Chapter 39

They were all weary from the flight, which had taken over thirty hours, with stops in Tokyo and Jakarta. Cassidy and Greg had been sent to catch the shuttle bus while Ruth rented a car to ‘go scout.’ She seemed highly intense and focused, so the other two were both content to see her backside.

“I vote we go to the hotel and shower. We can get together after that and decide what we want to do today,” Greg suggested.

“A shower’s a must, but I’m sleep-deprived,” Cassidy said, pushing back on the second part of Greg’s plan.

“But we’re here to find places for my parents to go sightseeing.”

“Dumbass, that’s your cover for being here. I’m going to be wide awake for my revenge, so do what you want,” Cassidy said.

If it had been David traveling with her, he’d have joined her in taking a nap. He would have called Lexi and had her plan his parents’ trip—if there ever was one. Greg had the same access to Lexi for help with stuff like this. Cassidy had heard him talk to her several times to help him solve some problem or other. Cassidy had been plotting how she could get David to let her use Lexi for stuff. She could use a PA; she just didn’t know for what ... yet.

The hotel turned out to be a resort. Cassidy modified her plans when she saw that the pool area overlooked the ocean and had pool boys delivering drinks. She could take her nap by the pool.

Ruth had been doing this sort of thing since she was a teenager. Having brothers, she’d had to learn to handle herself. With boys, some pain went a long way toward getting them to see things her way. Nowadays, she could typically get the result she wanted with simple intimidation, though sometimes people were fooled by her diminutive stature. Those folks required a demonstration.

One hard lesson she’d learned was to assume nothing. This situation looked like a straight-up intimidation job, but something about it felt off.

Ruth had met Knackers while working with David. The bio David had put together for Paddy said that Oliver ‘Knackers’ Shaw was a 25-year-old Australian college football punter who was six-one, 200 pounds, and had a quote ‘punchable face.’ When Lexi called, Oliver readily agreed to meet them at a bar so he and Cassidy could have their conversation.

Over the years, Ruth had learned to listen to her gut. It had saved her and her unit’s lives on a number of occasions. That was why she was at Oliver’s uncle’s vacation home, reconnoitering. Ruth spotted Oliver out back on the patio with what looked like an older brother and possibly the uncle. She pulled out a directional mic and stuck in an earpiece so she could hear what they were saying.

“No worries, mate, she’ll be right,” Oliver said to settle down the uncle and brother.

“You’re a stubby short of a six-pack. You all but killed the sheila. I had you do the Harry to get out of the States because you said that bloke, David Dawson, had money and could be a real problem,” the brother said.

“She’s not alone. My guy watching said she has a bloke and another sheila with her. The bloke looked to be a poof and nothing to worry about. The other is a bit iffy and has my person worried. Said she’s a slip of a girl but moves like she has a military background. To be safe, I’m going to gather some muscle to keep an eye on the meeting,” the uncle said.

Ruth was making a mental checklist. Job one was to find the man following them and make an example of him. They didn’t know to be afraid of Ruth Bettis. She needed to send a message.

Greg was exhausted when he returned to the resort. He’d spent the afternoon getting the lay of the land for his parents’ surprise trip. He knew they’d love it.

As he walked through the lobby, he glanced out by the pool and saw Cassidy sipping an umbrella drink while a guy sat on the foot of her lounger, talking to her. Greg was half pissed that she was enjoying herself while he’d gone out and worked this afternoon.

He stomped up and glared at Cassidy.

“Take a walk. Me and the lady are getting to know each other.”

Greg finally focused on the man and realized he was a small mountain.

“Wow! Are you stupid or something?” Cassidy asked.

Both men looked at Cassidy. Mountain Man said, “I’m just going to take this one out to the parking lot and dispose of the trash. I’ll be right back so we can go up to my room to finish our conversation.”

“You think kicking my brother’s ass will get me in the mood to go to your room?”

Greg silently thanked Cassidy for saving his butt while the mountain of a man processed how badly he’d fucked up. Cassidy reached out and patted the mountain’s hand.

“Be a dear and buy my brother and me another one of these,” she said, holding up her glass to show him her drink was empty.

The guy jumped up to buy them drinks and, when he returned, made excuses. Mountain had somewhere else to be.

“Thanks for the quick thinking,” Greg said.

“Be a dear and give me a massage. My back is tight from the flight,” Cassidy said.

She rolled over on her stomach as Greg sat down next to her. He debated swatting her butt, but the problem with that was Cassidy might like it. Besides, a massage was a fair trade for not getting his ass kicked in the parking lot.

Greg told Cassidy about his exploration. She let him prattle on until she’d heard enough.

“Call Lexi and have her organize the trip. That’s what your brother would do.”

’Fuck me, she’s right,’ Greg thought.

Ruth returned to the resort and spotted Greg giving Cassidy a massage by the pool. She didn’t have time to figure out what that meant because she was on the hunt for the man following them. No one jumped out in her initial scan of the guests. Usually, it would have been either an ex-cop or an amateur working too hard to blend in.

Ruth didn’t have all day to wait them out, so she decided to force their hand. She did a quick walk around the perimeter of the pool area to make sure there were no areas where someone could be hiding. Ruth pointedly looked each person in the eyes so she’d remember them later, if need be, then approached Greg and Cassidy.

