Drawn in Blood (41 page)

“I can’t answer that one either—yet. But C-6 is building a strong case against Xiao Long. And if we can provide the assistant U.S. attorney with some hard-core evidence connecting him to Liu and the Liu Jian Triad, maybe we can get Xiao to flip on Liu. In the meantime, I’m trying to second-guess Liu. The final ways for him to go after Wal ace are financial ruin and personal humiliation.”

“And then death,” Sloane concluded quietly. “Kil ing Wal ace after stripping him of everything would be the only way Liu could settle the score enough for him.” Derek didn’t dispute the obvious. “Let’s see what my feelers turn up. I should hear back tomorrow. Until then, the FBI agents we assigned to Wal ace have been advised of the escalated danger. They’re on high alert.”

Sloane chewed her lip, worry creasing her brow. “Wal ace is scared. He’l never admit it, but he is. Now that he realizes the ful extent of Liu’s hatred, and how far he’l go to carry out his vendetta, he’s pretty shaken up. Especial y with Xiao Long breathing down his neck, ready and waiting to do Liu’s bidding. I tried to reassure him. I reminded him that we put extra security on him and that we’re working with the Hong Kong police to establish solid evidence against Liu. I even tried to divert his mind by giving him something to look forward to. He has a big fund-raising event at the Jaspar Museum in Soho tomorrow. He’s one of the museum’s major sponsors. I urged him to go.”

“And?”

“And he said he’l think about it.” Sloane sighed. “I wasn’t going to lie to him, Derek. I don’t blame him for being scared.”

“Neither do I. But if anyone can reach him, you can. You have a way with people that’s amazing.”

“I hope that holds true in this case. After Wal ace left Ben’s factory, al he wanted to do was have it out with Cindy—which I doubt was pretty—and then lock himself in seclusion.

I told him I’d get his partners to gang up on him and drag him out if need be.” Sloane raked her hands through her hair. “I feel so damned helpless.”

“You’re not. You’re getting answers. So am I. We’re closing in on this case. We’l get there.”

She twisted around to gaze up at him. “Speaking of which, if I haven’t said it enough times, thank you for what you did for my father.”

“I didn’t do it alone,” Derek reminded her. “Your friend Diane worked with me every step of the way. Your dad’s technical y in custody. So’s your mom, on trumped-up charges of obstructing justice. Al that’s only for Xiao’s benefit. This way, if his Red Dragons poke around to make sure the cops found the stolen painting where they planted it, they’l find out that your father’s been arrested and is being held at the Nineteenth Precinct—along with your mother, so Xiao doesn’t try going after her. But don’t worry. They’re in a comfortable break room, not a cel . The charges are pending until we wrap up the case. But we al know the anonymous tip was an obvious setup.”

“And a scare tactic. That phone cal Xiao made nearly gave my parents heart attacks. As for the setup, Xiao might as wel have hung up a neon sign.”

“Yeah.” Derek made a derisive sound. “Out of the blue and at the exact same time that Wal ace and Leo are getting their packages and Ben is being pushed over the edge by Jin Huang, the Nineteenth Precinct gets a cal from one of the victims of Xiao’s Upper East Side burglaries, claiming he’d gotten an unsigned note saying he could have back his priceless painting
The Bird
—for a finder’s fee of twenty-five thousand dol ars. Of course, when he cal ed the phone number provided, he got a voice mail message saying he’d reached Matthew Burbank and Associates. Then, low and behold, when the cops ransack your father’s office, they find
The Bird
shoved behind one of his office file cabinets.”

“Not to mention that
The Bird
just happened to be stolen a week before my parents’ place was ransacked. Now I know why my mother said Xiao’s guys spent a long time shoving things around in my father’s office, when they already knew damned wel where the Rothberg file was. Could there be a more obvious plan to frame my father for art theft?”

“Nope. Then again, Xiao wasn’t going for subtlety.”

Sloane frowned. “You’re sure the police wil drop the charges?”

“Positive.” Derek counted off on his fingers. “Your father has an alibi for the night
The Bird
was stolen. Johnny Liu has a vendetta against your father and his partners—one he unleashed on al of them simultaneously. And the FBI has a solid case against Xiao Long, who we’l try to establish has a connection with Johnny Liu. Trust me, there’l be no problem. Al the charges against your father wil be dropped. Diane and the Bureau are already working on it.”

