CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR #2
Leo nodded slowly. "They covered their tracks."
"Exactly,” I agreed.
Cas cursed under his breath. Raz's hand tightened around his glass.
"So are we looking for one person?” Raz asked. “Or a team?”
"I’m not sure yet. I still have more investigating to do,” I told him. “I’m currently looking into a possible suspect. The problem is, he’s already dead. But I found online chatter linking him to Marcel and Ettori. The digital trail was lost when someone deleted the information.”
“If they deleted it, they must’ve gotten spooked,” Leo said.
“Or it was a setup to begin with,” I told him. “Hackers are tricky. It could be someone trying to mislead me to further cover their tracks.”
“Fuck,” Raz cursed.
“Don’t worry. I’m going to find out who’s behind the intel leak,” I vowed.
“There’s another intel hub I want to investigate.
It’s called The Circuit. None of my contacts have been able to provide info on it.
But I’ll keep digging. Nothing can stay hidden forever.
We will find out who helped the Bianchis find Marcel and ruin his life. ”
I looked over at Raz to find him staring straight ahead, jaw clenched, a look of fury in his eyes. This was no longer my brother. This was the don. And he was pissed off.
“Find them and bring them to me,” Don Orazio ordered. “Whoever they are, I’m going to make them wish they’d never heard the name, Marcel Cattaneo.”
“I will,” I promised.
Cas eased some of the tension when he said, “I visited Marcel yesterday. Have you all seen dude lately? He’s been working out.”
“That’s because it’s all he can do,” Raz said. “He still refuses to leave the house.”
“I’m just saying, he’s ripped. I told him I’m going to stop by and work out with him some days,” Cas said.
I planned to go visit Marcel tomorrow. I needed to discuss a few things with him. As Cas described the new gym Marcel had, I picked up my phone and stared at the screen. No messages yet.
Damn it.
I set the phone back down. But every few seconds, my gaze drifted toward it. I told myself I wasn't anxious. That was a lie. I wanted Tony's report. I needed something. Anything. A piece of evidence. Something concrete.
My phone vibrated against the bar, and every muscle in my body immediately tightened. Cas noticed. His grin appeared instantly.
"There it is,” Cas drawled as I reached for my phone.
"There’s what?" I asked, checking my text message.
"Whatever message you’ve been waiting on that’s had you on edge,” Cas told me.
Ignoring him, I read the text. It was from Tony, apologizing for contacting me so late and letting me know he was emailing me his preliminary report. My heart started racing. I was finally going to have some information on Blossom Brooks.
“What does it say?” Cas asked when my phone chimed again.
Ignoring him, I shoved my phone into my pocket. I needed to be at home when I read over the report.
"You're not opening it?" Cas asked.
"No."
"Why not?"
Because the last thing I needed was three nosy assholes reading over my shoulder while I investigated a woman who might secretly be the hacker I loved. I rose from my seat.
Raz immediately looked up. "Leaving already?"
"I need to take care of something."
Cas's grin widened. "Oh, how the mighty Rome has finally fallen."
Ignoring their laughter, I headed for the exit. The report was the only thing on my mind the entire drive home. By the time I pulled into my driveway, my patience was gone. I needed to know what Tony had found.
After I entered the house, I slammed the front door shut behind me, locked it, and activated my security system. I toed off my shoes, kicking them to the side and leaving them in the foyer as I jogged to my office. I didn't bother turning on the lights.
I maneuvered in the dark, heart pounding harder with every step. My behavior was ridiculous. It was just a report. Yet it felt like my entire future was sitting inside that file. I dropped into my desk chair, opened my laptop, and signed in.
I clicked on my email, then opened the one Tony had just sent. A document was attached to the email. I took a deep breath. Releasing it slowly, I clicked the document and waited for it to download.
I immediately began reading. It contained all the basic details a preliminary report would. Name. Age. Occupation. Nothing surprising there. Nothing alarming. I skimmed through a lot of it.
Then I reached the education section and froze. My eyes moved over the line a second time. Then a third.
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.
I leaned back slowly. For several seconds, I simply stared at the screen. Computer Science. Blossom had majored in computer science. Not business. Not marketing. Not horticulture.
Computer Science.
A degree that taught programming, network security, and coding. A degree that gave someone the foundation needed to become a professional hacker, not a florist. A slow smile spread across my face.
This wasn't proof. Thousands of people had computer science degrees but chose to work in different fields. But what were the odds that Blossom, the florist I suspected of being my little cybercriminal, would have one?
My gaze drifted toward the photograph attached to the report. Blossom Brooks smiled back at me. The beautiful florist with a computer science degree. A woman who said things that sounded exactly like Juliet.
A woman whose figure reminded me of Juliet. A woman whose reaction to me was strange from the moment she stared up at me in her shop. I gazed at her picture for a long time, then I looked back at the report.
This wasn’t definitive proof. But it was one more thing pointing toward the possibility that Blossom Brooks and Juliet With Curves were the same woman. Which meant I was one step closer to knowing who exactly I needed to kidnap.