Five dates with the bill.., p.14
Five Dates with the Billionaire, page 14
‘This is actually a business call.’
‘Shoot.’
Connor looked again at the women’s bathroom. He suspected Mia would hide there until they were called for their flight. ‘I employ a young woman, Mia Simms, in my London marketing department. I have her file from HR and will email it to you shortly, but I want a background check on her.’
‘No sweat. Anything in particular you’re looking for?’
That was part of the frustration. He had no idea. ‘A general search to make certain she’s above board. Educational qualifications, finances, criminal record, where she lives and …’ he tapped his fingers against the armrest of his chair as he tried to sift through all the questions he’d asked that she’d skirted around, ‘her family. Her parents died in a plane crash.’
‘No problem. All that’s easy enough and the parents’ names should be on the passenger manifest. Just send me the flight number or, if you don’t have that, the airline and year of the crash.’
‘All I know is that it was around eleven years ago and they were on their way to Australia.’
‘That’ll do. Air crashes aren’t common.’
He slid one hand around the back of his neck and rubbed a spot to ease the tension there. ‘I want to know whether she’s in any major debt or receiving any regular payments apart from her salary.’
Even though he’d dismissed his earlier suspicions, he couldn’t be sure about anything now. He needed to know that Mia wasn’t about to squeeze wealthy elderly ladies for money or give them a sob story and have them come to her rescue.
Now the most pressing question; the one he wasn’t even certain he wanted answered. ‘I also want you to do a background check on an American. The name is Lou Correlli.’
‘Lou Correlli. Okay. Is he connected to Mia Simms?’
‘I suspect he is and, if he is, I want to know how.’
‘Sounds intriguing.’
‘I’m sure you’ll come up with some answers.’
‘I’ll do my best.’
The dye was cast. ‘Thanks Tony. I know I can count on you.’
‘Is there anything else you can tell me about her? Friends, social activities, political affiliations?’
Despite having spent the last couple of days with her, he knew very little about Mia. ‘She helps out at the Saturday soup kitchen in London with my grandmother and plays mahjong with Gran’s group of ladies on a Saturday evening.’
‘Okay.’ It sounded as though Tony was writing everything down. ‘If you think of anything else, text me.’
‘If you can, please make this a priority.’
‘Absolutely. I’ll get on it straight away.’
‘Great. And, I’ll look forward to the party invitation.’ He knew a small sense of relief when he disconnected the call and forwarded the email with Mia’s personnel file on to Tony.
He glanced at his watch. Twenty minutes until boarding and Mia still hadn’t come out of the bathroom. Clearly, she was going to stay where she was until the last minute.
Was he being brutish?
Possibly. But in this situation he believed it was necessary.
Waiting out the time, he sent Dawson a text to check in on his grandmother. So much for Gran refusing to take calls because she wanted him to enjoy his time with Mia.
It’s backfired big time, Gran!
He looked at the ladies’ bathroom and there was still no sign of Mia.
Hopefully Tony would have some answers quickly. Meanwhile, Connor needed to get through the next forty-eight hours with Mia in Paris.
Wonderful.
Being in the city of lovers would emphasise the chasm that’d opened between them.
Only five minutes before they’d be called to their gate to board.
Ping!
Expecting the incoming text to be Dawson’s reply, Connor was surprised it was from Tony.
That was quick.
Opening up the message, he saw a photo of Lou Correlli. Tony had written, ‘This isn’t the Lou Correlli you’re talking about, is it?’
Connor had no sooner typed back an affirmative than Tony rang him. Without any greeting, Connor’s friend launched, ‘Are you absolutely certain this is him?’
He looked again towards the bathrooms to make certain Mia wasn’t returning. ‘No mistake.’ Nobody could miss the ugly scar on the right side of his face.
‘Holy shit!’
Connor’s stress level spiked. His friend was not prone to dramatics. ‘Who is he?’
