Read Online Destined for Power by Kathleen Brooks - Free Book Online

took out her phone and slid it to her side before pressing the button and taking a burst of photographs.
    Some of the words she understood. Mallory spoke Italian, French, Russian, and Arabic. She recognized their language as Slavic, though she didn’t know which region. She didn’t show a reaction when she heard the term for a million Euros. They all agreed, and she heard something about the job being done in America before the end of next month.
    “I told you before, after you have your money, I’d give you the target,” Liam said in Russian.
    Mr. Jonak shot him an intimidating glare and nodded to her. Mallory smiled innocently and then started looking around the room again.
    “Don’t worry about her. She doesn’t speak Russian and since you can’t speak my language and I can’t speak yours, we’ll speak the language of our past.” Mallory opened her purse and dug out her lip gloss as if she were bored. Liam and his assumptions always got him in trouble.
    The men grunted and went back to their discussion. Money was mentioned again along with some event.
    “Is your person reliable? The job will get done neatly, lots of press?” Liam asked. Mr. Black nodded in response. “Good. You’ll have your money by the end of the night if you play your hand right.”
    Mallory took another sip of her drink and then smiled at the men as they looked at her. Liam patted her back and leaned down. “Sorry to speak Russian in front of you. They just don’t know that much English. It was business anyway.”
    Mallory shrugged her shoulder. “No problem. What business do you do with them?”
    “They provide services for Stromia. Now, give me a kiss for good luck.”
    Mallory kissed his cheek and followed him to the table. She stood behind him as he welcomed the group. “Thank you all for coming tonight. It is with great pleasure I welcome the President of France and the future President of the United States.” He waited while his guests chuckled. “It’s important to save the world’s endangered species, and the only way to accomplish that is to work together. I hope for a long friendship between Stromia, France, and the United States.”
    The men clapped and then took their seats. Mallory found a seat against the wall and watched the game. Something had to happen; she just didn’t know what.
     
    * * *
     
    Reid watched the screens in the darkness of the surveillance room. Cards were dealt; money was won and lost. He pulled up another screen on his tablet that showed where all the chips were. Liam was losing badly. But every chip went to Mr. Black of Blackriver Industries and Mr. Jonak of Jonak Transport. The report on Reid’s desk showed them as shady business owners. Blackriver dealt in metals while Jonak owned container ships that sailed around the world.
    There was never any proof to charge them with crimes, but many a dockworker suddenly had extra cash in their pockets, and Interpol’s investigations crumbled as the dead bodies of witnesses piled up. They were friends and enemies of every country. Their fingers were in every pie, and no one was brave enough to tell them to get out. Instead, they just handed them the whole pie.
    “Boss, I got something.” Luke hurried over and handed Reid a printout. “Jonak and Black are related. They’re cousins. And Black isn’t his real last name. It’s Cern. It’s Slovakian for black.”
    Reid looked as the research ran through their system. Black and Jonak had lived together during college. Luke had taken the search back a generation and found their fathers had lived next door to each other and still did. “Cousins?”
    “Not first cousins; if that were the case their parents would be siblings. But both Jonak and Black, junior and senior, are only children.” Luke held up his finger to stop Reid from asking a question. “But each father has the same middle name, and that name was passed down to both Black and Jonak. I dug around and that name is the maiden name of