Page 89 of Heartless

“You shut down?”

“Yes. All prisoners and personnel have been moved to an alternate location.”

“Cameras pick up anything?”

“Disabled.”

“Fingerprints?”

“None. It was a precise surgical strike performed by people who knew exactly what they were doing and what they wanted.”

“Any idea why they’d want her body?”

“No clue. I’d hoped you might have one.”

He didn’t.

“Okay. Call me if anything else comes up.”

“Will do.”

He glanced back at Olivia’s still form. Who were these people? How did they get into a secure facility that only a handful of folks even knew existed? What was their agenda? They believed they could kill indiscriminately and destroy lives without the slightest compunction. And why take Iris’s body? What other secrets did it hold that they hadn’t discovered?

* * *

Slovakia

“Omar, we had a deal,” Ash said.

“You don’t know these people, Drake. They find out I’ve helped you, I’m a dead man.”

“What do you know about them?”

“Not a lot. They’ve been around a long time. I’ve heard rumors and whispers for years, but I’ve never had to deal with them. Never wanted to.”

There were people far more evil than Omar Schrader. The former chemical weapons dealer had actually saved lives since Ash had turned him into an OZ asset. Schrader had been given a choice between losing everything by going to prison or continuing in his role as a weapons trader with the addition of being an informant for OZ. He’d been cunning enough to make the right choice.

That wasn’t to say he was reformed or remotely ethical, but he had a healthy sense of self-preservation. This wasn’t the first time Schrader had dragged his feet. There was usually time for haggling and coercion. This situation was too urgent. If they didn’t find a treatment soon, Olivia would die.

Schrader’s contacts and associates would make most governments blanch. He knew and did business with some of the most dangerous and evil people in the world. One of those people had to know what this poison was and how to reverse its effects.

Ash leaned forward in his chair, staring the man dead in the eye. “Let me make it easier for you. If you don’t help me find the antidote within the next twenty-four hours, I’ll kill you.” He paused and then added, “Does that give you extra incentive?”

Omar huffed. “I don’t know why I agreed to work with you in the first place.”

“Because you had no choice. It was either this or prison. I can still make that happen.”

“You’re a very unpleasant man, Asher Drake.”

“Yeah, I know. And you’re a real peach, Omar.”

“How did the beautiful Juliet fall in love with such a rough-edged, uncouth man?”

And this was the paradox. Omar had a crush on Jules. Not only that, but Jules communicated with Omar frequently. Jules, his precious, beautiful, impossibly brave wife, had charmed the evil Omar Schrader during their first meeting. When Omar had had her kidnapped later, Ash had been threatening death, while Jules had been both exasperated and amused.

“Since she speaks fondly of you, Omar, I’d say Jules’s tastes are not always the wisest choices.”

“How is my sweet angel?”

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