Page 92 of High Intensity

I look to see what he’s referring to when I notice blood covering what little I can see of the man’s face. When Jackson pulls the balaclava off, my stomach roils and I can feel the contents surging up my esophagus, but I’m not sure if it’s because it looks like I took out one of his eyes, or because the mask was hiding Grant Vallard’s face.

“Breathe through your nose, slugger,” Jonas rumbles behind me.

I promptly drop the keys I was still clutching to the deck.

Twenty-Seven

Wolff

“He refuses to give up the Ovando family, claims he doesn’t know who we’re talking about, but he’s happy to spill the beans on Grant Vallard.”

Stephanie Kramer stopped by to give us an update on the case. Apparently Special Agent in Charge Bellinger was taken off the case and shipped off to an unknown destination. The Bureau brass didn’t hesitate after discovering not only had a minor witness gone missing on his watch, but Bellinger failed to make a report. He didn’t take the appropriate steps and, instead of calling in resources to mount a proper search, took two agents on a wild-goose chase for hours, all in hope of covering up the fact he’d lost her in the first place.

So, Special Agent in Charge Bellinger was sent packing and Stephanie was asked to stick around to assist in finishing up the investigation. What she doesn’t know is it was Jonas who spilled the beans on Bellinger to an old friend of his, who happens to be high-up in the Bureau hierarchy.

We retreated to Jillian’s kitchen, since the dogs have taken over the living room. Hunter has earned the prime spot on the couch. She seems to be doing well after her ordeal, despite missing part of her ear. It doesn’t seem to bother her much though.

It’s been three days since the search for Hayley ended in such dramatic fashion. I’ve been kicking myself ever since. I should’ve made sure the backyard was secure before leaving Jillian and the girl unprotected. As a result, Jillian is wearing her arm in a sling, and will be for several weeks. Vallard’s attack left her with a dislocated shoulder. It was set in the hospital and luckily didn’t require surgery to repair, but it can take up to twelve weeks before she has full use of that arm again.

We were able to surmise Vallard had been hiding under the deck. There had been two sets of tracks following Jillian along the creek. Both sets were found cutting through her neighbor’s yard and around the side of Jillian’s place.

According to Stephanie, Vallard maintains his story that he was following Jeff Shapiro, his bodyguard, who he had become suspicious of. He apparently also swears he was trying to rescue his niece and mistook Jillian for Shapiro when he came at her with a metal pipe he’d found under the deck.

The only believable claim Vallard is making is when he points a finger at the Ovando family, suggesting his bodyguard must’ve been an agent for the family, and his objective was to finish the job of killing off the entire Vallard clan.

When confronted with the question of why they wouldn’t have killed him off already, Vallard came up with the suggestion perhaps they needed him to take control of the company first. In his version, of course, he was another victim.

What Stephanie just finished telling us is the bodyguard sings a different tune. He was specifically hired by Grant Vallardhimself to find and kill Hayley Vallard who is the rightful heiress to not only Vallard Holdings but the entire Vallard fortune.

I’m more inclined to believe the hired goon.

“His version seems more plausible,” I volunteer. “Have you found any evidence this Shapiro is connected to the Ovandos?”

Stephanie shakes her head. “Nothing. I think you’re right. I don’t believe Vallard was ever in any danger and had no reason to need a bodyguard. The current consensus is that Grant was definitely in cahoots with the Ovandos to take out his family. We spoke with some members of the board at Vallard Holdings, who were able to inform us that Grant Vallard had been trying to push through a contract with a Bolivian manufacturer of soybean oil last year. This landed him in a major fight with both his mother and brother, who had done some research and discovered the manufacturing company was connected to the Ovando crime family. As a result of that falling out, Sarah-May Vallard, the family matriarch, had her youngest son written out of her will.”

“Ouch, that must’ve stung,” Jillian observes, as she gets up to grab the coffeepot. “Can I top anyone up?”

“Not for me,” Stephanie declines.

I hold up my mug. “I’ll have a bit more, thanks.”

“Getting written out of the will sure makes for one hell of a motive though,” Jillian states, returning us to the topic.

“Yes, it does,” Stephanie confirms. “We also have means, albeit in the form of Puma who, along with his associate, we were able to place in Whistler at the same time the Vallards were there. When he was taken into custody after trying to get away from us at the Libby airport, we found evidence in the form of text messages between him and Grant Vallard; further proof Vallard may not have been in the country, but he was definitely in the driver’s seat. From those messages we’ve been able toglean that as soon as Vallard heard his niece had survived the crash, he instructed Puma to make sure he finished the job.”

“I just find it hard to believe Puma would even take orders from someone like Vallard,” I point out. “I mean, the man is a died-in-the-wool criminal, and tightly connected to the Ovando family.”

“Not that hard to believe when you think about the millions and millions of drugs the family could pipeline into the U.S. and Canada through Vallard Holdings. Grant was the key to that pipeline and without him the Ovando family has nothing. Puma was likely getting pressure from all sides, which is why he probably went after you…” She points at Jillian. “Thinking you’d be able to lead him to Hayley.”

“Except Wolff foiled that plan,” Jillian comments with a gentle smile for me.

Regrettably, it took killing a man, but I would do it again without hesitation to keep Jillian or Hayley safe.

“Right,” Stephanie confirms. “And we know how that ended. Of course, Puma isn’t saying a word, but we’re still able to piece information together. I think the more we uncover, the more solid our case against Grant Vallard will be.”

“Good. I hope the bastard never sees the light of day again,” I grumble.

“Even if he does, it’ll only be half with just the one eye,” she fires back, immediately slapping her hand over her mouth. “Too soon?” she mumbles, her eyes wide.

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