Chapter 14 Jasmine #2
My attention returned to him. “Yeah. And that logo? Emblazoned that big on the side like that? We’ve only got one client with a vehicle like that.”
“What about if the logo is on the gas tank lid?” Ghost asked.
I furrowed my brow. “Why?”
“Because the car that was tailing you that I tracked? That’s where the logo was.”
I swallowed thickly. “There are a few clients with that particular logo location. It’s the first tiered step for those logos. We’ve got a few clients who get in at the bottom-most price.”
Ranger held up his free hand. “Sorry, I just… this all sounds a bit… I don’t know. Weird?”
Ghost turned his head to look at the man, but I just sighed. “I know how it sounds. But it’s something the firm has always done. I’ve worked with them for years now, I’ve dealt with a lot of creation and dissolution of these contracts.”
Ranger tilted his head. “So they can be dissolved as well.”
I paused, realizing how damning this next thing I’d say would seem. “Yes. And when a contract is dissolved, so is the vehicle.”
That brought Ghost’s face back to mine. “They get rid of the vehicles if the client stops being a high-profile client?”
My eyes darted around a bit, not really focusing on anything. “Like I said, it’s always been that way since I was hired. But I… it never… I don’t know, the clients would have to sign off on the…”
My mind swirled with everything and nothing. It was only the clearing of a throat that pulled my attention back to Ranger before he spoke.
“And you’re certain of all this?” he asked. “You can pinpoint the exact client that owns the vehicle with the logo on the side?”
I nodded. “I’m the one that helps draw up the contracts.
All of them. I’m absolutely sure of it. We’ve only got one client with us that pays into the firm on that kind of a level.
But I figured that all of this was just for advertisement purposes.
You know, ‘drive a car around with my logo on it and I’ll give you a discount,’ or something like that.
I mean, that would make sense as to why they destroy the cars.
You don’t preserve a billboard you intend to take down and rebrand, right? ”
“It’s a fair assumption,” Ghost said.
I knew he was just placating me. I felt the tears slipping down my cheeks that outed the guilt I felt festering deep inside of a heart that had been crushed long ago.
“Obviously, not a right one,” I whispered softly.
“I’ll go tell Cap everything,” Ranger said as he plucked his laptop off my lap.
Ghost spoke, his gaze never leaving me. “Tell him no questions tonight. She can speak more on it tomorrow.”
I just shrugged slowly. “I-I-I mean, if he needs—”
“Tomorrow,” Ghost said curtly.
Ranger chuckled before he exited the room, but I didn’t care. My eyes were captivated by the intensity of the green in his eyes. They sort of changed colors a bit, I found out. Not from green to blue or anything like that, but different shades of green.
This shade was dark.
Like the sea after a storm.
“Ghost?” I asked softly.
He scooted a bit closer to me on the bed. “When you were coming back from one of your midnight meetings, yes. I was tailing you. But so was that car with the logo on the gas cap. Did you know that?”
I just slowly shook my head. “No, I didn’t.”
He patted his hand on top of mine. “Do these midnight meetings you attend happen often?”
Sick. I felt sick to my fucking stomach. “My boss probably has two or three of them a month, but they’ve been more regular this month.”
“How long have you worked for them again?”
“Three years now.”
“You’re not in any of their personnel files. Is that for a reason?”
I drew in a short breath. “I’m not?”
He blinked. “You didn’t know?”
I snickered as my brow furrowed. What the fuck was happening? “A-A—Anyone who’s considered too valuable to lose isn’t in the public personnel files. That’s just personal safety, one-oh-one. But I don’t know why I wouldn’t be in them.”
He tilted his head. “Because to them, you’re too valuable to lose. Most likely, because you know more than you realize.”
The air was ripped from my lungs. “What?”
“I’m just brainstorming with you right now, but it’s possible that the reason why they tried taking you tonight is because you know too much.”
Something clogged my throat. “I don’t know anything, though.”
“You don’t realize you do, but if those meetings are in code, would you even know it? You didn’t know you were being followed.”
He was right, and I hated that. I felt so stupid, just like my father always called me growing up. “I don’t know who would be driving the car that followed me, but I do know who our largest client is.”
“Who?”
“Speed-Up. It’s an internet provider that’s made waves in Bryersville.
But really, I grew up in the area. All they did was buy up Satsurn and ComGo, you know?
But anyway. They’ve really hit the streets, making a name for themselves, pushing out competition with their affordable fiber connections.
We provide them in-house counsel on retainer for them. ”
Ranger’s voice sounded outside the door. “Don’t mean to be a creep, but we’ve got something. Wanna see it?”
“Yes,” I said without hesitation, not giving Ghost a moment to respond.
Ranger whipped the door back open with that bright smile on his face. He was like a bulldog who didn’t want to do anything but be a lap dog.
“Okay, so Speed-Up is a pretty new business. According to their website, they haven’t been doing this for very long. Just the last year or so,” Ranger said as he balanced the laptop in one hand and typed away with the other. “Which means, of course, I want to know all about their finances.”
“Get to the point, Range,” Ghost said.
“Sh,” I said without thinking, “I want to hear this.”
Ranger looked at Ghost and barked with laughter before continuing. “A quick look at their financial records shows me a few bank accounts pouring money into and pulling money out of theirs. Want to see what happens when I pull up who those bank account numbers are attached to?”
“Let me see,” Ghost said.
Ranger grinned at him. “Take a look at this shit.”
Ghost was the first to see the screen of the laptop, and his eyes widened to a point where I thought they would pop out of his head.
“We have to get Cap,” Ghost said as he stood.
I scrambled for his hand, not realizing how much it rooted me. “Wait, wait, wait.”
Ghost turned back to me and reached out, taking my hand and giving it a soft squeeze. “Cap!”
“What!?”
“Get your ass in here!” he bellowed.
Ranger chuckled as the man who spoke to me before outside came rushing in. He had a look of fury on his face until Ranger stuck that laptop up to where he could see.
And that’s when his expression changed to shock.
“Holy. Fuck,” the one they called Cap said.
“Yeah,” Ranger said.
“I need to see,” I said simply.
And when Ranger placed the laptop back down into my lap, it took me a while to digest what was in front of me.
“Who is this company again?” I asked.
“The shell company that’s bought up some of the small businesses in our area,” Ghost said.
I used the track pad to click around on the screen a bit, and when I went to the top corner and hovered over the company’s name, Premedia Inc.
And the logo that popped up made my jaw drop.
“That’s confirmation enough for me,” Cap said.
Oh. My fucking. God. “That logo looks a lot like—”
“This one?” Ranger asked as he reached over the top of the screen and pressed a quick succession of keystrokes.
It pulled up the logo for Langley, Pierceson, and Dahl.
And the resemblance was damn near uncanny.
“Oh my God,” I said breathlessly as I shoved the laptop away.
My hands shook and my mind swarmed.
Did I seriously work for the bad guys?
Have I been paying off my debts with blood money?