‘One very bad dude. He’s connected to a New York Mafia family.’
Mafia.
The word made Connor’s blood run cold.
‘A simple internet search turned up a heap of articles about him and I hope to hell your employee doesn’t have any connection with him.’
‘Tell me.’
‘He’s a hitman known as “The Reaper”.’
‘Shit.’ A heavy boulder settled in his chest and it was a struggle to get enough breath to speak. ‘What the bloody hell is Mia mixed up in?’
‘I don’t know. She has no internet profile at all. No social media. Nothing.’
‘She knows him, Tony. And he was fairly certain he recognised her.’ Dread clamped around his vocal tract and made each word strained.
‘I’ll keep digging tonight.’
Panic flared inside Connor. It was probably baseless, but he’d never forgive himself if he didn’t follow through on his instinct. ‘Do me another favour, will you?’
‘Name it.’
‘Send a security detail to my grandmother’s home. Make it covert.’
‘What makes you think she’s at risk?’
‘I doubt she is, but as I told you, Mia’s a friend of hers.’
Tony let out a low whistle. ‘Is she home now?’
He looked at his watch again. ‘Yes, she’ll be home.’
‘I’ll have a detail at her place within the hour.’
‘Thanks Tony.’ He closed his eyes for a moment. ‘I owe you big time.’
‘Anywhere your gran goes, we’ll follow, but it’d be easier to protect her if we had bodyguards by her side.’
‘No way she’d agree.’
‘Do you need a security detail too?’
‘I’m headed for Paris from Venice. The flight will board any minute. I think I’ll be good for now.’ But Lou Correlli did know who he was. ‘Let’s see what you find out and we’ll make a decision then.’
‘Stay safe, Connor. Even if there’s a link between your employee and the Mafia guy, I wouldn’t expect you’d be in any danger … unless she’s doing something illegal at work and you catch her out. Could she be trying to get something on you for them to use as blackmail? Some type of hold on your business empire?’
Holy hell.
‘I don’t know. I need answers as quickly as possible.’
‘You need them. I want them. It’s a long time since I’ve had a case like this to get my teeth into. I’ll call a couple of my people and put them on it immediately. Don’t worry buddy, we’ll work all night if we have to.’
‘Impressive.’ Especially given it was late on a Sunday evening.
A boarding announcement for the British Airways flight to Paris came through the public address system.
‘I’ve got to board now.’
‘I’ll phone you in the next couple of hours when we have something more.’
Seconds later, Mia emerged from the bathroom.
Connor wanted to tell her what he’d learned and demand an explanation. He suppressed the instinct. It was better to hold his cards close to his chest and wait for more information.
‘Let’s go,’ was all he said as she joined him and picked up her carry-on luggage.
Mia liked to blend into the background. Was she hiding from this Mafia guy?
Why had she cultivated a friendship with his grandmother?
Questions circled around in his head like a revolving door.
She’d demanded they sleep separately from now on, and that was fine with him. Until he worked out Mia’s game, common sense told him to keep his distance from her.
When had it ever been so bloody difficult to listen to common sense?
Chapter Fifteen
‘Goodnight, Connor.’
They were booked into the two-bedroom Suite Impériale at the Ritz Hotel, but once she had her room key, Mia stalked off to the lifts without bothering to wait for him.
Their entire trip to Paris had been one of stony silence.
Connor would’ve preferred an argument. Anything would be better than this awkwardness.
Remember you need to keep your distance.
Uncertainty pressed in on him. A man used to having all the answers, he was way out of his comfort zone. Fighting the urge to follow her and demand answers, he made his way to the Hemmingway Bar. Once he was nursing a scotch, he used his phone to search the internet for Lou Correlli.
Bloody hell.
There were a staggering number of references to the mobster known as ‘The Reaper’. The first article claimed that Correlli worked as a hit man for Giovanni Lucetti—the son of one of the five Mafia dons in New York. Although Correlli was suspected of having orchestrated over eighty murders for the Lucetti family, he’d never been convicted of any crime other than failure to pay parking fines.
