Chapter Twenty-Seven
Drew’s call with Russell was short and to the point. Russell called him back a few minutes later with an address for them to meet. “I can be there in ninety minutes.”
“I’ll meet you there,” Drew promised, hating how weak his voice sounded.
The cab driver wasn’t willing to take him out that far, instead leaving him in the city center. He got on a bus that would bring him most of the way there, and sat on a seat, fingers twisted in his lap as the rush hour traffic slowed them down.
Sam kept ringing his cell, and each time he had to talk himself out of answering. He knew Sam would drop everything and move mountains to help him, but he wouldn’t risk him or Matt any further. Sam had the information to take Russell down and Drew could distract Russ for long enough that by the time he realized what they’d done, it would be too late.
Clambering off the bus an hour later, he realized he was still a good twenty minutes’ walk from where he needed to be. Russ would not be happy if he was late. Not that he’d be happy at all.
When he reached the destination, a little out of breath, he had to stop and check that he had it right. But no, this was it. An old, derelict warehouse in an industrial estate that had seen better days. There didn’t seem to be anyone around and he pushed the gate open, wincing at the long screech of its hinges, and walked inside. Rounding a corner, he found a car parked, with two men next to it, one of them sitting on the bonnet, the other pacing next to it.
“Where’s Russell,” he asked, trying to see into the back of the car. It wasn’t Russell’s usual mode of transport, the car at least a decade old and in need of a good clean.
“He’s inside,” the man at the bonnet said, smiling and gesturing towards a door. “After you.”
Drew’s stomach was doing flip-flops, but he forced himself to move, past the men and into the darkness of the warehouse. The place looked even worse from the inside. Empty shelves, bits of cardboard boxes here and there. Muted light filtering in through dirty windows.
He paused for a moment, allowing his eyes to adjust before moving inward. There was no sign of Russell.
“Russell, I’m here, like we agreed,” he said, jumping when the door closed behind him. He turned to find the two men had followed him in and they’d been joined by a third.
“Where is he?” he asked.
“Not here,” bonnet man said. “We’ll just get you comfortable then we’ll give him a call.”
Drew shook his head, taking a stumbling step back.
“No, I agreed to meet with Russ. If he’s not here, then I’m leaving.”
“He’s very eager to hear from you, but he had a prior commitment,” the man said, almost as if Drew hadn’t spoken.
All three men moved forward, surrounding him, and Drew knew he’d made a mistake, misjudged Russ’ actions. This was about drawing him out, but not about getting him back.
Two of the men grabbed him by the arms, dragging him further into the room before forcing him down on his knees, his back to the door.
The third man picked up a rickety chair and set in it in front of Drew. He withdrew a tablet from his jacket, opened it and started pressing buttons.
“Damn thing isn’t…” he muttered. “No, wait. There.”
He did something with the cover of the tablet that allowed it to stay upright as he sat in on the chair. At first, all Drew could see was a blank screen with a small square in the upper left corner showing his own scared face.
Then the screen lightened, and there was Russell.
“Andy, my clever boy. You’ve been running me ragged these past few weeks.”
Drew struggled not to be cowed by Russ, even though the man literally had him on his knees.
“I couldn’t stay, Russ, not after—” He fell silent.
“Of all the young men I’ve met, working their way up in the world, I’ve never had such high hopes as I had for you, only to have them dashed down to the depths of disappointment.”
“Russ, please. I just want this to stop.”
Russell sighed. “It will, I promise. But there are things I must know.”
“What things?”
“When you left so suddenly for the second time. Was there a reason? Perhaps something you learned, something you read?” Russ’s eyes flashed dangerously.
“No. Things were just different between us. I know you felt it too.”
“Hmm.” Russ didn’t take the bait. “But you’ve been living with this police officer.”
“He’s just a friend of a friend. I needed a place to crash.”
“He’s a friend of your brother. Tell me, how long were you two in contact before you ran off?”
“We… we weren’t. Logan arranged everything. I only met Sam when I got there.”
“You would say that, wouldn’t you? The truth is, you betrayed me. Personally and professionally. I should have put a stop to things that night after you broke into my computer. But I was weak. I had such hopes for you and I wasn’t willing to let them go so easily. My mistake.”
Russ’ words made him even more certain he’d been judging his actions as those of a spurned, hurt lover, and not as the cold and calculating businessman Drew knew he could be.
“That wasn’t your mistake. Your first mistake was committing fraud and having someone murdered because they wouldn’t sell their company to you. Your second was leaving me alone with your computer and all the evidence of your crimes.”
Russ laughed. “Andy, such spirit, such potential. It’s a pity you didn’t apply it to something useful to the company, to me. What good is knowledge without proof?”
“I have proof. All the documents I sent by email.”
Russ shook his head. “That failed to send, remember?”
“It isn’t hard to spoof a ‘message failed’ email, Russ. Even you should know that.”
Russ’ easy smile faltered. “You have the proof? Where is it?”
“It’s too late Russ, the police have it now.”
“That’s unfortunate. But I suppose it can’t be helped. And, with no one to corroborate where it came from, its value is limited.”
He sighed again.
“I think this is where you and I part ways, Andy. Young and foolish. I’ll have to be more careful with my choices next time.”
He felt rather than saw the third man step up behind him, and the press of something cold and hard to the back of his head.
“I want my face to be the last thing you see. I take no pleasure in this, Andy. It’s just business.” He nodded, and Drew squeezed his eyes shut. There was a bang, the noise deafening to his ears.