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“We got a lot today, though. Tomorrow, we go for the jugular with AMPS, though.” Oleander’s eyes met mine. “You don’t have to be here. In fact, why don’t you and Magnet get off Malta and never fucking come back?”
I looked over my shoulder at Magnet, who was nodding. “I’ll stay as long as you feel is necessary. However, if you want to leave tonight, I will make the arrangements.”
“What about Seshat? Do you really think Cassandra killed her and her mother?” Poseidon asked.
“Definitely not,” Oleander responded.
“What makes you so certain?” Magnet asked.
“She said nothing about the baby. There is no way Cassandra would’ve missed the chance to rub our noses in it.”
“I agree.” I’d known she was lying too, but not because she’d neglected to mention the baby. It was the way she’d raised her chin and leveled her gaze right back at the window as if she was responding directly to me and wanted me to know exactly what she was capable of.
“Here’s our plan. Tomorrow, I’ll go after two things—the AMPS network, which will be less difficult now that Decker Ashford waved his magic wand and all their money has disappeared.”
My eyes opened wide. “Where did it go?”
“Nowhere, yet,” Magnet answered. “He hid it just long enough to get someone’s government to seize it.”
“You said two things.”
Oleander nodded. “The other is personal. Cassandra and I are going to have a chat about my parents.”
Knowing that, made my decision to leave Malta far easier.
“How are things going with Charlene?” I asked Magnet, who’d been listening in on that interrogation while my primary focus was on Cassandra.
“She believes her sister is responsible for the death of her husband and for the miscarriage she suffered.”
My eyes opened wide.
“From what she said, it sounds as if Cassandra wanted to guarantee Charlene never had a life of her own. And when she refused to do something Cassandra wanted her to do, she made threats. One was that she’d kill Tommaso Borg. Charlene thought she was bluffing. The other thing she held over her head was Francesca.”
“She threatened to kill her?”
“Not that she’s said. From what I could gather, Cassandra had dirt on Charlene, maybe even things she manufactured by disguising herself as the woman. Apparently, as long as she followed orders, Cassandra wouldn’t tell Francesca aboutCharlene’scrimes nor would she go to the authorities.”
I shook my head. “And Charlene didn’t have enough confidence to consider she could do the same thing. Breaking people down was definitely Cassandra’s specialty. Among other things, of course.”
“She’s also saying the accident that killed Marco Jr. and his wife was Cassandra’s doing,” Magnet added.
“How much do you think she has on AMPS?” I asked.
“From what she’s said, she knows everything, including where the rest of the dead bodies are buried, as they say. She wants a deal to protect her and her mother.”
“Whatever we can pin on Ananke will just add more years to her sentence,” muttered Poseidon.
“Are you all right?” Oleander asked me. “Sorry, stupid question.”
I shook my head. “I’m okay. I was just thinking you should get everything you can out of her. Don’t hesitate, and don’t wait.”
“You don’t think she’ll be alive much longer, do you?” she asked.
“I do not.”
O nodded. “Me neither.”
“Poseidon, do you have a minute?” Magnet asked.