Boned: A Stepbrother Romance (Mandarin Connection Book 4) Read online

  While this seemed coincidental to me, Captain Spalding frowned and then walked over to Stephan. He whispered something into his ear.

  Stephan thought for a moment.

  “Rachel, this is never to leave this room, do you understand?” he said.

  I gulped, and nodded.

  “Derek White, who is a Navy SEAL, and a good friend of Captain Spalding and Brett Ghent, was involved in a secret mission to find out the mechanism by which heroin was being transported to Miami,” said Stephan.

  “Let me fill in some blanks for her, Mr. Jaeger?” said Capt. Spalding.

  Bone piped up suddenly.

  “Is this what Brett had told us about last year? The Ocaba Bien connection? With Reighland?” he asked.

  “Yes, I am afraid that is true, Drake,” said Stephan.

  Captain Spalding then launched into an abbreviated story about how Theodore “Ted” Ghent and his family had been involved in an extortion plot to undermine Ghent International, Inc.

  Ted Ghent and his company had developed software that threatened to expose a massive fraud being conducted against the US Military, in the construction of military bases on foreign soil.

  Billions of dollars were being misappropriated, and apparently were being used to purchase weapons.

  These were in turn sold to terrorists, who were trafficking heroin and using the proceeds to fund their activities.

  One man in particular, Jonathon Reighland, was aware of the danger to his own operations once Ghent sold the software.

  Reighland figured if he could drive Ghent out of business, he could keep up his illicit activities.

  So, Jonathon Reighland had tried to destroy Ghent by buying a controlling share of his business.

  The key lever he had was Ted’s son, Brett.

  Brett had founded a social media network known as “Pecker”.

  Spalding told the assembled group of how Jonathon Reighland had killed Walter Reighland, his twin brother, and taken over his companies.

  Walter Reighland had been a visionary philanthropist who had tried to instill a more compassionate worldview by using advanced technology to solve the world’s problems.

  He had been successful in a variety of charitable concerns, from providing food supplies to areas ravaged by drought and famine, to developing clean water technology, to funding sustainable energy sources.

  His greatest success was “Ocaba Bien”, a spiritual and technological Xanadu that Walter Reighland had been building for decades.

  It held enormous promise, until Jonathon corrupted it to his own use.

  But, when Brett had created the social media sensation “Pecker” he soon became a billionaire because of its success.

  The additional capital available through his family to Ghent International, Inc. made it likely that Reighland’s scheme would be uncovered.

  Martin Freiberg, who was Ted Ghent’s best friend and comptroller, discovered that Reighland was infusing cash into “Pecker” to try to take it over.

  Once that had been done, they were going to bring Ted Ghent and his wife Sarah down.

  In order to set it up, Brett and his fiancé, Kady Markland, had been kidnapped and held at Ocaba Bien.

  Ted and Sarah were then lured there by “Walter” Reighland, since Jonathon’s brother and Sarah had once been in a relationship, after Kady’s father had been killed in action.

  Sarah didn’t immediately realize that Jonathon wasn’t her former lover.

  Reighland and his nephew, Scott, ran Martin’s Mercedes off the road, injuring him gravely.

  His warnings to Ted Ghent were not received in time for Ted to react to the threat.

  But, Brett had acted as soon as he knew of Reighland’s plans.

  He called Black Dog, and Capt. Spalding and his team were then activated.

  Captain Spalding related that his team had rescued Brett and Kady.

  Sarah had been shot during the action.

  And, Jonathon Reighland had vanished, falling into the ocean from the cliffs of “Ocaba Bien” after Sarah had shot him, just before she collapsed from blood loss.

  A few months later, Black Dog Protective Services were made aware of a Navy SEAL Team operation as they were dissecting the records obtained from Ocaba Bien.

  The Alpha Team’s leader, Admiral Reginald Decker, had informed Black Dog of a connection between Jonathon Reighland’s consigliere, and nephew, Scott and George Tanner, who was Bobby King’s right-hand man.

  Reighland was apparently funneling drug money through shell corporations that were originally set up to serve his military contracts.

  Robert “Bobby” King was running the drugs through the Caribbean, using his yacht the “Disco Inferno” and his trawler, the “Punta Gordo II”.

  King also had some aircraft, including a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, and was using the same FBO as Om.

  There was some speculation that there may have been an additional management level above both Reighland and King that dictated the process by which the heroin was being transported and sold on the street.

  It was theorized that this level also interfaced at a very high diplomatic level with the terrorist leaders of the heroin cartel.

  Up until this time, none of them had been able to uncover who that person or organization was.

  Captain Spalding concluded by reading the Executive Summary from the insurance company’s report.

  “It’s possible that Mr. Jaeger had inadvertently become involved in a drug ring, either through his employees or contacts in Thailand, where the clothing factories were based,” he said.

  “We currently believe that Matthias Jaeger may have become too embroiled in these illegal activities, and decided that the only way he could get out would be to commit suicide. We surmise that he decided to burn down the factory, in order to conceal or destroy evidence that would have incriminated him. His actions regarding obtaining insurance also speaks to an intent to commit fraud,” concluded the Captain.