How could Mia possibly be mixed up with Correlli?
Connor typed in a search for Giovanni Lucetti. Looking up from his phone as the articles loaded, he saw Mia walking through the lobby towards the exit.
Where the hell was she going at this time of night?
Even from this distance, there was a strong pull. A need to be by her side.
Ruthlessly, he crushed his feelings of desire.
Putting the scotch down without taking another sip, he reached the hotel entrance as Mia got into the back seat of a taxi.
In a scene reminiscent of every old-fashioned spy movie he’d ever seen, Connor jumped into the next waiting taxi and said, ‘Bonsoir, monsieur. Follow that taxi!’
The driver obviously saw the funny side and chuckled before adding, ‘I saw the lady. I can understand why you are following her.’
The guy had no idea.
Tension worked its way up across Connor’s shoulders and tightened the muscles at the back of his neck as they followed the taxi along the Place Vendôme and into Rue de la Paix. When it pulled up ahead of them at the Westminster Hotel, Connor said, ‘Pull over here, will you?’
Without a concrete plan, he waited until Mia entered the hotel before he paid the driver.
Each breath shallower than the last, he got out of the taxi slowly—almost afraid of what he’d discover if he kept following her.
From the footpath, he could see her inside speaking to a staff member at the concierge desk. There was a lot of nodding going on. Then the staff member picked up a phone and spoke for a moment before passing something to Mia and pointing her in the direction of the lifts.
‘Excusez-moi, monsieur.’ The doorman approached Connor. ‘Avez-vous besoin d’aide?’
‘I’m fine. Thank you.’ He took out his phone and pretended to scroll through the screen. ‘Just checking I’m in the right place.’
‘You need the Westminster Hotel?’ the doorman asked.
‘Yes.’ Connor looked beyond the man, making sure Mia had disappeared. ‘I see I’m in the right place. Thank you.’
The door man nodded and went back to his post to open the door.
Surely Mia wouldn’t have booked in here when she had her own room at the Ritz?
No. She carried nothing more than her handbag.
She had to be meeting with someone but who was it and how the devil was he going to find out?
While he took a discreet seat in the corner of the lobby bar where he could see Mia if she emerged from the lifts, his phone rang.
‘Hi Tony. You have answers already?’
‘Some answers and a whole lot more questions.’
Tell me about it. ‘So have I. I’ve just followed Mia to the Westminster Hotel.’
Tony made a disgruntled sound. ‘I’m not certain following her is the wisest course of action.’
The ominous words and hesitation in Tony’s tone ramped up Connor’s unease. ‘Tell me what you’ve found.’
‘Firstly, I checked the electoral roll and found only one Mia Simms listed in London.’
‘There’d be an address listed on the roll, right?’
‘Yes and you’re not going to believe where she lives.’
Connor closed his eyes briefly as he leaned back in the chair. ‘Tell me.’
‘Just around the corner from your grandmother.’
A frown pulled at his forehead. ‘That’s one of the most expensive suburbs of London.’
‘She lives in the Nova Apartments.’
He knew the apartments. They were a fairly new development right on the corner of Palace Street and directly across the road from Buckingham Palace Shop.
‘They’re absolute luxury living,’ Tony said. ‘Views of Belgravia and Buckingham Palace Gardens mean they rent for thousands of pounds per month.’
‘Way over what she could afford on her income from Stewart Corporation,’ he confirmed. ‘How is she affording it?’
‘The apartment she lives in is owned by the Harcher Trust.’
Harcher Trust. ‘I know that name.’ He frowned as he tried to remember in what context he’d heard of it.
‘That’s interesting, because it’s a private discretionary trust fund set up in the Cayman Islands.’
The mystery around Mia became murkier.
‘Do you have any idea who the trustees are?’
