Massive Attack (A Guy Niava Thriller Book 1) by Dana Arama (diy ebook reader TXT) 📕

way of getting their attention. Until I got up on the small stage, the coffee in my cup would be a welcome tool. It wouldn’t spill, it wouldn’t do anything unnecessary beyond what it’s supposed to do: to cause them to notice me walking, to take in the look of my long legs as a future object to try to conquer.

My boss was right. I really did threaten him, but I got what I wanted and now I was in the midst of it all. Gordon remained in the place he loved, in the heart of diplomatic communications. He was and would remain the liaison between the security officer of the Israeli embassy and American security. It was a good position to be in, because from there, one could climb to the next stage; an advisor to some minister, most probably someone who deals with the security domain or maybe even the next Secretary of State. Gordon loved flights which were well filmed and being mentioned in the right columns in the most considered newspapers. I loved the action behind the scenes.

“My name is Laura Ashton and I am in charge of the communications between the two teams here, in this complicated diplomatic affair. So,” I paused, and gave each and every person a second of eye contact, then continued, “I am supposed to receive every piece of information you reveal. What is related to the Albanian mafia in general or Murat Lenika in particular and information that is connected to the terrorist group.”

Ross Barkley was the head of the tactical team in charge of finding Lenika. I knew him from a course both of us had taken on the East European mafia’s infiltration into the United States. I remembered him as an intelligent man, widely knowledgeable and very thorough in his work.

The head of the second tactical team was Musstafa Allimi, tasked with locating the terrorist group. Allimi was known for his deep intelligence regarding the different Muslim streams working within the United States. He was said to be more informed than any other security officer. I hoped that he did, in fact, know the subject well and would locate the group as quickly as possible, because, for my own reasons, I wanted to focus on Murat Lenika, the senior representative of the Albanian mafia on the east coast.

I said, “I am passing the podium to Ross Barkley, who is in charge of finding the person kidnapped. Afterwards Musstafa Allimi will take the stand. He’s in charge of locating the terrorist group. Both cases are related to each other, with the same people involved. The link between the two is none other than Murat Lenika.” I smiled at Ross and announced, “We will start with the most important issue at hand -- finding the kidnapped boy. Ross, please give us an update on what you know so far.”

Guy Niava,

Atlantic City, November 11, 2015, 2:15 p.m.

By the time I entered the casino I had received the file with the description of the casino’s layout. All in all, it was a very simple building plan, even a bit gloomy, designed so that when the sun set it became a gloriously well-lit honey trap. According to the map, the casino’s safe was located in the basement, directly opposite the computer security zone. This was probably the area into which Jonathan infiltrated while he was poking around in restricted areas. Also on the same floor were the restrooms, two of them to be exact. The first floor was the casino itself with a small restaurant, a storage room adjacent to the restaurant’s kitchen, and, not far from there, more restrooms, which were divided into two areas. The second floor had offices, and three rooms which looked to be set aside for guests who requested a bit more privacy. Maybe they were high-risk gambling rooms, where one could play for stakes higher than the average tourist could conceive of. Two suites were situated near them. Those two rooms piqued my interest. As far as I was concerned, the target was to see that they weren’t holding the boy hostage in there.

I stopped on the side and learned the building plan. In the first parking bay, right by the entrance, stood five black vans with dark windows. They looked like they were part of a series belonging to the same entity, probably the one that operated the casino. Exactly opposite the entrance stood a post and on it, a camera filming the entrance of the casino and of the parking area. Purposely I circled around and parked on the further end of the parking lot, so that on my way to the door I could check out all the cars. I went from one to the other, quickly peeking in the front windows of the cars and then feeling the hoods. They were cold. Cars that hadn’t been in use for a long time. It was apparent that it would be too easy to bring him here. Still, I knew I had to sweep the building, starting from the suites all the way down to the basement.

The intelligence I had gathered didn’t come from what I saw, but from what I didn’t see. After one drink and losing five hundred dollars, I won the attention of the waitress who served me. I exchanged a few words and smiles with her, and in the end raised the question: “With whom do I need to speak to get things around here?” I added a shy smile.

“It depends what ‘things’ you need,” she answered, sweetly.

“As I’m alone in this city, I thought about finding a friend for the night.”

“I would love to keep you company tonight,” she answered and let her finger glide caressingly over my arm.

“I like you too much for you to be just a one-night-stand.” I drank the rest of my drink. She really was cute. “Besides a friend for the night, I would need a few extra things.” I whispered in her ear,