Annihilate Me (Vol. 4) (The Annihilate Me Series) (4 page)

“Who
is Nestor Bazin?”

“In
this case, the better question is who is Bazin
’
s family.”

“So,
who is his family?”

“The
Bazin crime family of Russia.”

“Never
heard of them.”

“At
last, one thing I
’
ve
stumped you on.”

“A
lark.
 
I do know about the mafia
’
s stronghold on Russia.
 
That
’
s been going on since the Soviet era.
 
Who is Nestor Bazin to you?”

“A
thug.”

“Care
to elaborate?”

“His
family is into everything—not unlike Wenn.
 
Only we
’
re not associated with knocking someone off
when we don
’
t get what we want.
 
Bazin
’
s family is.
 
Here in the States, they keep a low
profile and play mostly by the rules because they know the Feds are watching
them.
 
So, they play nice here.
 
At least on the surface.”

“What
did you take from him?”

“Wenn
Pharmaceutical went after Bazin
’
s
Biotech Industries after they successfully completed the third phase of what
turned out to be a hugely promising drug to treat breast cancer.”

“The
Russian mafia is into saving breasts?”

“There
into making money.
 
You
’
d be surprised by their reach.
 
They
’
re into legitimate businesses and a host of
other, darker things you don
’
t want
to know about.
 
That said, they
turned Biotech into a winner.
 
Nestor convinced his family to buy it when it was in its infancy because
he was smart enough to see its potential.
 
The acquisition cost the family plenty, but because of Nestor, that was
fine—he assured them that they were on the verge of making hundreds of
millions through one drug
’
s
potential.
 
When you
’
re testing a drug in clinical trials, there
are four phases—the fourth phase is the moneymaker.
 
That
’
s when you take the drug to market.
 
Wenn Pharmaceutical is always looking
for these sorts of opportunities, so when Biotech started creating a buzz after
successfully nailing the third phase, and the drug was deemed safe and
effective, we went in for the potential profits that would come in phase
four.
 
That
’
s always the reason behind a hostile
takeover, but you know that—it
’
s
about looking forward toward future profits.
 
We offered twice what Biotech was worth
on paper, we won over management because we assured them that we wouldn
’
t replace them with our own team, and
shareholders wanted us in because of our offer and because of our
reputation.
 
And after eighteen
months of fighting, we got the company.”

“When
did you acquire it?”

“Six
months ago.”

“So,
that
’
s two within a year.”

“Here
comes the third.
 
Adrianna Bomba.”

“What
is it with these names?”

He
shrugged.
 
“
Wenn is global.
 
Bomba
’
s a Czech.”

“If
she
’
s the same Adrianna Bomba
Lisa used to talk about—and with a name like that, I can
’
t imagine she isn
’
t—I know who she is.
 
Is she the Bomba behind Bomba Cosmetic?”

“That
’
s her.”

“Her
line was first sold exclusively to celebrities, then became a hit in the
fashion magazines, then went commercial at places like Saks, Lord & Taylor,
Bloomingdale’s—all the best department stores.”

“You
know all this?”

“Lisa
’
s passions are zombies and fashion.
 
Especially fashion.
 
She talks to me about all of the trends,
the designers, what I should wear now.
 
That sort of thing.
 
I think
she has one of Bomba
’
s
perfumes.”

“Her
perfumes are what made her a fortune, and were one of the main reasons we went
after her.”

“And
stole away her child.”

“Children
in this case—but only after she put them up for adoption by going
public.
 
What was attractive to us
were her makeup line and her nine perfumes.
 
All successful.
 
And her company was growing fast.
 
Bomba came from nothing—she built
her empire out of hard work.
 
She
took the takeover personally, but I
’
ll
say it again—if you go public, you run the risk of becoming someone
’
s next meal.”

“When
was this?”

“Maybe
ten months ago.
 
No longer than
that.”

“And
she
’
s yet to recover?”

“Financially,
they
’
ve all recovered
beautifully because of the buyouts.
 
Each made a fortune.
 
As for
their futures, those are in question.
 
According to Tank
’
s email,
none of them has anything substantial in the works, which means they
’
re seeing Wenn become stronger and more
successful because of their initial hard work and investment.”

“That
’
s what Blackwell said earlier.”
 
I paused for a moment to consider
another angle.
 
“North and Bezin are
both around your age.
 
Is Bomba?”

“She
is.”

