“Which means we can expect another meeting with him at some point, I suppose,” said Nash. “And whether he’ll take over things for a buck.”
“You think Steers knows the truth about her mother? That she may actually be working with Lord and the Chinese and against her?”
“When I tell her about the prison situation she will.”
“But won’t selling her business for a buck tell Lord that something is not on the up-and-up?”
“I think it’s another curveball Steers has thrown. They have more firepower than she does, and she’s trying to thread the needle.”
“Think she’s going to pull it off?
“I wouldn’t bet against the woman.”
Morris didn’t say anything for a few moments. “Even if she sells out we need to nail her, Walter, you know that, right? She’s a criminal.”
Nash didn’t answer right away. “I understand the situation, Reed.”
“I know you’ve been embedded with this woman for a long time. I’ve worked undercover before with some pretty bad people. And sometimes, things can get. . .confusing. And you saved the woman’s life, and she feels like she owes you. And it seems like you’ve seen a different side of her,” Morris added in an uncomfortable voice.
“I have not lost my objectivity, Reed.”
“I’m just asking because our last call did not end well,” Morris said cautiously.
Nash wanted to tell Morris that he was neither an agent nor an employee of the FBI. They might have fairly well-aligned interests, but that did not meanperfectlyaligned. And sometimes things went sideways. But he did not tell the man that, because he had decided he was going to need the FBI. Maybe not entirely how they intended, but he was also not in a position to burn bridges. So like he had done in numerous business negotiations, he told the other party what he knew they wanted to hear.
“I have every intention of holding everyone accountable who should be.”
CHAPTER
65
AMONTH LATER, STEERS’S JET CUTsmoothly through the sky. On board the plane were the pilots, the flight attendant, Steers, and Nash. On Steers’s orders Thura and the rest of the security team had remained at the estate.
Steers had told Nash that they were flying to LA. He had already assumed such a trip would take place after Agent Morris had told him that Connor Lord was now on the West Coast. But Nash, of course, had to play ignorant of that fact.
They had been served a meal and drinks, and the flight attendant had retreated to her jump seat in the cockpit with the pilots, leaving Steers and Nash alone. Steers fiddled with the sleeves of her blouse and then did the same with the scarf around her neck.
“Did you tell my mother that I am selling the business?”
“I did. And that the price was acceptable to you. And if she had other questions she should ask you. Has she?”
“She has no need to,” Steers answered mysteriously. “As I am sure you deduced, I am to meet with my potential buyer on this trip.” She sipped her tea and looked across the table at Nash with an unreadable expression. “His name is Connor Lord, just in case you are curious.”
“Never heard of him. Who is he?”
“A formidable partner, a more formidable adversary. However, I have never actually been his partner, only hissubordinate. Though I may very soon be his adversary.”
“Should we have brought more men with us then?”
“That won’t matter, Dillon-san. It is not nearly so simple. And the lion kills the hyena at his leisure.”
“I actually see you more as a honey badger. And I believe that lions actually would prefer to take on a pack of hyenas than a single honey badger.”
She self-consciously smiled at his quip, showing that it had pleased her.
“Do you think Lord was the one who tried to kill you back in Hong Kong?”
“Doubtful, or else I would be dead.”