Risking It All: London Calling Book Three (22 page)

I
T
TOOK
D
OMINIC
a minute to regain his bearings. Other than the eyes, she was a vision of how Devvie would look in twenty-five years’ time. Shocked surprise warred with despair. How could he tell Devon about this? And why was he the first person to see Angeline again after so long?

Why was she here?

Memories rocked him, pushing the doubts and questions aside. All he comprehended was that Angeline hugged the same. Looked the same. Even her perfume was the same.
 

She’d been his mother’s best friend. They traded off the kids regularly. He stayed at Devon’s house as much as she came over to his.

All that changed when Angeline disappeared. No goodbyes, no warnings; she simply vanished.

He hadn’t quite been eight years old. Not long after his birthday, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. Any questions Dominic harbored about Angeline were pushed aside, to be ignored and forgotten.

Suddenly, she was back in his life in the most unexpected circumstances. She patted his back then pulled back slightly.

“Have a seat.”
 

She walked over to a sideboard and removed two bottles of water from an ice bucket. Holding one aloft, she asked, “Do you need a glass?”

He almost laughed. Still the polite hostess, it was as though the past twenty years hadn’t happened. “No, the bottle is fine. Thank you.” He sat back down and waited as she poured hers into a functional tall glass and returned to the desk.

“It’s been a long time. I recognize you might want to talk about that.” She drew back so slightly it was almost imperceptible. “But there are other more pressing matters. We’ll discuss those first.”

He’d never known her as a powerful, assertive woman. He never thought about it, but she must have been to be second in command at a museum. She’d only been soft with him and Dev. Even when discipline was necessary, she used a gentle touch.

“As you probably know, after I left Savannah, I went to London.”

“I didn’t know that.”
 

“You never knew where I went? Why I left?”

He shook his head. “I thought no one knew. It was never discussed, even though Devvie and I asked a lot. At least until Mom got sick.”

“Dom, I’m so tremendously sorry about Alice.” She rubbed her arms, agitated. “I was…distracted after I came to London. It took a while for me to get my life together. By the time I learned what had happened, it was too late.” Her voice was anguished.

An old wound, Dominic’s grief for his mother still nagged deep inside. “They didn’t catch it at first. By the time they figured out what was wrong, it was too late for all of us.”

“Alice Martin was the best friend I ever had. Patrick too. They tried to help me when I had nowhere to turn.”

“Why did you leave?” It burst out of him before he could stop it.

Angeline sighed deeply. “That’s a long story, Dom. One that I will tell, but not today. We have bigger things to discuss and it has to be now.” She took a sip of water then leaned back against the tall leather chair.

“Let me tell you about my work here in Jersey.”
 

She launched into a nickel version of the history of Artemis Ventures. After arriving in London, she worked in an art museum for many years, extending her professional and social contacts. She was privy to London’s wealthiest patrons and easily accepted among their ranks.

In fact, that was how she met Sebastian.

Dominic took a long drink of water then shifted in his seat. She had his full attention.

“Together, we work to rout out the wheat from the chaff. When money is present in great quantities, you can always bet it will bring out the type of people we seek.”

He raised his brows, unsure where she was going.

She was blunt. “Predators. Those who exploit the weak and vulnerable for their own gain.”

Dominic abruptly leaned back. “Are you talking about child victims?”

“As those we’re trying to help, yes. And women too, especially younger ones. You don’t have to dig very far to realize there’s an entire shadow economy based off black market activities like I’m describing.”

“How far are you into this, Angeline? Pornograpy? Prostitution?”

“Both, yes. And trafficking. Someone has to fight for the oppressed. They need someone in their corner.”

He was genuinely astounded. The woman in front of him was a warrior. “I don’t know whether to be impressed by you or terrified for your safety.”

She laughed, a throaty full-bodied sound. “Both, I imagine.” She sobered. “Since I’m here to recruit you, I don’t want to underrepresent the danger in any way. But the rewards are unimaginable.”

He let her statement about recruitment pass for a second. “How did you get from curating art collections to fighting sex offenders?”

