Mastered by His Touch-Complete Box Set (30 page)

I picked up the locket. I heard the gunshots in my head. I saw the bloody bodies of the Huangs bob and sink in the water.

I flipped open the locket. Kiri's great-grandmother stared up at me. I looked at Kiri. I saw mild curiosity, but no sign of recognition.

I put it down on the table between us so she could get a better look at it. I peered into her eyes for any sign.

Nothing.

Fuck.

I closed the locket and put it in the safe deposit box.

Then I took my copy of
Death at Sea
, again thanking whatever higher power delivered me the message inside, and put it in the box. I flipped the lid shut.

"Okay," I said. "I'm done."

Chapter 17

I sat on my balcony sipping a martini watching the ships in Boston Harbor. The April air had grown cold again as the sun dipped.

I had planned on going out to dinner with Clarissa, a model I've been dating off-and-on. But I called her to cancel.

My heart wasn't in it. I could think of nothing but the events of the last twenty-four hours.

I closed my eyes, imagining the feel of the warm Pacific waters under my dangling feet as I sat on the Huangs' dock watching the sunset.  The aftertaste of Mrs. Huang's delicious dinner. The cash in my pocket that she had given me to enjoy myself. Then I heard the rustle behind me as little Kiri jumped out and said, "Ha ha!"

My cell phone rang.

"Hello," I said.

"Well, are you satisfied?" said Sebastian.

"No. I'm not yet convinced that's her."

"Caden, don't play me. I don't want to kill you, but I will if I must."

"Sebastian, I seriously have doubts that's her. I need to do more research."

"You have one week. Then I will dedicate myself to killing you with every breath I have left. But I'll kill her first."

The line went dead.

I patted my Glock 19, which lay on the table beside me.

"Find my children!" said Mrs. Huang from a place deep inside me. "Take care of them!"

Yes.

But to accomplish that properly, Sebastian must die.

I had a plan for that.

But s
hit, what if it isn't her?

Then I will definitely go back and seduce her. But then the search for the real Kiri Huang will continue.

I took another sip of my martini.

Forrester came up behind me and sat down. He lit a cigarette.

"It's her," he said.

I jumped up.

"How do you know?" I said.

"We hacked into her mother's bank accounts to look for clues. We found a big one. Several large deposits over the years from one Martine Decoud, address Fifth Avenue, New York."

I lost it.

It's a little embarrassing in front of Forrester, but I didn't care. Tears fell down my cheeks for the first time since I watched the Huangs sink beneath the waves.

I found her!

Nineteen years later.

I found her!

I cannot describe the elation I felt.

"I found her!" I said out loud to Mrs. Huang.

Forrester snuffed out his cigarette and went back inside to his control room, giving me a moment to be alone.

Now that I know it's really her, I know exactly how I'm going to play this.

But I thought of a new icing I wanted to put on this cake.

Chapter 18

"Sebastian, I have the locket in my hand," I said. "I've confirmed the girl is Kiri Huang. I have rented a room for you at the Lenox Hotel on Boylston Street. With my compliments. Go check in and I will call you there."

I flipped open the real locket, not the fake I had placed in the safe deposit box at QV Bank.

"No no no, Caden," said Sebastian. "You don't call the shots here. I'm not stepping into your trap."

"Then you won't see where I'm putting it," I said. "Your call. Your room is waiting for you."

I hung up.

I wrapped the locket in a black velvet bag. Then I wrote a note on a card, placed it and the locket in bubble wrap, put it into a FedEx box, and sealed it up. I tore off one of the labels from my Bane Development account and wrote Kiri's mother's name and address on the box.

Fifteen minutes later, a FedEx employee picked it up and it was on its way. Then I took out my Glock 19 and cleaned it. If anything bad happened, I wanted to make sure the locket was where it belonged.

The following day, once Forrester confirmed that Sebastian and Valentina had checked into the Lenox, I went to my bank with a steel briefcase and made a withdrawal.

Then I told Harold to drive me to QV Bank on Boylston Street. In the limo, I called Sebastian.

"Sebastian, I hear you're in your suite," I said. "I hope you like it."

"What are you up to, Caden?" said Sebastian. "I'm playing along with you, but be warned I have several sets of eyes out on you."

"Yes, I'm fully aware that Kyle Connor is out and about. He doesn't frighten me, Sebastian. Although I do hear he's quite a nifty bank robber."

"Caden Storm, you have become too big for your own self. I may have to kill you anyway."

The limo pulled up in front of QV Bank.

"Best of luck with that," I said. "Now Sebastian, I want you to go to your window."

"For what?" he said.

"I'm sitting in the limousine parked across the street from you."

I heard some shuffling. I looked up at the Lenox Hotel. I saw the curtain push away from the window of the room I rented. The late afternoon April sky was growing dark with storm clouds.