“I was able to buy the guns we’ll need,” she said in a conversational voice.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a woman stiffen and begin to gather her stuff. She was too far away to have heard what Ruth had said, which meant she’d used something to listen in. Cassidy and Greg wanted to say something, but Ruth held up a finger to cut them off. She let the woman leave the pool area before following her.

Ruth kept her distance as she watched the woman nervously fast-walk through the lobby. Instead of leaving through the front door, the woman made a hard right into the ladies restroom. Ruth strode directly to the bathroom and walked in. The woman following them was busy dialing a number when she saw Ruth and froze.

Ruth pulled out a collapsible baton and snapped it open. She held out her hand, and the woman handed Ruth her phone. She saw the number the woman was calling, so she connected the call and put it on speaker.

“What have you got for me?” the uncle asked.

“This is Ruth Bettis. Your little worker bee is unable to come to the phone right now.”

“Miles Shaw. Is Stephanie okay?”

“For now. But you and I aren’t, and I suggest we get there.”

The lady’s eyes went wide at the ‘for now’ comment.

“Bugger off, Yank.”

“Arm, leg, or back?” Ruth asked.

“What are you going on about?”

“Stephanie, your lady friend. I don’t think you realize how serious this is, so I need to make an example of her. Which do you want broken?”

“Bugger off!” Miles yelled.

Ruth muted the phone.

“Either you scream your head off when I nod, or I’ll give you something to scream about.”

“I’ll do it. Just don’t hurt me.”

Ruth unmuted the phone.

“I’ll pick for you,” Ruth said as she nodded to Stephanie.

The woman let loose with a scream that would wake the dead. Ruth hung up, hooked her arm under Stephanie’s, and led her out of the bathroom before the hotel’s security showed up. Ruth directed her to the bar, and they took a table.

“Here’s the deal. I need him to think I broke your arm, so either I have to do it, or you convince me you won’t be seeing him again,” Ruth said.

“He hired me to follow your group. The money isn’t worth it.”

Ruth reached into her pocket and gave the woman a couple of large bills.

“Thanks,” Stephanie said and asked, “Can I have my phone back?”

Ruth added Miles Shaw’s number to her phone and handed Stephanie’s back. The woman promptly got up and walked out, leaving Ruth to plan her next step.

She was still there an hour later when she saw Cassidy and Greg walking through the lobby. Ruth got their attention, and they joined her. Once they were seated, she began to talk.

“Ma’am. Sir. Earlier today, I did some recon. Oliver was with his older brother...”

“Tom,” Cassidy supplied.

“ ... Tom and his uncle, Miles. Miles had us followed, so I dealt with our tail.”

“When you say ‘dealt’...?” Greg asked.

“I say that is none of your business, sir,” Ruth said.

Greg and Cassidy looked at each other. Cassidy shrugged, so Greg let it go.

“Two things I learned,” Ruth said. “I’ve decided that Miles will have to be taken out of the equation before you meet with Oliver. He’s the one with the money and brains, which means if he gets involved, it could get messy—the type of messy that would cause trouble for David.”

“You said two things,” Greg said.

“Yes, sir. The second is that Oliver is not in charge. I suspect Tom is the one who helped him get out of the country with their uncle’s assistance. At the meeting, I need to make sure Tom understands that this is between Cassidy and Oliver,” Ruth said.

“How will you do that?” Greg asked.

“I won’t know until we’re at the meeting. Trust me to do my job.”

“That’s fine,” Cassidy said.

“I’ll need you to do three things for me. The first is to remain here at the resort because Oliver’s uncle might want to grab you so he can control your talk. If that happens, it won’t be pleasant.”

Neither Cassidy nor Greg had anything to say to that.

“The second is that at the meeting, you need to let me handle Miles before you talk to Oliver. Do not react to anything I do because I only do it for a purpose,” Ruth said.

She could see that Greg wanted to say something but was glad when he kept his mouth shut.

“Finally, if I tell you to ‘go,’ you don’t hesitate, you don’t look back. You leave and catch the next flight back to LA.”

That sobered them both up.

When Greg got back to his room, he called David.

“We have a problem,” Greg said.

“With?” David asked.

“Ruth.”

David chuckled.

“I take it you’re starting to understand what I unleashed when I sent her with you.”

“Dude, this is serious. I guess Oliver’s uncle had us tailed from the airport. All Ruth said was that she dealt with it. I have no idea what that means, but my imagination is running wild,” Greg admitted.

“Chill. Ruth has a professional military background. She was in the Special Forces and excelled at unarmed combat. I don’t even think she intends it at times, but she’s the kind of person who blends in. And then, bam, you see her move, and your lizard brain screams ‘danger.’ But I can say with complete confidence that Ruth follows directions. I seriously doubt she chopped them up and fed them to the sharks.”

“But—”

“Greg, I hired her to keep you and Cassidy safe. If she says or does something, shut up and either do as she says or let her do it. She knows what has to happen,” David said.

“I get that. It’s just that I have this gut feeling she might kill everyone in the room before the meeting ends,” Greg said.

“Again, chill. I have no doubt that if it came to it, she could take out everyone there. But when she worked for me, she never did more than was necessary,” David said.