Page 102 of Dash

My heart sank.

“Oh, God, no.” Thena slapped her hand on her mouth.

I spat a foul stream through my clenched teeth. How much grief could one man cause?

“What’s going on?” Guzman’s gaze shifted between Druid and Thena.

“I know what Trev came to tell me.” Face white as new snow, Thena closed her eyes before she opened them again. “Coco’s American patron was Richard Astor, my father.”

***

Dash

Thena shot out of her seat and, hands fisted, back straight as a rod, marched out of the library. The guys and Mina retreated and huddled in a corner, no doubt to digest the new findings. I started to go after Thena, but Trev pulled me aside.

“Sorry, man.” He blew out a breath. “This is not how I wanted this to go.”

“You should’ve given me a heads up,” I said. “She’s upset.”

“I tried,” Trev said, “but Thena’s fears about her sisters were so acute, I didn’t want to prolong her anguish. Besides, you heard her. She wanted to know.”

“You’re right.” I eased down on the coffee table and raked my fingers through my hair. “Still, something about this doesn’t sit right with me.”

Trev scoffed. “There are about a million parts of this puzzle that don’t fit right.”

“What’s the evidence?” I asked.

“Coco’s financial transactions interweave with Richard’s accounts seamlessly. Richard had many accounts, but transfers came and went from one personal account. Only Richard had access to that account. The way his accounts relate to Coco’swould convict old man Astor in a court of law a thousand times.”

“Shit.” I rubbed my face. “This is worst case scenario for Thena. Richard was a son of a bitch. I’m sure he had businesses wherever they were profitable. But changing the world order? It could be a stretch. He bought a European peerage. He fashioned himself after the great American robber barons of the gilded age. His son bled and died for this soil.”

“Perhaps his greed got the best of him,” Trev suggested.

“Perhaps.” I considered that. “But here’s what really bugs me. Richard was a wily fucker. Had he been involved in an international conspiracy of this magnitude, he would’ve taken care to cover his tracks. Yet you said the relationship between the accounts is covert but solid.”

Trev shrugged. “Maybe he made a mistake?”

“Richard’s personal life was a mess, but he didn’t make business mistakes. If he was part of NWO, then he would’ve been even more careful. A charge of treason could’ve destroyed him.” I wracked my brain trying to make sense of this. “Do we know who’s behind NWO?”

“We’ve had the NWO in our radar for a while,” Druid reported. “The main actor behind NWO is the ambitious autocrat of a very hostile ‘people’s republic,’ and his allies. His goal is world domination. We believe that his main agent in the global stage is the billionaire, Xao Li.”

“I’ve heard about the son of a bitch.”

“Maybe Li set Richard up,” Druid theorized. “Maybe Richard got too greedy and NWO ordered his execution. But why kill his daughters? They would be no threat to Li or NWO.”

“Richard was a cunning fox.” I massaged my forehead. “He always hedged his bets. What if he tried to play both sides? What if he had proof of this conspiracy? Perhaps he’s got something compromising that threatens Li and his friends?”

“Li would need to get it back,” Trev built on my theory.“He could do it by eliminating the Astor heiresses and putting his man—or woman—in charge of the fortune.”

“It’s a three for one.” I kept to my argument. “Li recovers or gets control of whatever he’s worried about. He gets his hands on one of the world’s largest fortunes and a US based company he can use as a legit international front. Plus, he gets good old-fashioned revenge on the man who once threatened him.”

Trev huffed. “It’s a hell of a theory.”

“A highly theoretical hell of a theory.” I agreed. “But it could explain Richard’s death, the attacks on Thena, and the threats to her sisters’ lives.”

“We might be reaching here,” Druid warned.

“Worth looking into?”

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