Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 140965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
The sprawling mansion situated on twelve acres was located right off the water, a good way to escape if necessary. The entire estate was fenced with a high, wrought iron fence that rose twelve feet and surrounded the property on three sides, leaving only the water for an exit. A tennis court, pool and spa were only three of the many luxuries on the outside of the property.
Ethan Montgomery swiveled back and forth in the deep leather seat, sipping on his favorite Scotch as he video chatted with his father. The center screen in the huge control room focused on the distinguished, genteel-looking man he often called “sir.” The multitude of screens on either side showed various rooms and hallways as well as outside the mansion itself.
“Are you certain you’re safe, Ethan?” the man on the screen demanded.
Ethan indicated the multitude of screens surrounding him. “We’ve hired the best security there is. This house is a fortress. I can see every single room as well as the outside. The room is locked, and no one can get in. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Are you absolutely certain there is no trail of any kind back to the consortium?”
“No worries, sir,” he assured his father. “There is nothing to lead back to you or any of the others. Even Cheng is not associated with you. No one in the MSS has ever heard of you. The money was filtered through so many layers it would be impossible to trace.”
“You didn’t try to hide that you went to Palembang.” Calvin Montgomery’s voice was strictly neutral, letting Ethan know, as so many times in the past, that he was willing to withhold judgment until he knew all the details.
“It’s difficult to hide a plane. The plausible story is, I got an SOS from old friends and flew in to help them. They were acting weird and I didn’t want anything to do with them, so I didn’t stay long. Witnesses will bear that out. I made an ass of myself so I’ll be remembered. No one trying to sneak or fly under the radar does that. Standard story, I’m a party man and I don’t creep around in back alleys. I’ve found it best to let the authorities question me if they have to. I’ve done the act long enough that I’m totally believable.”
“Are your friends going to deliver? We need the virus, but even more, Ethan, we need that vaccine.”
“We dangled enough money for them to have fallen for the bait, sir. We kept our end of the deal the few years we had them in our pockets. They want the money. I told them no vaccine, no more money. They were upset and pointed out the cops weren’t on my trail.”
“I detest whiners. If they hadn’t screwed up in the first place, they’d still be working for Whitney and we wouldn’t have to recruit more of his people. They could have told him the virus doesn’t work on the woman and discarded it while they worked on finding a vaccine.” There was disgust in Calvin’s voice.
Ethan shrugged. “They got greedy and wanted us to pay them as well as for Whitney to give them more. They always thought they were so clever. They don’t matter.” Waving his hand dismissively, he looked around the room and stretched his legs out in front of him. “It’s why we run the world, not them. What have you done with dear stepmommy Candace?”
“The cheating little bitch? I let her see what happens when she decides to fuck some government official in another country. I showed her his entire family was wiped out. Everyone. Every single one. Not just him and his siblings, parents and grandparents. Everyone he ever grew up with and knew. She got to see the dead with the flies and maggots crawling all over them. He did too.”
Ethan’s father snorted. “What about him? Advisor to the president of Indonesia. What a joke. You’d think he could keep it in his pants, but he probably considered the whole affair a good joke on the rich American. We go for a meeting, and my guards tell me she’s all over him. Three days in and she’s fucking him.
“Before he died, I made certain he knew why Lupa Suku was destroyed, every man, woman and child. He was found dead this morning, and it looked like suicide. She’ll know it wasn’t because I made certain we had a video of him being hung. I wanted her to see him dying, choking to death slowly. I made certain she knew that every one of those deaths was on her head.”
“Sir, you know you have to be safe. She knows too much.”
Calvin’s expression turned crafty. “I’m enjoying her crude attempts to make it up to me. I like exacting revenge. There’s a meeting coming up between the five of us, the World Alliance, and I think she’ll be perfect for entertainment. After, when she thinks she’s in the clear, I’ll strangle her.” He held up his hands. “I want the satisfaction.”