  “Bullshit,” spat Bone.

  Stephan glared at him, and then looked at Spalding.

  “Thank you for your report, Captain,” he said.

  He looked at the agent.

  “Do you have anything to add, sir?” he asked.

  The Black Dog agent, dressed in a stereotypical MIB suit, reviewed what facts they had discovered:

  1. The Stephan Jaeger clothing factory had been destroyed in a fire.

  2. It had been deliberately set.

  3. Forty workers, mostly teenagers, had perished.

  4. It had happened the day before Om and Moms had died in the plane crash.

  5. Om was being investigated as being the arsonist.

  The FAA report had come back, and there had been no indication of anything unusual before the plane had crashed.

  The NTSC was attributing the incident as a ‘controlled crash into terrain’.

  It was impossible.

  The facts showed that, apparently, Matthias Jaeger, my stepfather, was a terrorist sympathizer and drug smuggler.

  My mind reeled as it grappled with the possibilities that the man who was so in love with my Mother, had burned his factory to the ground.

  Om had then apparently committed suicide, killing the pilot, co-pilot and flight attendants on his private jet.

  And, Matthias Jaeger was responsible for the murder of my Moms.

  —————

  CHAPTER TEN

  Gordian Knots

  “That is patently absurd!” said Bone.

  He was agitated and upset by the revelations of the report.

  Captain Spalding had sat through the remainder of the report, eyes focused on some of the details in the copy provided to each of the men at the table.

  He sipped from a glass of water, turning the pages slowly.

  Once or twice, he made some marks with a pen on the margins of a page.

  As the agent finished, and was awaiting instructions from his boss, I suddenly noticed I was the only woman in
the room, and immediately felt out of place.

  Stephan must have picked up on this, because he smiled at me, then motioned one of the guards over.

  He whispered something to the man, who chuckled and then left the room.

  A few minutes later, three female guards were in the room, replacing the one male guard.

  I smiled, and mouthed “Thank you!” to Stephan.

  It was a small gesture, and I felt that he really was trying to be aware of my unease.

  I was again aware of that tiny feeling of gratefulness, and that Stephan was so intuitive of my need for security and safety.

  And then, Bone spoke and my brain short-circuited the way it always did when I heard his deep, sexy voice.

  —————

  “What can we do, Stephan?” asked Bone of his older brother.

  Stephan was looking at nothing, staring at the wall, thinking deeply.

  Bone waited patiently, then suddenly smashed his fist onto the table.

  Everyone in the room stared at him.

  The force of the blow had knocked over several of the water glasses on the table.

  “For God’s sake, there is no way in hell that Om did this! You know that, Stephan! You, too, Rachel!” he pleaded.

  My heart broke for him.

  I hated Om for killing my mother.

  But, Stephan, Karl and Bone would have to live with the knowledge that their father was a cheat, a liar and a murderer who had destroyed their financial fortunes with his own selfishness.

  A terrorist enabler, a drug smuggler…they must have been reeling as much as I with this horrific information.

  “Octavius,” said Stephan.

  The others in the room gasped.

  “Are you serious?” asked the MIB agent.

  “Never more in my life, sir,” said Stephan.

  He stood and motioned for Bone and me to leave.

  I nodded at the three female guards as I left.

  Every one of them had their fingers on the triggers of their guns and were on high alert.

  Captain Spalding barked orders to his men, and followed us out of the conference room.

  “Fuck,” he said. “Fuck me to tears!”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Ocaba Bien

  After the conference, we jetted from Paris to Dubai, where we made a connection with a contingent of Navy SEALs.

  These were the infamous Alpha Team from Miami.

  They were fine specimens of alphas, all right.

  I didn’t know which one was more buff, or capable.

  Each one looked like a marble statue come to life.

  They strode on the tarmac like gods, ignoring the looks of awe from all the lesser men there.

  They laughed and joked with one another, missing nothing.

  Introductions were made, and then we boarded a military jet.

  It was a C-17 cargo plane, but it had been outfitted with some very special equipment as I soon found out.

  The engines began to whirr, and I was seated next to Stephan and Bone.

  Captain Spalding sat across from some of the Alpha Team.

  Everyone had guns, which made me nervous and afraid.

  I didn’t like guns.

  The tower gave the pilots clearance, and the C-17 arced into the sky.

  This certainly wasn’t as plush as our Gulfstream, but Stephan and Bone didn’t complain, so I made sure to keep my own mouth shut.

  All these military guys were a treat for my eyes, let me tell you!

  They were all hard men.

  Toned, muscles on muscles, and ripped. Each one was just a fantasy come true.

  If I had been in a different state of mind, I would have considered fucking all of them!

  But, it was still Bone that was the captain of my soul.

  He was the only one of them that could slake my thirst for love.

  I tried once or twice to strike up some manner of conversation with the men, but it always fell flat or we would be interrupted by more pressing matters.

  “Strap in, everyone, this might get a bit rough,” came the voice over the com.