“I owe both you and Diane a huge debt of thanks for jumping on this and getting it resolved so quickly.”

“You can thank Diane by buying her lunch. As for me, I have other ideas for how you can express your undying gratitude.” Sloane smiled. “With pleasure, Agent Parker.”

“Oh, one more thing I forgot to tel you. When I talked to Leo, he told me he was rifling through your file that night in the hopes of finding the dossier the Bureau had compiled on him, and that it might contain something that would give him a clue as to where his fiancée was. He realized it was a long shot, but he saw the file and acted on impulse. I can’t blame the guy.”

“Neither can I. I’d move heaven and earth to find you.”

Derek gave her a deep, slow kiss. “You won’t have to. I’m right here. And I’m not going anywhere.”

“Derek, let’s get married.”

Sloane’s proposal came out of the blue. Derek was so stunned he nearly fel off the sofa. “What did you just say?”

“I said let’s get married. Soon. Before I reapply to the FBI, and hopeful y am accepted. Before I go down to Quantico and put in my time at the Academy. This way, when I graduate, the Bureau wil be more apt to place me in the New York Field Office with you. We’l be married, but there’l be no conflict of interests. You handle Violent Crimes, and I handle White-Col ar Crimes. Different squads, same Field Office. This way, when I start my new professional life, my personal life wil already be exactly where I want it.” Derek was stil staring at her. She’d obviously given this a great deal of thought. Even so, he had to be convinced she was a hundred percent certain.

“You’re sure this is what you want?” he asked bluntly. “That you’re ready to make this official? To commit to a lifetime? It’s a huge step.”

“Unless you’re not ready, or it’s not what you want.” Sloane’s tone was teasing, but her gaze was serious as she searched Derek’s face.

“Are you crazy?” Derek gripped her shoulders. “Say the word, and we’l get a marriage license tomorrow.” He frowned. “If we lived in New York, we could be husband and wife the next day. In New Jersey, there’s a three-day waiting period. But, okay, we’l be married this weekend.” Sloane laughed. “I see you’ve done your research. But let’s slow down, just a little. And not just because of this Johnny Liu case that’s about to explode wide open. Although, truthful y, I’d like to put it behind us so we can enjoy our day.”

“Fine. What else?”

“I’m not a big fan of traditional weddings, but I’d kind of like to have our families there, and a few close friends. And I’d also like a little time to savor the thought of becoming your wife. How about a December wedding, right before the holidays? That’l give us six weeks to plan.”

“Done. Let’s pick a date.”

Sloane and Derek drove into the Field Office together the next morning. Once inside, they went their separate ways. Derek headed off to fil Rich in on
The Bird
and al the other happenings of yesterday. And Sloane went into one of the conference rooms for her morning’s first order of business: cal ing the Nineteenth Precinct to check on her parents.

They were both hanging in there. So, Matthew reported, were his friends, al of whom he’d spoken to. Everyone was strung out, but holding it together. Each in his own way was taking steps to put his life back together. Leo was welcoming the bittersweet knowledge that Amalie had never stopped loving him, but had left him to protect her children. He was worried sick about her, but convinced, thanks to the FBI, that Xiao Long hadn’t yet located her. If he had, she’d be dead, kil ed right before Leo’s eyes. So Leo was focusing on a plan, once this crisis was behind them, to hire a PI to find her—hopeful y so they could enjoy the happy ending they’d been deprived of.

Ben was cal ing his AA sponsor and arranging to attend a meeting. And to Sloane’s pleasure and surprise, Wal ace had decided to take her advice and attend the Jaspar Museum’s evening fund-raiser.

The details of her father’s update lifted a huge weight off Sloane’s shoulders. Al these fundamental y decent men she’d known al her life had been through hel . Al of them were at their breaking points. And al of them were fighting their way back.

Relieved beyond measure, Sloane shifted her focus to checking out a completely different extraneous detail that had been bugging her.

The background check that Derek had run on Cindy Liu had been so clean that it practical y sparkled. It had also been superficial, the only personal detail being her close relationship with her uncle. Something about that didn’t sit right. It was almost as if the details of her life had been scrubbed clean.

Which usual y implied there was something to hide.

