“Okay, go on,” I said.
“I’ve been working for the firm that put me on the Cannon job on and off since I left MI5. I’d done a few jobs for Cannon. They were good clients. It was easy work. Just surveillance and information gathering mainly.”
“And they learned to trust you?” Landon asked.
“I guess. Then this job came along and they were offering good money to spend some time in the sun. What’s not to like? They said it was surveillance and questioning. Nothing big.” He paused as if he were trying to recall the details.
“Did they give you a list of people to surveil?”
He shook his head. “No. They told me to find your boat and report back to them. That was it at first. That took a few days because you weren’t in the marina. And then I called in a few favors, got details of the crew on board. Avery Walker was the easiest target.”
I winced as his thin lips curled around her name. I hated the sound of it coming from his mouth.
“She wasn’t working for Cannon?” I asked.
He took a sip of his drink and the few seconds delay in his answer felt as if it lasted hours. “No, it was my job to get her to talk. I thought it would be easy. I knew her family needed the money and that she sent most of her salary and tips home. I thought five thousand dollars would be enough. But not a chance.”
Five thousand dollars hadn’t bought her. At least she’d tried to resist. “So you didn’t approach any other crew members at all? No deck crew? It was just Avery?”
“No, I was convinced she’d break. Especially for so much money.” He picked up his pint and took a sip as if we were discussing the latest Six Nations match. “I can’t believe she turned down that money. I’ve never offered so much to a source for so little. I mean, it was just the name of the company you were buying and how much you were going to pay.”
“You were surprised she didn’t take the five thousand?”
“No, the hundred and fifty thousand. That’s what I got told to offer her.” He shook his head. “It was a lot of money she walked away from just for a few bits of information. I wasn’t asking her to plant listening devices or really do anything that would put her in danger.”
She’d turned it down? I knew how much her family needed the money, how much it would have meant for her to have that amount of cash for her brother. She probably could have skipped a season or at least got a job back in Sacramento. Guilt churned in my stomach. What had I done?
“They were stunned when she didn’t bite,” he said, interrupting my thoughts. “I was surprised. Especially as it kept getting better for us. Cannon pulled a few strings and had her brother’s insurance coverage reassessed. Her brother’s entitlements were cut. We thought she would have been desperate for the cash. I thought it was a perfect moment to make that final, big offer. But she said no.”
I leaned back and tried to take in what I’d just heard. Avery’s brother—the person she worked so hard for, had given up her own dreams and aspirations to provide for—had had his health insurance cut? Because of me. Her brother, her guilt about the accident and her need for redemption were Avery’s Achilles’ heel and she’d still not sold me out?
“But she still didn’t take the money?” My heart began to thunder through my chest. I’d been right about her the first time. She’d not betrayed me. She’d protected me. I’d always known Cannon were lowlifes, and I’d been content to walk away from the immoral, illegal things they’d done in order to try to bury me. I’d been determined to take the high road, clear in my mind that my revenge would come with my success despite them. What this guy was saying changed things. Now I wanted to bury them. I might not like it, but I understood that her telling some guy Phoenix’s name in return for her brother’s wellbeing would be a small price to pay. It had been an impossible situation for her.
“Nope. Not a penny. When she called me from the satellite phone, I thought I had her. I really did.” He shook his head in disbelief. “But she wanted to know who else I’d approached on the crew. Didn’t even ask for more money. Just a flat-out no.”
Could she really be that good? Would she sacrifice her brother . . . for me? Everything he was saying rang true to me. The Avery he was describing was exactly the woman I knew. The woman I’d kissed on the upper deck while watching the fireworks, the woman who’d worked tirelessly to keep me happy, even when it wasn’t her job, because that was her nature. She was kind and sweet and loyal just as I’d always thought. She really was that good.