Something like rage flashed in her eyes, and then it was gone again. “I was a victim. My situation was different than what we deal with here, but nonetheless traumatic. My abuser tormented and threatened me.” She looked down. “He was the catalyst for why I left John and Devon.”

Dominic’s battle instincts were ignited. “What happened to him?”
 

“I took care of it. He’s no longer a threat.”

He clenched his fists, causing the wound on his knuckles to tighten. “Say the word. I can find anyone. Destroy him financially.”

She smiled faintly. “He’s not a factor. I promise.” Her mouth flattened. “But that brings me to my point. I kept track of you, Dominic. You started in the grift and then became one of the world’s top hackers.” She shook her finger at him. “Part of me wants to scold you. The rest knows you have a unique skill set we need.”

“How so?”

“We try very hard to use the acceptable legal channels available to us. That works most of the time. However, a few key players are very savvy and remain elusive. We need to hit them where it will hurt.” Determination gleamed from her eyes. “They are motivated by money. They use and sell human beings for money.” She raised her chin. “We need to take the one thing they hold dear. Their money.”

“I don’t hack anymore.”

She raised her brows.
 

“Not like that.”

“There’s no higher cause, Dominic. No greater good you could do.”

He rubbed a hand over his jaw, feeling the light stubble. “I made a promise—to your daughter.”

She opened her mouth then closed it. “I see.”

“I doubt it. I need to think. What does Payne have to do with all this?”

“So far, he funds the operation by funneling cash into this shell. It’s one reason we need another source of income. With your help, we could financially cripple the offenders, and then use their own money against them to find more perpetrators.”

“Is Payne broke?”

She laughed with real humor. “Hardly. But it’s harder than you think to take clean money and dirty it. I don’t want him to get into trouble. He’s been a friend to me.”

“Why him? What’s he get out of this? Why bother?”

“Sebastian has his own reasons for wanting to help young victims.”
 

Dominic waited expectantly.

“It’s his story to tell.”

He thought of Moneypenny. He’d forced her into sharing, and the results had been awful. “Fair enough,” he agreed.

“You’ll think about helping us?”

“Yes, but there’s a big elephant in this room. What about Devon?” Already, dread was eating a hole in his gut. This meeting, the surprise reunion with Angeline. He understood secrecy and the need for it. But if Angeline expected him to keep quiet about seeing her again, she would be disappointed. If he handled this poorly, he’d destroy Devon.

Angeline arched her brows.
 

“I made a promise to Dev that I’d stop hacking. I meant it. If I’m going to go back on my word, I have to be honest with her about why. I can’t lie to her. She’s too important.”

“You can’t do that. It’s the one non-negotiable in this discussion.” She held up her hand as he started to protest. “Dom, I’m going to be frank. I never changed my identity or hid away. I have lived openly, even publicly, in London for more years than anywhere else in my life. I made sure John could find me if he ever wanted. Devon too, once she was old enough.”

He stared.

“As you know, that’s never happened.”

“What about you? Why haven’t you reached out?”

“I wasn’t in a position where I could do that. If we were to see each other again, the first move had to come from one of them.”

He was the only one there to defend Devvie. Or John for that matter. Loyalty hardened his voice. “I think you’re oversimplifying. Certainly for Dev, she never knew the circumstances behind your leaving. Right or wrong, there’s been no explanation. She felt you abandoned her. Didn’t want her.”

He saw Angeline press a hand against her abdomen. A strangled sound escaped before she pinched the bridge of her nose. “I can’t talk about Devon today. It’s very hard for me. Please try to understand.”

“Okay.” As quickly as it came, his indignation leaked away. He didn’t have the heart to distress Angeline. The feelings and affection he carried for her were still there. “We won’t talk about her. But I can’t promise what you’re asking.”

“As I said, any reunion we may yet have needs to come from them. I’m begging you, even if you decide not to work with us, don’t say a word about seeing me. You have to believe me when I say it could be dangerous for Devon and John. Also, it could derail all the work Sebastian and I have done to get us to the point we are. The situation is fragile. We’ve worked years, and I can’t risk having it tumble down around us.”

