Chapter 8
“Reflex Rebranding Group.” After the APS daily management meeting started the next morning, Trill’s fingers flew over the keyboard of her laptop, immediately beginning to share what she’d found out about the four partners.
“Real names: Thom Berber, Clay Langston, Jack Norris, and Rob Kilgore. No fucking surprise that each of them has a rap sheet.” Brooke’s eyes widened, her mouth dropping open.
“While there’s never been any evidence they’ve been involved in any type of violent crime, at least on paper, these boys seem to have an inability to keep their hands off what doesn’t belong to them. ”
Brooke was sitting with the management team, as well as Kelly and Piper, in the larger of the two conference rooms at APS to find out what Trill and the others had discovered regarding Reflex Rebranding Group.
Already, her heart was hammering in her chest from Trill’s initial statement.
Even though it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out these weren’t nice guys, especially if they were embezzlers, hearing they’d all been to prison in the past startled her.
The Geek Crew team lead peered at her screen.
“Embezzlement, larceny, fraud…you name it. It’s all white-collar shit, but none of it is sitting well with me.
The last piece of intel I was waiting to come back,” she nodded at Blake, “was on a money laundering scam Kilgore was involved in up to his earlobes about fifteen years ago.
“Apparently, he had a sweet deal going down in South Florida utilizing casino transactions: he would buy chips with dirty money, gamble minimally, then cash out the chips, claiming the funds as gambling winnings. He would then pass those along to the ‘layering’ guy—the one who obscures the origin and ownership of the money—before the money was finally reintegrated into legitimate society at the end. Money laundering is always accomplished using those three stages: placement, layering, and integration. Kilgore subsequently disappeared when that particular house of cards collapsed. I haven’t been able to find evidence he’s been involved in any additional money laundering schemes since then. At least not yet.”
Drew was on her ultra-secure DarkMatter Katim phone.
Looking up, she said, “This is where me and my crew come in. After Dara and Ari did some poking around, they found there are rumors in Purgatory that the four of them—Berber, Langston, Norris, and Kilgore—are scoring as money mules.” She looked at a puzzled Brooke and explained, “A money mule, little sis, is someone who transfers or moves illegally acquired funds on behalf of someone else. My team and I are still digging. However, it sounds like these guys just might be involved in a whole hell of a lot more than only embezzlement.”
Her mind whirling a thousand miles per minute, Blake turned to Teagan. “Anything on your end?”
Teagan shook her head. “So far, not much. Remy and I suspect most of what they’ve stolen from their ‘rescues’ has been physical product and equipment, offloaded for cash.
No online paper trail, which isn’t to say that one doesn’t exist somewhere.
If there is, Rem will find it, but I’m with Trill.
I think we all are.” She rubbed her forehead.
“There’s a way bigger story here. We just need to figure out what it is. ”
“Especially with the whole money mule situation,” Drew broke in.
“The thing is, you’ll never convince me that transporting for someone else is all those four are doing.
When it comes to money laundering, mules earn a way smaller piece of the pie.
Not to mention, many mules are so fucking clueless, they aren’t even aware they’re being used for illegal transport in the first place.
Reflex Rebranding is also not the type of outfit to settle for a pittance, from what we’ve seen.
It stands to reason, then, that there is a lot more going on under the hood than what we’ve discovered so far. ” The room was silent for a moment.
Looking soberly at Brooke, Kelly said quietly, “My bitch, the fuck I like even the thought of you being anywhere near these dicks.” She held up her hand when Brooke immediately started to object.
“Trust me, I get where you’re coming from, homeslice, especially when it comes to your two clients.
Each of us would feel the same way you do, knowing what those two stand to lose, on top of everything they’ve already been through.
But we have to make one hundred percent certain you are as protected as we can make you because these fuckers will not play. ”
“If Reflex gets even an inkling that you are associated with APS,” chimed in Piper bluntly, “they will shoot first and ask questions later. You don’t deal with the underbelly of society like we do, honey.