“So,
in a way, you
’
re all competitors.
 
Alexander Wenn and all his billions are
the Goliath in the room, while the rest are pretty much David.
 
They must hate you.”

“I
know they do.”

“
But hate doesn
’
t equate murder.
 
The loaded question here is whether
these people could be potential murderers.”

“
Bazin
’
s family certainly is.
 
As for the others, who knows how far
someone will go if their hatred of me only grows?”

“How
do we find out?”

“We
go back to Manhattan.”

That
was the last thing I expected to hear from him.
 
At first, I felt a thrill that we
’
d be going back home, but then a trace of
fear shot through me because of all that had happened before we left.
 
“But it isn
’
t safe there.”

“Now
that you know the backstory, I
’
ll let
you read Tank
’
s email so you can see the
next steps that he
’
s
suggesting.
 
But first, one
question.
 
How do you catch a rat,
Jennifer?”

“My
grandfather grew up on a farm that had several barns.
 
Even though his problem was mice, it
’
s the same principle.
 
You draw the rat to you.”

He
smiled at me.
 
“That
’
s right.
 
And that
’
s what we
’
re going to do.”

“How?”

“It
’
s in the email.”

“First
I have a few questions.”

“Go
for it.”

“If
any of these people are responsible, why would they wait so long to do
something to you?
 
Is it just that
they wanted to put as much distance as possible between you and them so they
didn
’
t appear like the obvious
suspects when they did act?”

“Maybe.”

“And
what about Gordon Kobus?
 
Why is he
off the hook?
 
Wenn has entered into
a hostile bid to take over Kobus Airlines that
’
s going on right now.
 
I still think that he
’
d be a strong suspect.”

“You
know why.
 
When the detectives
approached him, he readily agreed to the lie-detector test and he passed
it—hands down.”

“I
also know that those tests aren
’
t
entirely reliable.”

“
As far as I
’
m concerned, scoring one-hundred percent on
a test as complex as the one they put him through convinces me that he has
nothing to do with this.
 
And if he
were involved on any level, would he have so readily taken the test knowing
there was a very good chance he’d fail it if he were guilty?
 
Of course not.
 
It’s not him.”

“How
do you feel about the other three?”

He
shrugged.
 
“I only know them
professionally, not personally, so I don
’
t
know what they
’
re
capable of beyond putting up a good fight when it came to trying to save their
companies.
 
Read the email.
 
See what Tank and the team think, and
what they have in mind for us.”

“I
’
m assuming we
’
re about to become the rat
’s bait?
”

“We
are.”

“And
this is safe because… ?”

He
nodded toward his computer and stood.
 
“Read.
 
What they have in
mind is ingenious.”

“
And dangerous?
”

“Potentially.”

I
took his chair and read the email.
 
Then I read it again to make sure I fully understood what each of us was
facing.

“What
do you think?” he asked.

“Being
exposed like that makes me nervous.
 
Terrified, if I
’
m being
honest.
 
But you
’
re right.
 
Tank is right.
 
The sooner we get this behind us, the
better.
 
That said, let
’
s get real here.
 
What if none of these people is behind
this?
 
We
’
ve got no proof that they are.
 
All we
’
ve got is your past histories with them,
which I admit gives each of them a motive, and the fact that we all attended
two of the same parties.
 
But so
what?
 
That
’
s all we
’
ve got, and it hardly seems like enough to
link any of them to what happened to us.
 
It
’
s barely a thread, Alex.”

“So
do we ignore it when we have nothing else?”

I
couldn’t argue with that, so I thought of another angle.
 
“Tank said he doesn
’
t want to question them because he doesn
’
t want to tip them off.
 
But why not question them?
 
Why not see if they
’
ll take a lie detector test?
 
Kobus did.
 
Maybe one of them will take one
too—and
fail it.
”

“Because
of what I did to them, none of them would agree to such a test.
 
They
’
d tell me to fuck off.”

“Kobus
didn’t.”

“Kobus
hasn’t seen just how ugly it’s going to get between Wenn and his airline when
the takeover truly becomes hostile.
 
Donald North, Nestor Bazin, and Adrianna Bomba already have lived
through it.
 
They’ve seen exactly
how nasty it gets.”

“Then
look at it this way.
 
If one of them
were
guilty, the authorities approaching them would rattle them.
 
Just knowing that they
’
re under suspicion could end this.”