"Watch this," I said as I hung up the phone and got out.

As I closed the door, I held up the steel briefcase and smiled. Then I went into the bank.

Kiri was in a meeting. I was met by her co-worker Troy who kept looking at me strangely. I told him I wanted to access my safe deposit box with Kiri's help.

After being forced to make a scene with the ridiculous manager to get Kiri out of the meeting, the two of us were soon back in the same privacy room as before.

Again I was enraptured by her very being. I couldn't stop looking at her. But now that I know this is indeed Kiri Huang, I need to play it cool. The seduction is off.

Even though I could smell her lust again. It filled the little room with a humming buzzing energy. It was all I could do not to touch her.

Then she had one of those moments again where her eyes went wide and her pupils dilated. I got the sense she was having some sort of a flashback.

What is she seeing? Does she remember me?

She's giving no indication. When she said she was adopted as a baby, I could tell she believed it. I'm now convinced she's repressed the entire first five years of her life.

I put my hand on hers. The poor girl had seen things no child should ever see. As I touched her, it felt like we became one. More than sexual attraction, it was like we communicated without words.

I had never before felt that from another human being.

Caden, enough! You're here to put icing on your cake.

I opened up the steel briefcase and took out one hundred thousand dollars. That was the amount Sebastian had paid me for my first job with him twenty-four years ago in Tampa. I'm returning it to him.

Then I closed the box.

I thought about getting up to go, but I had to touch her again. I just had to.

I grabbed her hands in mine and held them tight.

Oh my fucking God.

What is this sensation when I touch her?

I've never known anything like this.

It's wrong, Caden! This is little Kiri.

But she's not little Kiri anymore.

Fuck, what's happening to me?

I got control of myself and stood up. We replaced Box 1910 in the wall of safe deposit boxes and I asked Kiri to walk me out.

As I approached the door to Boylston Street, I looked up at Sebastian in the window. I held up my safe deposit box key. A pounding rain was coming down so I made sure he and Kyle Connor's video cameras could see what it was through the droplets.

Then I turned to Kiri, took her hands, and pressed the key into her palm so that Sebastian could see what I was doing.

"Happy birthday," I said, knowing from the research that hers was next week.

Then I got in my limo and Harold drove down Boylston Street, buckets of rain pouring down on us.

I called Sebastian.

"Sebastian," I said, "the locket is in Box 1910. It's all yours. But your buddy Kyle Connor is going to have to get it for you. Once he's is in the vault, have him call me and I'll give him the security code. But keep in mind, I'll be watching you. You didn't think I was going to make this easy for you, did you?"

"Fuck you, Caden Storm," said Sebastian as he slammed the hotel phone down.

I laughed out loud as the limo turned left at Dartmouth.

When his crackerjack Kyle Connor breaks in and steals the locket, all Sebastian will get is what he paid me for that first job.

That will send him over the edge.

Then when he comes after me, I will kill him.

And Kyle Connor with his silly red crew-cut for good measure.

Chapter 19

Forrester brought in four guys to protect Kiri. All ex-Special Forces or Navy Seals. I also called somebody I know at the FBI who volunteered. They followed her everywhere, making sure no harm could possibly come to her.

They spotted Kyle Connor following her. That made me nervous, but Forrester assured me his men could take out Connor before he even got to his gun.

While Kiri was having a birthday dinner at Forum restaurant, one of Connor's friends went to her apartment and broke in. He was looking for the key.

I was chomping at the bit.

On the TV screens in Forrester's control room, I watched the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen as she lived her life being followed by these thugs.

I just wanted to kill them and get this over with.

But more than that, I wanted to see utter defeat in Sebastian's eyes as he lunged forward to kill me. Call it my own Achilles heel.

I wanted him to suffer for what he did.

Things got a little tense at one point.

Kiri had been at the Boston Public Library. After spending all afternoon there, she went to the Food Court at the Pru Mall.

Kyle Connor got a little sloppy. He let her see him. She apparently realized she was being followed because she ran out and ducked into a cab over at the Hynes.

Two of Forrester's men had their hands on their trigger fingers there for a few seconds. Lucky for Kyle Connor, he didn't run out after her.

The next day, I'll have to admit that Kyle Connor impressed me. He and his buddy Jerry DiCecco pulled up at QV Bank dressed as Feds. I don't know how they did it, but they got inside.

Later Jason, the young computer hacker employed by Forrester, explained to me what Kyle Connor did.

With fake Federal IDs, he and DiCecco convinced the bank manager they were FBI agents. The manager seemed dumb enough to fall for it, which she did.

Kiri told me later that Kyle Connor said he needed her help to figure out what billionaire Caden Storm is up to. Nice touch, Sebastian. Letting the cat out of the bag like that. Very nice touch.

