Page 132 of Wild Mustang Security Firm

“What the fuck is wrong with you people?” cried Reid. “This bastard,” he said, grabbing Fariq by the suit lapels, “almost got me killed, and now he has my sister.”

Croft reached up and pried Fariq from Reid’s grip.

“Fariq’s a nasty piece of work, but he may have information that will help, and I suspect this is part of some kind of internal power play. Noah will get to the bottom of it, won’t you, Noah?”

“You bet I will. We’ll get your girl back, Croft.”

Baez and Noah took Fariq by either arm and headed toward the back of the building. John followed.

“What does he mean, your girl?” Reid accused Croft.

“Why don’t you and I step into the conference room? Junior and I will debrief you when he’s done with the LVPD. You and I will use the time to get to know each other a little better, and I’ll catch you up on what you’ve put your sister through.”

“Put my sister through? Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“Well, I’m not the guy who stumbled upon whatever has Fariq so worried. I’m not the guy who didn’t go to the authorities with that information. And I’m sure as hell not the guy who allowed Fariq’s men to think they might be able to use my sister to get whatever you have on them. I’m willing to make allowances that you got in way over your head way too fast, but you need to suck it up and get a rein on your emotions. We needto know everything you know in order to get Finn back as quickly and as unharmed as possible.”

Croft could see his words had knocked the wind out of Reid as surely as if he had punched the guy in the solar plexus. He escorted him into the conference room, poured a whiskey, and handed it to him. “Drink it.”

Reid crumpled into the chair Croft pulled out on the long side of the table, lifted the glass, and threw back the whiskey.

“How do you know Finn?” Reid asked just above a whisper. “How well do you know her?”

Croft sat down at the head of the table.

“I know your sister well enough that you and I are going to have to figure out how to get along so she isn’t stuck in the middle. I can forgive you for getting her involved if you can forgive me for bringing her along this afternoon.”

Reid searched his face. “You have feelings for Finn.” It wasn’t a question but a statement of fact.

“Not just feelings, Reid. I’m in love with Finn. I plan to make that legal in pretty short order.”

“No shit? Does Finn know? How long have you known her?”

Croft smiled. Her brother’s love for his sister negated the shock he had to be feeling.

“No shit. I’m pretty damn sure she does, but it tends to freak her out if I say it. And not long.”

Reid laughed and then shook his head. “Must be one of those weird reactions to trauma.”

“Are you hurt? Fariq said you’d been cared for.”

“Physically, I’m pretty good, but I’m a banker, not some kind of superhero. So, Finn hired you guys?”

Croft chuckled. “Yes, but only to track you. Your little sister wasn’t exactly forthcoming with the entire truth.”

“Ah, yes, Finn was always fond of the lie by omission. From the way Fariq reacted when he found out he had to deal with you, I’m awfully glad you figured it out.”

“Reid, you need to know if we hadn’t gotten involved…”

“Fariq would already have killed us both. You’ll get her back, right?”

“Nothing in heaven, hell, or anything in between will stop me.”

Reid stared intently at him. “I believe you. What can I do to help?”

“What did you find? And how?”

“You were right when you used the term stumbled. I was doing an audit on a hedge fund we’d invested in. We were considering increasing the size of our investment when I saw something that just didn’t make sense. I had no idea what it was and started to pull on the little thread I found. By the time the thing unraveled, I discovered they were linked to Al-Qaeda but only through a bunch of off-shore accounts and dummy corporations. You were also right when you said I should have gone to the authorities, but I was afraid I’d expose our other interests in that region. I amassed all the information, not to help put those bastards in jail, but to quietly get our investors and the banks we represent out of that hedge fund.”

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