Operation Date With Destiny (29 page)

“
There!
”
Destiny pointed out a fat, balding
,
middle aged man carrying a large expensive looking leather briefcase as he came through the hotel doors,
glancing
up at the sky
,
seeming to be gaging the weather.

Tate eyed the photograph in his lap and looked the man over shrewdly, before nodding his agreement.
“
That
’
s him. Go.
”
He said, giving
Johnny
the go ahead to circle in front of the hotel.
“
You know what to do?
”
he asked, catching Destiny
’
s eye in the mirror.

She gave a brisk nod, her hand on the door handle as
Johnny
pulled up just short of the man now waiting on the sidewalk ahead of them.

She exited the car quickly and tucked her coat collar up around her face, as she walked towards the attorney. He would
recognize
her, she knew that, the trick would be, catching him off guard and getting him into the back of the car without drawing too much attention to them.

“
Excuse me, do you have the time?
”
she asked, stopping before the portly man and from the corner of her eye she saw the car roll to a stop. The attorney looked up as she spoke, and for a moment his expression bordered on arrogant dismissal, until he peered closer and a frown marked between his bushy eyebrows. Destiny
’
s hand shot out and grabbed his arm, wrenching it up against his back and thrusting him inside the door
Tate threw open for her, having at some point gotten into the back seat of the car.
Destiny p
osition
ed
herself tightly against the man
’
s back,
so that
nobody walking past
on the side walk would be able to see she had the man in an arm lock. Within seconds she
’
d pushed him inside the back of the car and slid in beside him, slamming the door shut behind her as the car pulled away from the curb. The whole abduction had taken less than twenty seconds.

She
withdrew a set of
zip cuffs, snapping the plastic device into position and securing them, fastening the man
’
s hands together
. H
is struggles
were
hampered by his size and the fact he had a 200 pound man wedging him in the
center
of the small backseat on one side, and Destiny on the other.

“
What is this?
”
The attorney demanded.

“
This, my fine friend, is what we call having a quiet chat,
”
Johnny
said from the front of the car as he
maneuvered
through traffic calmly.

Taking his leather briefcase from his limp hold, Destiny sat it on her lap and thumbed the lock,
sending him a sideways glance.
“
Combination?
”

Vincent
glanced over at Destiny and narrowed his piggy eyes.
“
You
’
ve made a big mistake, young lady and don
’
t think your father will be lenient just because you
’
re his daughter.
”

Destiny gave a small scoff.
“
As if I
’
d expect him to suddenly turn
human
. I need the combination,
”
she said, lifting an eyebrow expectantly.

“
That
’
s confidential.
”

“
Fine.
”
Destiny placed the case upright on the floor between her feet.
“
Tate you got a hammer in that duffle bag?
”

Tate leaned down and rummaged through the bag at his feet and pulled out a variety of nasty looking tools as well as a few hunting knives and handguns, before eventually locating a hammer.

Destiny hid the smile that lingered below her impassive expression as she saw the attorney eye the equipment inside the bag nervously. She took the hammer and hit the combination lock with a hard strike,
ignoring
the man
’
s protest to stop. She almost felt a guilty that she was destroying such an expensive briefcase, which probably cost more than most people made in a year, then remembered where this man got most of his money from and settled back to enjoy the next few strikes of the hammer.

The lock eventually gave and Destiny opened the lid to find a computer and some files
inside.
She breathed a silent sigh of relief—they
’
d been counting on him having his personal computer with him
. I
t would have added a complication to the plan if they
’
d had to
go to his
office to retrieve it. But then, Destiny at least, was fairly confident that the files on his computer would never leave his side—not with the amount of information he had on Tre
’
ago and the amount of money they were dealing with. For those to fall into the wrong hands would be a disaster…a disaster that was about to hit, big time.

“
I don
’
t know how you think I
’
m going to agree to give you access to anything on that computer,
”
he said stiffly.

“
We don
’
t need your help,
”
Tate drawled in a quiet voice then turned and looked out his window.

They continued to ignore the protesting man between them—the silent treatment working its magic, creating a tension in the car
that was
far more daunting than hurling threats would ever be.

