jet set. And it wouldn’t impact NASCAR negatively. Their fan base is rock solid. Giambi seems to be trying to create a legacy. He’s also looking into building a casino in Kestonia. He apparently believes that Eastern Europe could be the next Vegas. And he might be getting ready to leave Monaco in the near future. Prince Albert is trying to clean up Monaco’s act. As Somerset Maugham once said, Monaco is ‘a sunny place for shady people.’”
Beth nodded. “Sounds like a fit description for the old Vegas as well.”
“Prince Albert wants any money laundering in the principality ended. He’s trying to cooperate with the European Union banking regulations to get rid of illicit tax havens, and the presence of the Cosa Nostra. When and if this becomes a reality, Giambi will have to move his operations elsewhere.”
Allison pulled out a photo from her laptop bag and handed it to Beth. “Giambi’s Formula One driver, John David ‘JD’ Hawke. He’s a bit of a bad boy who’s been involved in some battles that got him suspended from Formula One. He’s reinstated now, but needs a ride. He likes fast cars and hot women. A little mixing of pleasure with business might just fast-track your operation.”
Beth stared at the photo of JD. He had it going on, no doubt. Right up to the cocky I-get-what-I-want smile, his blond cropped hair, smoky blue eyes and a slight dimple in his left cheek. She looked up at Allison and said facetiously, “Mixing pleasure and business dulls my edge.”
“Getting close to JD will make your penetration of Giambi’s computers and files easier. But it’s your call.”
“How close is JD to Giambi?”
“Very. Giambi has all but adopted JD Hawke. He’s given him an apartment adjoining his sumptuous fifteen-thousand-foot Playboy-mansion style suite atop the casino. A lot of partying goes on up there.”
“A real player.” Beth stared at the picture for a moment longer then slipped it into the envelope.
“You should have everything you need, including the latest hacking software. If you’re missing something, contact Delphi. You’re leaving for Nice at five-thirty this evening. It’s a short chopper-hop from there to Monaco. A villa has been rented in Monaco for your use. Take a couple days to prep. And enjoy the Mediterranean lifestyle.”
Allison glanced at her watch, then stood up, saying, “I have a meeting.”
Beth had one more question. “Just who is Delphi?”
Allison gave her a wry smile. “That’s strictly need-to-know.”
As they left the office, Allison said, “Oracle agents and Athena graduates have finally become a force in this town. The walls of the old boys’ clubs have been breached. Some, of course, are fighting back. We still have a long way to go to achieve our final goals and we can’t allow this current problem with Arachne to derail us.”
Every Athena grad knew what those goals were. A woman in the White House and parity, or dominance, across the board.
Allison stopped and looked Beth in the eyes. “Good luck, Beth. I hope Salvatore Giambi gives up what we’re looking for, and I hope you find what you’re looking for as well.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ve made an appointment for you in thirty minutes with Randolph. He can help with a new look. He’s very good.”
She gave Beth Randolph’s card, shook her hand and headed for the door to her office. Then she stopped and turned to Beth. “Oh, by the way, do you tango?”
The question caught Beth off guard. She hesitated for a moment, then said, “Yes, actually. I’m not great, but—”
“Good. Get yourself a tango outfit. Giambi loves to tango. I understand he’s an excellent dancer.”
It never failed, one hour with Allison and you walked out ready to give your all to the mission. The woman, Beth mused, would have made a fantastic no-limit poker player, but then those skills were also the same ones necessary for success on the big stage of politics and power.
As for Salvatore Giambi, he had suddenly become the most important person in the world to Beth. He was the key to protecting Athena, and he was the key, she hoped, to finding her father’s killer.
On her way to her appointment with Randolph, Beth got a call from Detective Ayers informing her that Curtis was in stable condition. “He’s going to survive, and we have one of the shooters in custody. He’s not talking, but that’s a temporary condition, I’m sure.”
She told Ayers where she left the bike at McCarran, and thanked him for calling with the information about Curtis.
Beth didn’t know what problems she would have to deal with in Vegas over the shooting and her leaving town, but they would have to wait until she got back.
“I’d like you to come into the office to answer a few questions,” he said.
“I will,” Beth promised. “But I have some important business to take care of first.”
Relieved with the good news, Beth ended the call and wondered just what JD Hawke was up to at that exact moment, and what type of woman would get under his skin.
She had thirty minutes to figure it out.
Chapter 4
Beth quoted the movie lines with Grace Kelly’s silky purr:
“‘Hold them. Diamonds…the only thing in the world you can’t resist. Then tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about. Even in this light, I can tell where your eyes are looking.’”
Randolph, a short, plump, bald stylist, chuckled. “Believe me, honey, as wonderful as your assets are, they’re not in my portfolio of thrills.”
Beth laughed as she sat in Randolph’s boutique in a trendy Washington D.C. neighborhood getting a makeover.
While he did his magic, she watched clips of Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief on her PDA, mimicking the heroine’s classy intonation. Grace was a woman’s woman. Someone to emulate, to watch, to impersonate. Beth wondered just how much of it was an act. Was Grace Kelly the consummate actress on the silver screen and in real life?
“‘Ever had a better offer in your whole life? One with everything?’”
Randolph stopped fussing with her hair and looked at Beth in the mirror. “You’re good. You sound just like her. She was a princess, wasn’t she? Such class. And that hair, like spun platinum.”
Randolph fitted yet another wig on Beth’s head, this one honey-colored and shoulder-length. “How do you like this, darlin’? Hot and sexy? I think the color looks fab with your hazel eyes.”
Beth twisted from side to side to get a better look in the mirror. “It’s close, but I want it a little shorter.”
Randolph slipped the honey wig off and replaced it with a blond, jaw-length bob.
“You’re in a play, right?”
Beth decided to go with his guess. “Yes. Off, off Broadway. It’s a spoof
