CHAPTER TWELVE #2
She inhales softly when she realises Liam won’t let Malia go.
“You think she’s joking. Once, a drunk guy got into a fight outside a club.
I got knocked into the street and a car barely stopped in time from hitting me.
It barely tapped me. The next day, I saw the same guy who knocked into me on crutches. She had broken his leg,” she whispers.
“You think they’ll be scared of you? They’ll already have protection in place to stop us from getting to them. We haven’t been sitting on our hands this entire time,” Liam growls. “They aren’t regular people.”
“Neither am I and you know it,” Malia snaps.
“We will deal with Katherine. I already have shit set up. We are doing this smart, picking them off one by one until only Black remains,” he warns.
“You don’t need to worry about Katherine,” Makayla pipes up, glancing up from her phone.
“What?” Jaxon asks.
“Whilst you were all yapping away, Magnolia was finishing the job I assume you started,” she states, this time looking at Liam.
“Those charges you pinned on her will now be solid. Magnolia has left a trail for the police to follow.” She glances at her phone when it beeps.
“Oh, and the lead policeman on her case just got the update.”
“You think prison is the answer for someone like her?” Malia growls.
Makayla grins wide. “No. But guess what prison we can get her sent to? Remember who is there?”
Malia laughs. “You are a genius.”
Makayla glances at her nails. “I know.”
“What did you do?” Jaxon bites out.
Makayla presses a button on her phone, and Magnolia’s voice greets her when she answers. “Please explain to these guys what you did. You are on loud speaker.”
“Not much. You guys failed to plant real stuff. Copies aren’t enough for the police as documents can be falsified.
We planted a device in the building after we heard what Katherine was up to.
Today, she logged on to a server that is unrecognised.
Funnily enough, it was to transfer money to some unknown associate.
I followed the trail, and wham, bam, thank you, ma’am, I found a hidden account.
Money has been moved from business to business, and through corporations, but I’ve placed a few breadcrumbs for the police to follow.
The Black family aren’t as good at hiding money as they think they are.
I will never understand why they steal from themselves.
I know they have shareholders, but it makes no sense. ”
“You’re rambling,” Malia interrupts.
“Sorry. Anyway, whoever dropped the original breadcrumbs just made it easier for me. If a warrant isn’t out for her arrest by the end of the day, then they have someone in the police department working for them.
Not to worry though, I sent a copy to that hot policeman who was at the spa opening just to be sure. ”
“Is she serious?” Jaxon asks.
“Does a cow shit?” she echoes over the phone.
Liam rubs his jaw, letting go of Malia in the process. He turns to Jaxon. “I mean, I can’t hack a server I didn’t know existed. I found unknown servers whilst hacking her, but never came upon something like that. I would have found it.”
“It is a good set up. If it wasn’t for the device we planted and her logging on to the computer or phone, we would never have found it. But it does tie back to her, and I made sure whoever is in charge of the case sees it,” Magnolia replies.
“Didn’t you do that?” Wyatt asks Liam.
Liam nods, looking solemn. “Yes. I even had my own tracer on them. I mostly had one on Black. Fuck! I can’t believe I missed this.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. According to my checks, she hasn’t ever logged on to this before. Which has to be a lie because of the history. So wherever she’s using this computer, it’s a place where it can’t be traced. I think today we just got seriously lucky,” Magnolia explains.
“Or she needed to pay her guy there and then once they got word of the explosion,” he muses out loud. Liam looks at Malia. “Why come to me if you have someone who can hack living with you?”
Malia clears her throat, ducking her head. “Want to answer, Magnolia?”
“No. Not really.”
Malia rolls her eyes. “She’s still learning—and hates that she’s still learning.”
“Anyway,” Summer interrupts. “It would explain why she cancelled all of this morning’s meetings. From what I overheard, they seemed desperate for this to happen.”
Liam sighs heavily. “It won’t mean shit though. It took the police weeks to take her in the first time we planted something. The court proceedings could take months, if not years. She’ll most likely disappear or find a way out by then.”
“We could cut her brakes,” Malia suggests.
“Or we could wait for the police to bring her in for routine questioning and then cut her brakes, so none of us are suspects. They’ll most likely think it was someone she stole from,” Makayla concludes, unaware of the attention they are receiving from the rest of us.
“Sounds like a good plan. And it’s not like we would be murderers. It would be the car crash that killed her. It’s like a grey area, so we won’t even have to feel bad about it since we won’t be taking a knife to her throat or some shit like that,” Magnolia declares.
Various ranges of disbelief, horror, and intrigue shine on everyone’s expressions. Summer has her eyes closed, chin lifted, like she’s praying for God to give her strength.
“You are on loud speaker,” Summer grumbles.
“I know,” Magnolia states, sounding confused. “Did it cut out or something?”
I chuckle, shaking my head. Isaac grins big. “I like her.”
Jaxon pinches the bridge of his nose. “We have families.”
“So do we,” Makayla slowly replies. She glances at her sister, silently questioning her. Malia only shrugs.
“Why don’t we let the police deal with it?” Summer questions, ignoring her cousins.
Malia jabs her thumb in Liam’s direction. “Because he just said she will get away with it.”
“Not if we can plant that she’s a flight risk,” he whispers, pulling out his phone. “I need to make a call.” He leaves the room.
Wyatt speaks up, his focus on Jaxon. “It won’t stop them. There is still the brother, the wife, and then him. Cut the head off one snake and another will appear.”
Jaxon briefly glances at his mum, before replying, “You’re forgetting they are just his puppets. Once they are out of the game, he will have no choice but to surface. And when he does, there is no coming back for him.”
If Mum is revolted by his unsaid words, she doesn’t show it.
Then again, she has taken it upon herself to be the mother to Mina that Mina’s own mother never was.
She has grown close to her, just like she has to Evie and Rebecca.
All three women have been hurt by Black, whether it was by his hands or by someone he hired.
Mum, being the mamma bear she is, has her own strong feelings about that.
None she has voiced, but nonetheless, strongly feels.
Jaxon’s attention goes to the drive. “I told her not to come,” he whispers, his face ashen. “She was meant to stay with her mum and dad. We haven’t checked everywhere for other packages.”
I walk over to the window, spotting more than one car. I groan in frustration. “And she isn’t alone.”
Great.
This is all we need.
I’m kind of wishing I hit my head harder.