Page 4 of Explosive Vengeance

Anger glinted in the man’s eyes. “You’re not like your brother.”

“No, and that’s why I’m as successful as I am.” Dom was too flashy. Guillaume preferred to keep things quiet, secret. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d been forced to step in and clean up his younger brother’s messes in order to save their business and reputations. Still, he loved his brother and would do everything in his power to protect him.

The man considered him for a long moment, visibly uncomfortable under the weight of Guillaume’s unflinching stare. “Fine. I’ll sell you the product at the figure you named.” The man held up his glass in salute with a tight smile. “To the first of many successful business ventures.”

I don’t think so.Guillaume knew this man’s type and had already heard things about him that made additional deals too risky. After this one was done, Guillaume would ensure the man met with a fatal accident.

Still, he returned the salute, took a sip and endured the small talk that always followed the conclusion of the business transaction. While he smiled and nodded and paid lip service to what the man said, he was actually thinking of this new shipment of weapons, how much he could get for them, and where he could send them for maximum profit. There were so many conflicts around the globe right now. It amounted to a gold rush for a man careful and connected enough to handle the risks involved.

He held up a hand to stop his dinner companion from speaking when Guillaume’s head of security discreetly interrupted. “Sir, you have an important phone call.”

Jean-Pierre would only interrupt him if it were an emergency. “Thank you.” He smiled at his dinner companion, a rich executive who had arranged transport for the women his brother Dominic was about to buy. “Will you excuse me for a moment?”

He took the cell phone from Jean-Pierre, who followed him outside onto the balcony of the five-star restaurant overlooking the Seine. When he saw the name on call display, he frowned and dialed the number back. “Inspector Berdine. How can I help you this evening?”

“Monsieur Dubois, I’m afraid I have some difficult news for you.”

Guillaume paused at the railing, a sense of trepidation building in his chest. It couldn’t be his wife or the girls. He’d just talked to them prior to arriving at the restaurant. They were all home, safe. “What is it?”

“There’s been an explosion at your brother’s townhouse here in Paris.”

Guillaume whipped around, snapped his fingers at Jean-Pierre and gestured for him to hand over his personal phone. “Is he all right?”

“We don’t know.”

He gulped in a breath. “How bad is the damage?”

“Bad.”

Guillaume quickly brought up a local newscast on Jean-Pierre’s phone, currently broadcasting a breaking story. The picture showed fire crews in front of Dom’s townhome as flames and smoke poured out of the lower floor windows.

He swallowed. This hadn’t been an accident. Not with the lifestyle his brother led. “Was my brother inside?”

“We’re not sure. A neighbor reported seeing his car leave just seconds before the explosion, but we have been unable to reach him so far.”

“I’ll call him.” He handed Jean-Pierre’s phone back. “Keep me updated?” he said to the inspector.

“Of course.”

Guillaume dialed his brother, left a voice message and then texted him for good measure.Are you all right?He was concerned, but not overly worried if Dom had left prior to the explosion. What had caused it?

His brother’s head of security had no answers. Dom had apparently held a private meeting at his office a little over an hour before the explosion. No security had been involved, and Dom’s home alarm hadn’t been triggered afterward.

Unable to shake the worry, Guillaume finished his dinner, then paid the bill and started for his car without having heard from his brother. His phone rang just as he was getting into the backseat. Not Dom. Berdine. “Inspector. You have an update?”

“The fire’s out, and the investigative team is starting their work. But…I’m afraid they found a body in the kitchen.”

Guillaume’s heart leapt into his throat. “Not Dominic, though. You said he was seen driving away prior to the explosion.” Although it made no sense that his brother would kill someone in his own house. Zero.

“Unfortunately, the remains are in such a state that they will require dental analysis to determine their identity. But from the positioning of the victim, he or she was bound at the time of their death. We also found your brother’s car several kilometers away, blown up at the side of the road. A forensics team is trying to pull prints but it’s likely not possible.”

Dammit. Guillaume rubbed at his forehead, his mind spinning. This didn’t bode well. He’d warned Dom again and again to be careful to distance himself from the…seedier side of their business, but his brother couldn’t seem to do it. Dom was addicted to the rush of it, especially with the women and drugs. Guillaume would have to pull him from it. “I’ve reached out to him but he hasn’t responded.”

“His cell phone has been turned off.”

Guillaume’s insides clenched. Dom never went anywhere without his phone, and he never shut it right off. What if the body was Dom’s?

Ice slid through him. “I’ll come down to the morgue. I’ll pay privately to have the dental analysis done immediately. Find me someone and tell them to name their price. I need answers.”

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