He could reconcile waiting. To her point, there’d been plenty of time for contact in the past twenty years. He nodded his understanding but didn’t say the words.

“Good.” She stood. “Now, how about some food? I rarely get to cook for anyone anymore.”

His mouth watered. Grinning, he asked, “Gumbo or jambalaya?”

Angeline laughed. “Your pick.”

***

Dominic strolled down the long drive of Sebastian Payne’s estate on Jersey. White stucco sparkled against the lush greenery of plants and sweeping lawns. Purple wisteria grew up the walls to drape fragrantly over diamond-paned windows. The sky, brilliantly blue and cloudless, matched the sea beyond.
 

It was paradise.

The serenity of its setting carried inside with breezes that blew through open windows into the light and airy rooms. The kitchen was the centerpiece, where Angeline prepared a pot of spiced étouffée with a side of rice cooked to form a crunchy crust underneath.

Hands down, it was Dominic’s best meal in ages. They shared a bottle of dry Alsatian Riesling and kept their conversation to lighter matters than schemes and secret operations.
 

He was grateful for her restraint. He knew she wanted an answer to whether he would help them or not. But helping Angeline came at the expense of his promise to Devon. Technically, he hadn’t given his word to Angeline not to discuss their meeting. But in spirit, he had. His hands were essentially bound.
 

He learned that Angeline lived on the estate in Sebastian’s absence. She also kept a small flat in London, so when he visited the island, they would trade places and she would go to London. Occasionally, they met but tried to keep public sightings to a minimum. In fact, she preferred an extremely low profile while Sebastian still frequented popular social events.

Dominic snorted. Sebastian Payne never struck him as the type to be overly outgoing. Or charismatic.

Regardless, he no longer believed the other man to be evil or up to shady schemes. Quite the opposite, in fact. Payne self-funded the work with Angeline at enormous risk to himself. If Dominic had been hurting a little less, he could say that Sebastian was exactly the kind of man he’d choose for Natalie. Unselfish, honorable. The type who would never have hurt her so badly in the first place.

He continued to walk down the driveway, admiring the stripes mowed into the lawns with military precision. He’d always wondered how people did that. Needless to say, Payne probably didn’t know either. So far, it seemed like the man had staff for just about everything.

Still undecided, Dominic couldn’t discuss Angeline’s proposal with anyone to work out what to do. Knowing Dev, he was certain she’d want him to help. Not telling her meant he might not get the opportunity to explain anything about the cause at stake, though. And not talking with her meant going against her wishes, because she asked him to stop hacking companies for personal gain.

Oh, it had been ages since he kept anything that wasn’t rightly his. But he’d wandered straight into Sterling International’s financial accounts and taken money from Bennett’s clients. Yes, he returned it right away. No, no one ever found out about the theft. And yes, he’d achieved the end goal, which was gaining a foothold in London’s banking sector for his network security business.

Gaining Bennett as a partner was a bonus.

And the cost nearly ruinous.

He could only admit to himself how much fun it was to puzzle his way into a company’s private records. But there it was. He’d be lying if he said it wasn’t a huge temptation to use those skills against the sort of people who took advantage of children and young women. To do that, though, meant lying by omission and breaking outright promises to Devon.
 

It could ruin their friendship.

He reached the enormous wrought iron gates of the estate. A man sitting in a small office just outside the entrance saw him wave and pushed the release to open them.
 

Dominic waited as they swung open on large hinges, utterly noiseless. Stepping through, he waved again then moseyed along to the grassy edge along the nearest road. He needed to reach a decision. He’d never been the sort to waffle over things endlessly. He surely wasn’t about to start that now when the stakes were so high.

He ambled along, seemingly aimless to anyone that might pass him by. Dominic’s thoughts, however, were focused and linear on the problem he faced. The scent of lavender washed over him in one particular area. Peeking over a stone wall with bougainvillea climbing all over it, he could see a small field with rows and rows of purple blooms budding against their early bright green foliage.