Kitsune swallowed. “Yes, Mulvaney.”
“Your old mentor.”
Nicholas scraped a hand against his face. He needed a shave badly. “She upped her surveillance on you for the last six months, then hired you to pull off a nearly impossible heist, which you did, and instead of handing you the second half of your payment, she tried to have you killed.”
Mike said slowly, “Maybe it wasn’t Lilith’s decision to kill you. Maybe the Kohaths saw you as a loose thread and wanted you dead.”
Louisa wandered into the small bedroom, eating a banana. “We need to find out where they took Kitsune’s husband.”
Adam didn’t look up from his computer. “I’m looking now. I have a lot of irons in the fire. I’ve been trying to hack Russo’s email and haven’t had any luck, either. Can you guys leave me alone for a while and let me sort through everything? As soon as facial recognition comes through on the dead shooters we don’t already know, I’ll holler.” He did look up then. “Kitsune, I’ll find Grant. Just give me a little time. I’ve got an idea.”
Nicholas said to everyone, “Let’s go back into the living room. I’ll tell you about some interesting abnormalities Gray has found in the Genesis Group’s financials.”
“Like what?” Kitsune asked.
He didn’t answer, pointed at Adam, whose brow was furrowed as he stared at the screen. They followed Nicholas into the suite living room, set themselves at their stations. Kitsune stood by the window, looking out every few moments. A well-ingrained habit, Mike imagined.
Nicholas said, “Now, we need to run some other data as well, try to match it to the financials—”
Mike stopped, put her hands on her hips. “Stop, right there. Listen, Nicholas, as soon as Adam finds where the Kohaths are holding Grant, we need to move. We have everything we need. I’ll even wager the Kohaths will be wherever Grant is being kept. We can’t just sit around gathering more data.”
Louisa said, “I agree with Mike, Nicholas. I think we should go at them hard, and do it now, before they have a chance to cover anything up. Or before Major Russo comes here with a platoon of soldiers and tosses all of us in his Italian hoosegow.”
They heard a whoop, then Adam came running into the living room, waving his laptop. “I found Grant. You’re smart, Kitsune, the private airports were the key. I found where the yacht docked, traced them to a plane at a small airport outside of Naples. Yesterday, a plane with the same tail number landed in Perugia, that’s about four hours southwest of here, toward Rome. There are several security cameras placed around the hangars, and they still hadn’t recycled the feeds.”
He had the video queued up, hit play. There was Grant, handcuffed, his arms held by two men. It was obvious he was deeply drugged. They dragged him to a small hangar and the screen shot changed.
Kitsune couldn’t help it, she blew out a shaky breath. “Those bastards. But he’s alive, he’s alive.”
“I pulled satellite footage from the area. Got lucky, there’s a U.S. Army base north of here, Aviano, and they do regular flyovers. Otherwise I would have had to ask the Italian government for help, and I assume after we banged up their piazza, they wouldn’t be so hot to lend a hand.
“So, look here. They’re getting into a Peugeot, driving west. Sorry, I lost them after that.”
Nicholas clapped Adam on his shoulder. “Fine work, Adam, and no, I’m still not going to kiss you. Do the Kohaths have holdings near Perugia?”
“Let me see.” He typed for a second. “Yes, here it is. The Kohaths have a house in a town called Castel Rigone, near a big lake called Lake Trasimeno. It’s only thirty minutes from the airport in Perugia. Huge place, too. Practically a castle.”
Kitsune was already heading toward the door. “That’s where they are. Mike’s right—since Grant is there, the Kohaths must be, too. We have to go now.”
Nicholas shook his head. “Look, I agree with all of you. We will go get Grant. But think about this logically. Interviewing these two in Rome at their headquarters is one thing, confronting them in their own personal castle is quite another. We need a plan.”
The room phone rang. Nicholas answered, “Major Russo?” then listened. He hung up and looked at Louisa. “I guess we’re going to have to find another castle for you to storm, Louisa. Major Russo has respectfully requested your forensics assistance. It seems his team is not performing as he expected.”
“But—”
He raised a hand. “This is important and I figure it’s the only way we can try to smooth over some of the chaos we caused. Plus we need all the evidence you can gather, more nails for the Kohath coffin, and I want eyes on Russo. I don’t trust him. You’re the only one who can do this, Louisa, and see that it’s done right.”
Louisa didn’t look happy. “All right. But you know, guys, sometimes it isn’t all that wonderful to be the greatest forensics expert on the planet.” She turned at the doorway. “You were supposed to laugh. That was a joke. Keep me posted. I’ll join you as soon as I can take care of Russo’s mess.”
Nicholas turned to Adam, but before he could speak, Adam said, “I know, you want me stay here with Louisa, keep an eye on her, and gather more evidence.”
“Yes, thank you, Adam,” Mike said. “While we get ourselves together, pull everything you can on the Kohaths’ house.” She paused a moment. “They could be moving him around, Kitsune. It’s possible he’s no longer even there.”
Kitsune was still standing by the door, shoulder tense. “He’s there. I know it. It makes the most sense.”
Adam said, “I’ve got the tail number of the Kohaths’ private plane—a Citation CJ3 Plus, really swanky. I’ll see where they are, what flight plans are recorded.”
“Good,” Nicholas said. “If we’re going to storm the castle, all the information you can muster is welcome.”