr. Caine," Angelica demanded as she turned to Travis. "Your reputation is far too good. I think I'd prefer you not keep it."

Travis's hand slid beneath his jacket, slowly.

Desmond's hand gripped something at his side.