They drove through the steadily increasing morning peak hour traffic, weaving their way
through streets and crossing boroughs
. Destiny didn
’
t bother asking how they arranged this place they were headed for—she was just glad they seemed to have connections in all the right places. The streets got a whole lot less fancy and began to decline rapidly the further they drove.
W
indow displays of brand named fashion
began
to disappear from shops
to be replaced by a string of low budget
chain stores
sprinkled intermittently
with boarded
up
and
empty s
tore
fronts, graffiti and
a sense of despair.

Eventually they pulled into a
rundown motel, leaving the car in the car park out the front while Johnny opened the door and dragged out the still protesting Attorney from the back se
a
t.

Destiny
scanned her surrounds
automatically,
out of habit
and even though
the area screamed bad news and
she knew the men were also on guard, there was nothing that stood out as an imminent threat to them. She
follow
ed
Tate and Johnny
and stopped in front of
a
door
. Tate knocked briskly and within seconds a frizzy
haired, overweight guy in his late twenties
opened the door, standing
back and quickly usher
ing
them inside.
It was as dark and dingy inside as it was on the outside. A hallway led from the small lounge room and kitchenette to
a closed
door which she presumed hid a bedroom.
Heavy curtains covered the
windows and the threadbare carpet on the floor had long ago given up trying to hold itself together exposing the floorboards beneath in places. Tupper picked up a chair from the two placed around a small table and placed it in the
center
of the room.

Tate shoved the still loudly protesting attorney into the chair and stood in front of him.

“
You have no idea who you
’
re messing with son,
”
he continued to vent angrily.

“
I got a pretty fair idea. I
’
m not impressed. Now, how about we get down to business so we can all go home?
”

“
What kind of business?
”

“
We need to know everything you have on Tre
’
ago,
”
Tate told him simply.

Lemont
gave an insulting chuckle as he rather impressively stared down the big man who stood before him,
and
tower
ed
over him.
“
You
seriously
think I
’
m going to do that?
”

“
I do.
”

“
You have heard of client/attorney confidentiality?
”

“
I have—I
’
ve also heard of a little thing called video,
”
he said lifting his chin across to where Tupper stood unfolding a
slim line
video camera and began recording.

The attorney once again gave an arrogant splutter of a laugh.
“
Oh yes, I can see a courtroom really accepting so called video evidence of a man you have tied to a chair after abducting him in broad daylight. You three are in a world of trouble right now and I intend to make sure you all go away for a very long time.
”

“
Man you can talk…
d
on
’
t know about anyone else but this guy is really givin
’
me a headache,
”
Johnny
mumbled from behind the camera.

“
This video isn
’
t for a courtroom,
”
Tate said and Destiny saw
Lemont
frown as he picked up on the ice-like tone of Tate
’
s voice.

“
I don
’
t understand.
”

“
This video is going to Tre
’
ago. Once he knows you
’
ve spilled your guts to us, he
’
ll take care of you himself. It really doesn
’
t matter if you tell us everything or not…either way
you
’
re dead.
”

The man blanched slightly at this, but quickly recovered.
“
He won
’
t believe it.
”

“
You think?
”
Tate raised an eyebrow at
Johnny.
“
Y
eah maybe you
’
re right—
Tre
’
ago
’
s a pretty reasonable guy
. H
e
’
s bound to give you the benefit of the doubt.
”

She saw the first signs of worry begin to invade the attorney
’
s smug expression and it waver
ed
slightly.

“
We know about the offshore accounts. We know about the drug lab in Cambodia—which has since been shut down, I might add. Make no mistake—your little scam you have going with Tre
’
ago is about to come crashing down around your ears.
”

“
You seriously think he
’
s gotten away with it this long by leaving anything that will lead back to him?
”

“
This is your one and only chance,
”
Johnny
said placing the computer on the man
’
s lap.
“
Open the files for us. We know they
’
re on th
ere—and most likely well hidden. W
e want them.
”

The man simply stared at
him
and a small gleam of that
earlier
smugness came back.
“
You don
’
t stand a chance of finding anything. I
’
ve had the best security minds in the business design my software. You will
never
find anything on that computer.
”