‘No and I’m not likely to find out. These trusts are created with a private document to which the settler, the trustees and any protector are the only parties. Information relating to this type of trust is not accessible by the general public. We’ve pulled every string and have drawn a blank.’
Connor swore.
‘Also, it looks like she’s living at the apartment rent-free.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘I’ve looked at her bank account. Those are strings I can pull … off the record,’ he explained. ‘Her account’s been building steadily since she started working for your company. The income goes in every week and very few deductions are made. From the transactions listed, she’s spending her money on weekly groceries and that’s about it.’
Well, she certainly hadn’t been spending her income on fashion or at the salon. ‘I suppose she would’ve had an inheritance when her parents died.’
‘Possibly.’ The scepticism in Tony’s voice was unsettling. ‘It could be she comes from a wealthy family but her background is a real blank.’
‘What do you mean?’ Unease beat harder through his blood.
Tony released an audible breath. ‘The records from the boarding school she attended when she was sixteen check out, but it’s a very exclusive school and the cyber security is so advanced we haven’t been able to find out who was paying the fees.’
‘The money must have come from an inheritance, she would’ve had a guardian by then. What else did you find?’ He was growing increasingly impatient to uncover every jigsaw piece he could to complete the puzzle that was Mia Simms.
‘The first school listed in her resume burned down and all student records were lost. Tomorrow I’ll send a couple of people to the township to interview anyone who was at the school at the time Mia Simms was supposed to have been there. They’ll be asking if people can remember her or her parents.’
‘You sound sceptical.’
‘I am.’ ‘Why?’
Tony cleared his throat. ‘I left the most alarming thing until last.’
Connor had to consciously relax his fingers as they tensed around the phone.
‘By sheer coincidence I had to investigate an insurance claim and had a passenger manifest on file for the very flight Mia Simms’ parents were supposed to have been on when they died.’
Supposed to have been on. Connor’s stomach hollowed out. ‘They weren’t listed?’
‘Get this!’ Tony made a sound of disbelief. ‘They weren’t listed on the original manifest I had on file. But, when I got an updated manifest, their names were there.’
‘There was a mistake on the first list?’
‘Unlikely.’ He paused. ‘Listen Connor, I don’t know what your interest is in your employee but it may be you’ve got me digging into something I’m not supposed to unearth.’
‘What the hell does that mean?’
‘Someone doctored the passenger list. It’s the only explanation.’
Adrenalin raced through Connor’s bloodstream kicking up his heartbeat. ‘Why would someone do that? How is it even possible?’
‘It shouldn’t be possible, so I double checked. I went back through a news source that named all the crash victims. The configuration of the aircraft meant it could carry 215 passengers. It was reported to be a full flight.’
‘Go on.’
‘Well, the names on the original manifest I had on file matched those listed by the news source and added up to 215 but on the manifest I pulled up for this investigation—which listed Mr and Mrs Simms—there were 217 passengers which was—’
‘Impossible.’ Connor finished for him.
‘Yep.’
‘Holy shit.’
‘You got that right. Who is this woman, Connor, and why am I investigating her?’
Tony’s question struck right through his heart.
Who was Mia Simms?
‘She’s my employee and a friend of my grandmother’s.’ She’s the woman I’ve made love to. The woman who’s consumed my every waking thought since I met her properly only days ago. That was as much as he knew. ‘What I want to know is, what’s she mixed up in?’
‘It has to be a government agency, Connor.’
‘I’m not following you.’
‘If my suspicions are correct, Mia Simms wasn’t born Mia Simms and we’re looking at a falsified identity.’
His blood ran cold. ‘You’re telling me she’s someone else?’
‘I suspect so. Attending a school that burned down is a convenient way of explaining that all student records have been erased. Add in the doctored passenger manifest and there being no emergency contact person listed in her personnel file and she strikes me very much as a person who has no concrete links to the past. A secretive person who doesn’t want to be identified.’