Kyle Connor even showed Kiri pictures of me with Sebastian and Valentina that he took in Montenegró and New York. One at the restaurant with Yung-Hee. One at Starbucks on Sixth with Gabriela. One had them on my yacht with Claudia. Kyle Connor must have Photoshopped that one because he seemed to want three of everything. OCD, I bet.

While in the manager's office, Kyle Connor got to the computer and inserted a flash drive. On the flash drive was a computer virus that infiltrated the bank's security system. On the night of the robbery, all Connor had to do was activate the computer virus and the bank just opened up for him.

As I promised I would, I told him the code when he called me from inside the vault.

As for the key, apparently Kiri had fainted in the office while Kyle Connor fed her his bullshit. She had been hiding the key in her bra. It fell out when she keeled over.

Kyle Connor was quick. He had an app installed on his smartphone that copies keys. All you need to do is hold the key to the screen and the app records all the details of the key so it can be replicated.

I guess there really
is
an app for everything.

Kyle Connor only had a second to do this because Kiri's co-worker Troy ran in to help her up. Kyle Connor must have tossed the key under the manager's desk because Kiri told me later that's where she retrieved it.

Now that he had installed the computer virus that would allow him access to the bank on the night of the robbery
and
had a copy of the key, Kyle Connor got the hell out of there fast.

Then Kiri threw me for a loop.

"She's heading downtown," said Forrester to me over the earpiece.

I was at City Hall in a meeting with the Mayor of Boston, Devlin Bane, and a Hollywood star who wanted to build a movie-themed hotel on the waterfront. The Mayor was unsure about the idea so he wanted our input because the movie star is beloved by the people of Boston because he grew up here. As we talked, Forrester gave me updates on the situation.

The Hollywood star was blabbering on about his love of organic food, windmills, and marijuana. The Mayor looked like he was falling asleep. Devlin Bane kept shooting me "
I-can't-stomach-this-doofus"
looks.

"Caden, you're not going to believe this," interrupted Forrester in my ear. "She's heading to Bay Towers."

Holy fuck!

That wasn't part of the plan.

"What should I do?" said Forrester.

"Let her in. I'll be right there."

"Excuse me?" said the Hollywood star.

I stood up.

"Gotta fly," I said. "Devlin, I'm out. This guy is an idiot. My apologies, Mr. Mayor. This deal sucks. Don't do it. I need to go."

The Mayor stood up and shook my hand.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" said the Hollywood star. "You don't just leave. I'm pitching a project here. Do you know who I am?"

I laughed.

"That last sentence alone is enough to kill any deal you may have had with me," I said as I opened the door. "Oh, and by the way, you have the acting ability of a boiled turnip and I fall asleep ten minutes into every one of your movies. Have a nice day."

When I arrived at Bay Towers, Forrester was outside. It had started off as a gray cold day, but the sun had come out and everything was warming up nicely.

"She's up there," Forrester said. "Don't know how she figured it out but she knows you're you."

On the elevator ride up, I had no idea how to play this. I would have to take it moment by moment. What is she going to ask me? Does she remember me now? Has it come back to her?

Or was it Kyle Connor? Did he tell her who I was as he pretended to be an FBI agent?

I opened my door.

And there she was.

Kiri.

In
my
apartment.

Alone with me.

At the very sight of her, my mathematical mind and eidetic memory melted down. All I could think of was ripping off her clothes and licking her body.

She returned the key and wanted answers. But I could tell that she too was fighting this humming buzzing electrical energy that seemed to be magnetically drawing us together.

I poured us drinks and led us to the patio, stupidly thinking that would help me to think. But in reality it was a subconscious attempt to shut off my thinking because I wanted to fuck her so badly.

She still didn't seem to remember me. I even asked her. When she said no, all bets were off. I gave in to temptation and kissed her.

Then I pulled back.

"No," I said. "This is wrong! It's just wrong, Kiri."

"What do you mean?" she said.

I stared at her. How can she not remember? The dinghy. The Decouds. Vainui and the little room. The guards taking me away.

"You really don't remember, do you?" I said.

"Remember what?" she said.

Oh God, what do I do? Should I? Could I live with myself? Why not, Caden? She's not little Kiri anymore. She's a grown woman. The most spectacular girl on earth. Are you going to deny yourself the most spectacular girl on earth? For what? Why?

"You're twenty-four," I said, reassuring myself that we are here and now and the year is 2014. I'm thirty-six. She is twenty-four.

"Yes?" she said with a quizzical look.

"Twenty-four years old."

"How old did you think I was?"

"You're a grown woman. A fully grown woman. Possibly the most stunning woman I've ever seen in my life. I wasn't expecting that when I first saw you. I really wasn't. You threw me for a loop. It wasn't part of my plan at all to be so attracted to you. So really, it's okay. Really it's okay for me to kiss you."

I didn't let her speak.

I kissed her.

And the rest is history.