Page 61 of Deadly Storms (Sunrise Lake #3)

Jack Foster woke with a start. Beside him, Yasemin lay sleeping peacefully.

It hadn’t been her that disturbed his sleep.

Without lifting his head, he scanned the room while one hand found the drawer in the nightstand beside the bed.

Carefully, he slid it open to retrieve the fully loaded gun he kept there.

He moved his hand all around the drawer, only to find it empty. The gun wasn’t there.

A shadow moved across from the bed. It was impossible to make out who was there in the room with them, but he knew they weren’t alone. He sat up slowly, angling his body slightly to protect Yasemin.

“It took a minute for you to wake up, Jack.”

The voice came out of the darkness. Low. Amused. Arrogant. Jack winced inwardly. He knew that voice. He should have expected a visit.

“What do you want, Rainier?”

“I thought it was time we had a talk, so you clearly understand the rules regarding your daughter.”

“You can’t…” Jack began.

“I think it best you listen to what I have to say. I’m not asking, Jack.

I’m telling you how it’s going to be. Shabina wants nothing more to do with you.

You forgot, or didn’t notice, that your daughter is highly intelligent.

You can’t hide the truth from her. She was always suspicious when it came out that I rescued her in the nick of time, that the sandstorm hit right after we got away and an assassin struck the camp.

She wondered if you had contacted that assassin and taken a hit out on her.

Unfortunately for you, she has a friend who can gather information from various sources, and it turns out, there was a connection.

A transfer of money from you to an account known to be used by that assassin.

She was also able to access your email, the one you use for encoded emails.

Her friend can decode the emails. The correspondence between you and the intermediary was right there with your orders. ”

Jack’s mind raced with the possibilities of putting a spin on what he’d done. The last thing he wanted was for Yasemin to know that he’d tried to have their daughter killed. He glanced down at her. Even though Rainier spoke in low tones, she should have wakened.

“You drugged my wife.” He made it an accusation, hoping to deflect.

“This is your one chance to hear me out before I take action. I am giving you this one chance to keep the truth from your wife and for you to stay alive. I don’t agree with that decision, but Shabina loves her mother and would like to prevent more heartache than she’s already experienced.

The truth coming out or you dying would certainly cause Yasemin grief. ”

Jack breathed a sigh of relief. His daughter was intelligent, but she lacked a killer’s instinct. She felt far too much compassion, just like her mother.

“Shabina is also aware you orchestrated an attempt to get her locked away in a mental hospital. She’s spoken with the two men you paid to frighten her into believing Scorpion was stalking her again. This had to be one of your more despicable schemes to force compliance and get your way.”

“I can explain to her—”

Rainier cut him off. “You aren’t listening, Jack. If you want to keep your marriage and, ultimately, your life, you should listen closely.”

A chill went down Jack’s spine and for the first time, real fear crept in. He tasted bile. Rainier was capable of carrying out his threat—and that was a direct threat to Jack’s life. Rainier came and went from his heavily guarded home at will, showing his ability to end Jack’s life easily.

“I’m listening.” He choked out the words. His voice sounded strangled even to his own ears. Rainier’s calm demeanor was getting to him. In truth, he’d always been a little afraid of the man, which was one of the many reasons he had for despising him.

Men were afraid of Jack, not the other way around.

He gave orders and everyone listened, but not Rainier.

Rainier gave the orders, and no matter how Jack tried to get around the man, he never came out on top in an argument between them.

He’d tried to use his considerable clout to get Rainier fired from his job with the idea he would lose government protection as well as his information sources.

Jack discovered very quickly that Rainier had much more power and influence than he had.

He hadn’t found a way to remove the “ghost” from their lives.

It wasn’t just Jack’s marriage Rainier had threatened. He warned Jack his life might be forfeit. If he knew anything about Rainier, it was to take everything he said seriously.

“Shabina doesn’t want to see you or talk to you, and you’re going to respect her wishes.

She does want to be able to talk with her mother and see her.

You’re going to allow that to happen. You’re going to encourage Yasemin to call her daughter and suggest a visit because you must go out of town and Yasemin can’t go with you.

Tell her you’d feel better if she was with her daughter and under my protection. ”

Jack found himself shaking his head, his heart pumping wildly. “No, I can’t do that. Yasemin stays with me, where I can look after her. We don’t separate for any reason.”

“That’s too bad, Jack. I’m sorry you see it that way.

” Rainier stood up. He was no more than a faint shadow of gray in the unrelenting darkness.

“Make sure your affairs are in order. You have two weeks to get that done. Make the most of your time with your wife. Teach her anything she might need to know about running your business in those two weeks. Prepare her.”

Rainier spoke so casually that it took a minute to sink in, to realize what he was saying.

“You’re going to kill me.” Jack made it a statement. He was so scared that he feared he might disgrace himself by vomiting, or worse, his bladder letting loose.

“What did you think I’d do when you tried to lock my wife in a mental institution?

When you put a hit out on her? I gave you my terms, and you refused them.

I’m not going to argue with you. For me, I find it much easier just to kill you and get you out of the way.

Yasemin will grieve for a while. Shabina probably will too, but they’ll both get over your death.

Life goes on.” He sounded pragmatic. “Believe me, Jack, after what you did to Shabina, I will find great satisfaction in ending you.”

Jack swore under his breath. Rainier was the man the government sent to carry out dark deeds.

A “ghost.” One of the best, if not the best. He had walked into Jack’s home dozens of times, right past the guards.

He had come into Jack’s home tonight despite the number of security personnel scattered through the house and on the grounds.

No alarm had gone off. Jack could almost believe Rainier was an apparition.

He did believe he would carry out his threat and never look back. There would be no way to stop him.

“I agree to your terms,” he capitulated.

Rainier sighed. “If you think you can renege on our agreement, Jack, even if I miss somehow, if you manage to find a way to kill me, my men will lock on you so fast you won’t know what hit you.

You climbed to the top of our hit list the moment word of what you’d done got out.

We all stick together and look after one another’s families.

You’re already considered a dead man walking.

Don’t be stupid enough to make it real.”

“I understand,” Jack said. “I agreed to your terms, and I’ll stick with them. That doesn’t mean eventually I won’t try to get back in my daughter’s life. Hopefully, she’ll be able to forgive me.”

“I’m sure she will, given time,” Rainier said. “But I won’t.”