Excerpt: Follow My Lead

PROLOGUE
“He hid it where?”

“It’s in the house.”

“Tell me he could not have been that stupid!”

“I would but I’d be lying, boss.”

There was a prolonged silence as the decision maker deliberated. “I’m sending Dmitri up there to deal with this directly.”

There was a moment’s hesitation as the caller on the other end worked to restrain his reaction. “Aww, Jesus… You don’t need to boss. Really. My guys and I can take care of this for you pronto. No problem.”

“It’s because I don’t want a problem that I am sending Dmitri. He’ll contact you when he arrives. He will be in charge. Then I want you to go in and get it. But you are to let me know first if there are any problems. I don’t want this getting messy. I don’t want any nosy neighbours. And I don’t want anyone else minding our business. Understood?”

“Yeah, boss. Understood.”

Michael Carbone shoved the cell phone back into his jacket pocket of his elegantly tailored suit, looked over at the pale blonde man sitting across from him and shook his head in disgust. “Unacceptable. That cretin Wright has left the organization completely vulnerable.”

Agitated, Carbone paced back and forth across the plush oriental carpet, working his hands, clenching his long, manicured fingers. The room was dim, the glaring afternoon sun effectively limited by the custom interior walnut shutters. Exquisitely framed paintings by the old masters occupied focal points around the office, bearing down on the two men. Carbone walked over to the massive wooden desk where he conducted his business, and lifted his glass from the coaster, a faint ray of sunlight glinting off the gold rings that adorned his hand. He studied the amber liquid a moment, then downed it with a satisfied sigh. He looked at his associate. “That is why I want you in on this. He must be made to pay for his mistake. That kind of carelessness cannot, will not be tolerated.”

Dmitri gave a small nod of agreement, stroking his chin thoughtfully as he watched the man to whom he directly reported. His cold, grey eyes never left Carbone. They traced his every step, moving up and down his body, reading each motion, processing every detail. It was unnerving, unnatural. But Carbone had grown used to it. It was why he had Dmitri in his employ. Fear and intimidation were old school, but they kept everyone else in his employ in line.

“All organizations require order. That means respect for the rules, and for those who rule.”
Carbone stopped by one of the windows, standing in profile against the dim light filtering between the louvered slats, rendering him literally the shadowy figure he was. “Whether he lives to be granted a second chance remains to be seen,” he mused out loud. “It all rides on the numbers. The global markets are still sorting themselves out and unfortunately, Wright has a gift we need now.” Wright knew how to surf the waves of the recent financial crisis, not just ride it out. He’d done better than protect the assets of the Syndicate. He’d grown their fortune on the backs of many other misfortunes. “But once again, it would appear that the genius of our associate, Mr. Wright, comes at a price which I did not agree to pay. His carelessness this time could be enough to unravel everything: all the efforts spent and alliances forged in creating this powerful new global organization.”

“Your vision,” Dmitri demurred.

“Yes. My vision. And I’m not going to give Wright the chance to mess things up more than he already has.”
Chapter 1
It had to be here somewhere.

Holly Wright shuffled through the pile of papers on the massive burled oak desk again. Bills were piling up, and Holly for the life of her couldn’t understand why. It looked like Les hadn’t paid some of them for months. Granted, the divorce had been an ugly, drawn-out nightmare; the only ones who came out of that unscathed were the lawyers. And like the vultures they were, they were now picking apart the last of the savings account. Oh, sure. She still had the house. But the bank apparently still owned most of it. And like everyone else, they wanted their money. What was she going to do?