Maybe they were al underestimating Cindy Liu. They’d relegated her role in Liu’s plan to wreaking havoc on Wal ace’s emotions. But she was a very intel igent, very talented woman.

So maybe there was more to it. Maybe Cindy’s talents were being used in a more diverse fashion.

Sloane logged on to one of the conference room computers and began her search.

Sloane lost track of time as her search took on a life of its own. She started digging deeper, and the slight niggle she’d been feeling going into this escalated into a ful -fledged suspicion. The information she was uncovering wouldn’t interest only Derek. It would also interest Rich. It smacked of being a major link connecting al the tentacles of this complicated and diverse case.

She’d just printed out some pertinent pages when the conference room door swung open and Derek strode in.

“There you are,” he said, the frustration in his tone tel ing Sloane he’d been searching for a while. “I was getting a little antsy. You vanished hours ago.” Sloane glanced at her watch, startled when she saw the time. She’d been in the conference room for over three hours. “Sorry. I had no idea I’d been in here so long. I checked in with my dad, and then got involved in some online research. I want to run my findings by you and Rich…” She broke off when she saw the intense expression on Derek’s face. “You struck pay dirt. What did you find out?”

“More than I expected.” He sat down beside her, crackling with as much energy as a live wire. “I got those phone cal s I was waiting for. The first was from a former Army Ranger buddy of mine who’s working in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. He did enough digging to get us our answer as to why Liu’s hel -bent on executing al his plans urgently and simultaneously. He’s dying. He’s only got a month or two to live.”

Al the pieces fel into place in Sloane’s mind. “Of course. Now it al makes sense. Liu wants to settle al his personal scores and fil the triad’s coffers with a ton of cash before he dies.” A pause. “And I suspect he’s getting a lot more cash than even we’re aware of.”

“Meaning?”

“I’l get into that in a minute.” Sloane wanted to hear the rest of Derek’s news first. “Who was your other phone cal from?”

“One of my contacts at the Guardia di Finanza.”

“The Italian special police force?”

“Yup. My kind of outfit—military corps
and
law enforcement al in one.”

“I’ve dealt with them. They serve the Ministry of the Economy and Finance and investigate financial crime like credit card fraud and money laundering.”

“
And
anti-Mafia operations,” Derek added.

Sloane’s brows arched. “Go on.”

“It turns out they’re investigating Wal ace’s leather company—which, incidental y, is total y control ed through a complex web of legal entities, several of which are located in Hong Kong, al with Cayman Island bank accounts. The ownership is so convoluted that only Wal ace is traceable.”

“Why?”

“Good question. Even better answer. The Guardia di Finanza suspects that the company has been manufacturing counterfeit high-end leather goods and that it has strong ties to Albanian organized crime.”

“Damn.” Sloane exhaled sharply. “So Liu is not only robbing Wal ace blind
and
setting him up to take the fal for a dirty business but he’s also setting him up so the authorities wil believe he has ties to Albanian organized crime.”

“And you and I know exactly why. Liu’s planning things so that when Rich and his squad close in on the Black Eagles, he’l miraculously discover that their funding leads straight to Wal ace. Johnny Liu wil have extricated himself entirely, and Wal ace wil be stripped of everything and charged with every crime in the book, including conspiracy, racketeering, major theft, and murder.”

That prompted a question in Sloane’s mind. “How long has Wal ace had an ownership interest in this leather goods company?”

“A year. Why?”

Sloane shrugged. “I’m just surprised that Wal ace didn’t take on a more active role in the purchase. He was an investment banker before Sophie died—a pretty bril iant one. It’s out of character for him to blindly trust someone else to handle al the details on such a sizable transaction. Even if Wal ace didn’t have the wherewithal to take the reins in the acquisition, he’d at least do some due diligence. Clearly, he didn’t. If he had, I’m sure he would have spotted something fishy.”

“What are you getting at?” Derek asked.

“I’m not sure.” Sloane studied Derek uneasily. “Could there have been a different motivating factor—one that would keep Wal ace from asking any questions?”

“You mean like blackmail?” Derek mul ed over the possibility. “Liu certainly pul ed it off with Wal ace’s partners, through Xiao Long. But what would they have on Wal ace to blackmail him with—other than those things Liu was unwil ing to make him aware of?”