Page 69 of The Money Man
He could hear Alice muttering something unintelligible under her breath behind him while her grip on his hand turned convulsive.
“Oh, they’re not dead, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Barsky said, still smiling. “I used them as messengers to your partners. It killed two birds with one stone. Got rid of them and convinced your colleagues I’m serious.”
“To deliver what message?” He needed to know what Barsky’s intentions were before he could figure out what to do about them.
“To stay away from my software until further notice or something very unpleasant will happen to their partner and his girlfriend.” Barsky stepped to the side. “Ivan has made coffee so why don’t you accompany me to the kitchen?”
“Ivan?”
“Alice knows him as John Peters,” Barsky said, gesturing for Derek and Alice to go in front of them. “He really is an expert in security, just not the cyber kind. That’smyarea of expertise.”
Derek cut his glance toward the elevator door, just to see how Barsky would react.
“Oh, there’s no escape that way,” the other man said with unshakable confidence. “We’ve got all your electronics under our control so you can’t call an elevator or communicate with the outside world in any way.” He nodded toward the window. “Unless you managed to put up a hand-lettered sign and a helicopter flew by and happened to see it. But I think that’s unlikely. Please.” He waved the gun toward the hallway this time.
Derek didn’t move. “Let Alice go. My partners won’t tamper with your system as long as you have me as your hostage.”
“Very gallant.” Barsky’s smile turned to a leer. “But no. You see, when we were sweeping your penthouse for guards last night, we heard your enthusiasm for each other, so I know you are more than colleagues. She stays to keep you under control.”
“Asshole,” Alice muttered softly enough that Barsky couldn’t hear it.
The fear that had hardened his stomach into a ball of stone eased just a little. His Alice wasn’t going to faint or become hysterical. He could count on her to help with whatever plan he came up with.
Alice’s sense of unreality faded slightly when Myron Barsky confessed to eavesdropping on her lovemaking with Derek. It was funny how embarrassment could overcome terror. Not to mention that it was so sleazy, the action diminished his fright factor, even when he had a gun in his hand.
She reminded herself not to underestimate him, though, since she had done so all along. Of course, this Myron Barsky looked very different from the nerd on stage at the Lipton Hotel. He seemed taller and his shoulders looked broader because his posture was upright rather than slumped. His voice was different too, projecting a patronizing confidence. If he hadn’t held the gun so expertly, she would have wondered if he wasn’t an actor like Jake Masters.
Unfortunately, there was no question that John Peters—no, Ivan—was terrifying. He was dressed in the same all-black ensemble he’d worn in Texas and neither his blank eyes nor his gun wavered by a millimeter.
She made an effort to loosen her hold on Derek’s hand since she was probably cutting off his circulation. He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze before tugging her forward to his side, the one opposite Barsky and Ivan, so his big body was still between them. His protectiveness reached into her heart, but also conjured up gut-wrenching images of bullets ripping into him as he shielded her. She needed to rein in her imagination because panic wouldn’t help get them out of this surreal situation.
She tried to remember the self-defense moves she’d worked so hard to learn but even Dawn said that weapons changed the whole situation.
As they walked down the hall side by side, Alice could almost feel the cold steel of the guns aimed at her back. It was not a good feeling. At least Barsky wasn’t going to shoot them ... yet. He evidently needed her and Derek for an unspecified length of time.
She began to consider why and the pieces suddenly fell together. “You’re going to grab all the credit card transfers at the end of the week,” she blurted out. “Not just a couple of dollars here and there.”
Derek squeezed her hand again. When she glanced up at him, he frowned a warning.
“Very good, clever Ms. Thurber,” Barsky said from behind them. “Too-clever Ms. Thurber. We’re also going to clean out all their bank accounts through the credit card access. Prematurely, thanks to your interference. I’m pissed off about that.” Except his tone was flat and without anger.
Which made it even scarier. Derek was right. She shouldn’t make him any more pissed off by discussing it further.
“You’ve cost me a lot of money too when I was forced to set up that fake headquarters,” he said as they entered the kitchen, a place of smooth slate floors, gleaming stainless steel appliances, and pale gray cabinets. It would have been serene if there hadn’t been two guns pointed at her back.
Nerves and Alice’s overactive curiosity prompted her to continue to poke at the wasp’s nest. “Why did you bother with all that if you were going to do this anyway?”
“Sit,” Barsky said, waving his gun toward the modern trestle table set in front of the window. “Side by side, facing me. Ivan, pour them each a coffee. No need to be uncivilized.”
Derek led her over to the table where they settled on two chairs with their backs to the window. Much to her relief, he pulled her hand onto his thigh under the tabletop, keeping their fingers intertwined. His strong, comforting grip calmed her racing pulse even though she could feel the tension in the hard muscle under the denim of his jeans.
Barsky slid onto a barstool at the counter while Ivan poured two steaming mugs of coffee and plunked them down on the table. She decided not to express a preference for tea.
“I set up the whole fake HQ because I wanted to see how invested you were in the problem, maybe redirect your attention.” Barsky shrugged. “It became apparent that wouldn’t happen. I mean, really, it was so easy to see through your little charade. I’d already figured out that you didn’t work for KRG, Ms. Thurber. You were just a small-time bookkeeper who actually knew how to add and subtract but not how to keep her mouth shut. Bad luck for both of us.” He smiled that creepy fake smile again. “Fortunately, I learned something else valuable that day.” Barsky stared at her chest in a way that made her feel like he could see through her clothes. It was like being coated in slime. “That you would be useful leverage with KRG.”
“Enough,” Derek snapped.
Alice realized she’d gotten drawn down a hazardous path, so she changed the subject, remembering that her original mission had been hijacked by Barsky’s unwelcome appearance. “Are my cats all right?”