  In less than three minutes, the C-17 was buffeting around the sky, as the pilots sought to fly around areas of turbulence.

  It only took me another ten minutes before I lost my light lunch.

  Bone looked pretty green as well.

  “Sorry,” I said, trying not to heave again.

  “It’s ok, Baby Doll,” he said.

  My heart lurched, but then I noticed he was sitting with his head back and his eyes closed, not even looking at me.

  Fuck.

  As the Burj Khalifa jutted into the air, receding in the distance, I followed the conversation as best I could.

  The SEALs and my stepbrothers had been speaking to one another, in some manner of terse code.

  I couldn’t understand what they were on about.

  I did know that they had all decided to travel to Reighland’s resort.

  “I thought you were going to stay on as head of Security at ‘Pecker’, David,” said a SEAL, whose name was Randy. “Never thought I’d see you here, back in the field.”

  “Special circumstances require special considerations, my friend,” said Captain Spalding.

  “Besides, I always love seeing the faces of guys who are getting their asses kicked by a disabled vet!” he smiled.

  Randy laughed, and Spalding slapped him on the knee.

  “Didn’t you sell Black Dog?” he asked.

  “Yeah, but then I got asked to come back as a ‘consultant’,” he replied, rolling his eyes.

  “Last time I ‘consulted’ someone, they ended up with a lot of holes in them,” said Travis.

  “Well, actually I was bored to tears over at ‘Pecker’. Brett asked me if I wanted to buy Black Dog back, and that he would bankroll it for me. But, Earl is a pretty decent guy, and so I didn’t want to fuck him over. Besides, as a consultant I get all the perks and none of the hassles!” said Spalding.

  The men chatted some more, and I looked down at David’s legs.

  David Spalding had artificial legs, as his own had been blown off in Afghanistan by an IED.

  Brett Ghent had seen to it that he’d been given the chance to form his own protective services agency once he’d recuperated.

  Their friendship had been born in their shared adventures in college, chasing cute girls and drinking beer.

  I only knew about this because Stephan had filled me in on the flight to Dubai. [1]

  —————

  The C-17 landed, and we boarded another armored car. The SEALs marched out to a vehicle that looked like a tank to my eyes.

  The loaded up, and we drove for another hour to a small airfield, where there were several helicopters.

  There was a bustle of activity, and we transferred to a Blackhawk helicopter.

  After a short flight along the beach, we were descending on the former mystical resort of Walter Reighland.

  Stephan pointed out the side of the chopper, the whirring blades making it impossible to hear him.

  But, I knew what he was trying to tell me.

  “Ocaba Bien”.

  —————

  We’d landed at the base of a cliff, where there was an elevator of some elegant construction, leading to the entrance to the resort.

  At the top of the cliff, we could see weird outcroppings and some other construction.

  “Apparently, this was like a Disney World for adults,” said Capt. Spalding. “Walter Reighland used to hold orgies or some kind of “Eyes Wide Shut” affairs there.”

  He grinned, his perfect white teeth shining from his black face.

  “I’ve heard they were quite the event, from some very reliable sources!” he smiled.

  The other men laughed, and I blushed a bit.

  “Brett also told me that it was almost like magic, the way that your drinks would suddenly appear, or a servant would know what you needed before you even thought of it!�
� he said.

  “But, after we dissected it and examined the technology, it was just a mix of social media tricks and data marketing. Apparently, old Reighland had dossiers on everyone he’d invited.”

  We walked towards the elevator.

  Spalding continued talking, his artificial feet kicking up sand from the pristine beach.

  Gulls flew overhead in the clear blue sky.

  The waves of the ocean washed over the beach.

  It was beautiful, almost like a dream.

  “Reighland kept his guests under surveillance constantly, and even had some manner of pheromone aerosols dispersed that provided a mild hallucinogenic effect,” he said.

  “I hear it was very enjoyable. Everyone could do whatever they wanted, provided no one was being injured. Reighland was quite a showman, and took advantage of grandiose illusions, using mirrors and holographic projectors, making it look as though he could fly or vanish at will,” said Spalding.

  “It almost seemed not real, to hear the way Brett relates it,” he said.

  “Kady once told me she thought the whole thing was a dream, until she remembered her mother being shot and having to undergo fourteen months of physical therapy!” he concluded, frowning.

  “What are we doing here,” I asked Bone.

  “Stephan thinks we will find some clues as to how Om was involved with King and Reighland,” he said.

  Bone’s voice made my thighs loose.

  It was torture for me to walk close to him, wanting for us to be the way we were.

  With each passing moment, I knew we were moving further and further away from that time, that connection to each other.

  I tried to look at it objectively, but my heart wouldn’t let me.

  I was losing him!

  —————

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The Mandarin Connection

  We searched the abandoned buildings of the resort.

  It was huge!

  Each room we entered was more elegant, or fanciful than the next. Even though the place had been unoccupied for years, there were still traces of its majesty and technologically advanced appointments.

  The men spread out in military teams of five, hopscotching from one room to another, moving tactically, I guess you would call it.