Chapter Twenty-Angel
CHAPTER TWENTY-ANGEL
“ A nother fucking warehouse has been hit,” Nico says, slamming his hands down on his desk.
Images of my Koukla sitting on my lap, whispering my name, flicker through my brain.
“This one is brazen,” Luc comments, shuffling through papers as he takes account of what was in our warehouse.
“Yeah, he fucking is. And he’s dead. He just don’t know it. Angel?” Nico says my name.
The way she melts into me whenever I kiss or touch her.
“Angel?” he repeats, louder.
Shit.
“How much damage we talkin’?” I ask.
Focusing on the task at hand, I compartmentalize. Thoughts of Giselle need to subside for now.
But she’s not gone. My Little Doll is always there. Always circling the periphery of my brain.
“Give me a sec,” Luc says, and I know he knows what I am really asking for.
It’s not about the money for me. It’s about how much of our not so legitimate business is gonna take heat for this from the feds.
“Well, the good news is ninety percent of the inventory at that particular warehouse was all legal imports. The bad news is, it’s going to cost us about six million.”
“What’s the other ten percent?” Nico asks, already zeroing in on what I’m concerned with.
“The remaining ten percent are listed as old office appliances and computer hardware.”
“Like fax machines and shit?” Nico asks.
“Well, on paper, yes. But we were using some of those machines for storage for our old, old books, Boss.”
Fuck.
“Was there evidence it was destroyed?”
“No,” Luc says, frowning as he continues to read. “Whoever did this, they stole those old machines before setting the warehouse on fire.”
“Angel,” Nico says my name.
“On it,” I tell him.
And I am.
Whoever this new enemy is, he just fucked with the wrong people. I grab my laptop, and I start going through the feed for that property.
“Most of it is damaged from the heat,” I tell them, and I am so pissed.
Whoever this guy is, he’s smart. He doesn’t want to get caught, and he is covering his tracks.
“What’s in those files?” Nico asks.
“My best guess is early affiliations and business deals. It’s all coded though, and I doubt he will be able to understand it,” Luc says and shrugs. “Nothing groundbreaking, but it’s the why that bugs me.”
“As in, why is some fuck digging into us at all?” I chime in, and Luc nods.
“I don’t know. Maybe he’s got a death wish,” Nico growls.
He’s not wrong.
Obviously, I am going to have to find and take care of this jerk.
But what’s worrying me as I read the initial report from one of our guys over at the fire department is that the signature of the explosive device is the same as what was used in Giselle’s apartment complex.
“What is it?” Nico asks, and I tell him.
“It’s confirmed then,” Luc states.
We all look at each other solemnly and I can hear the unspoken order, the silent demand from each of us.
We need to catch this fuck, and fast. I mean that as in like yesterday.
Not because of what he cost us. I mean, six million isn’t exactly chump change. But it’s hardly going to make a dent in any of our finances.
The building, the warehouse, the inventory—none of that shit is important.
We need to end this threat to keep our women safe. That is the only thing that matters.
Nico looks hard and angry. Luc is quiet, as is his norm. And me, I’m vibrating with the strength of my rage.
This is on me. This man has gotten through my security, and that is not okay.
It falls on my shoulders to see to it this can’t happen. Just like I am the one who needs to make it right.
That’s fine with me. It’s my job. Besides, this guy fucked with my Koukla, and I owe him for that.
He clearly doesn’t understand who he’s dealing with, which is something that needs correcting.
And I’m just the guy to do it.