As intelligent as you are, the way criminals think is not something you’re familiar with…
nor would we expect you to be. It’s not inconceivable that you would never see a threat coming because of that. ”
Brooke clutched Blake’s hand. “I do ninety percent of my work from home,” she said slowly. “Since the lease on my old apartment isn’t up for another four months, maybe I need to move back there so I’m not anywhere near the APS headquarters complex or apartments. That way, no one gets suspicious.”
“And that would be a fuck no,” growled Blake, just as blunt as Piper had been. She reached over to lift Brooke into her lap.
“We can do for you what we did for Alyssa when she was being stalked by that obsessive piece of shit, Ivan Olsen. A few APS associates established a presence at her parents’ house, where she had been staying, so he wouldn’t suspect she had actually moved in with Jaime.
Although I don’t think the Reflex guys will be monitoring you as closely as Olsen did Lys—if at all—giving the impression that your apartment is occupied is still a smart thing to do. ”
Nodding, Brooke said, “And it’s not like they’ve ever asked me to come into the brewery.
It’s always been me calling Thom to ask for a meeting.
Although I will be meeting with him very soon to present him with the concept pieces I’ve come up with for the rebranding.
It would be highly irregular for me to avoid that, which might trigger suspicion.
“But Gene will also be there, so I can’t see where I’ll have anything to worry about.” She snorted. “Thom will give me a song-and-dance about how fabulous I am, then rubber-stamp my art to get rid of me. Depending on how everything pans out, I should never have to see any of them again after that.”
Tipping her head back and closing her eyes, Jaime asked, “How long do we have until you meet with him?”
“A few days.” Brooke sighed and rubbed her temple.
“Although I initially wondered why I was even bothering to do a good job on these concept art pieces, it may well be that Gene can still use them after these dicks are out of the picture. If I give them to him without charge, then finish everything else at a discounted rate, it might be helpful in getting him back on his feet after the whole embezzlement fiasco is over with.”
Bryn’s voice was soft. “You’re good people, little sis.” Brooke’s cheeks warmed as everyone around the table gave her a gentle look, and Blake kissed her forehead.
After smiling at her, Jaime continued. “Alyssa had a good idea. While sending someone associated with APS with you to your presentation would be a bit too risky, Lys said there are a couple of art students she knows who would be happy to go with you to your meeting as your apprentice.” Alyssa was an art therapist. “One of them, Neeta, would be perfect, she said.
“Neeta comes off as dingy as hell at times, Lys said, but she’s actually quite sharp and has a great eye.
If we told her you wanted to get her impression of the meeting because you were having second thoughts about working Reflex, but didn’t want them to know you were having misgivings, Alyssa is positive Neeta would be more than willing to help out. ”
“Perfect.” Trill’s fingers were moving over her laptop keyboard again.
“Brooke can make it seem as though she’s teaching her apprentice how to do a proper client presentation.
Neeta can be all wide-eyed attentive, as if she doesn’t want to miss anything, but Reflex won’t realize they are her focus, not the presentation itself.
No risk to either one of them that way, but with a bit of luck, we should get some good intel out of it. ”
Continuing to make notes on her phone, Drew said, “We need a few more days in Purgatory to shake the trees and see what else floats up about Reflex. We don’t want to give them a hint anyone is digging into them, so we’re moving slowly.
Neither Liz nor Toni from my team are typically down in Purgatory, not the way the rest of us are, so my crew and I agreed those two will have the best chance of grabbing intel without anyone else being the wiser.
Maybe Teag and Remy will have more by then as well. ”
“Then we’ll meet at the beginning of next week, after Brooke has given her presentation and she and Blake have gotten Neeta’s impressions.
Quite frankly, it doesn’t sound like she can expect anyone but Thom Berger or whatever the fuck he’s calling himself these days to be there.
We can also assume the duration of her meeting won’t be long because he’s not truly interested.
” Trill stopped, as though something else had occurred to her.
“Brooke,” she said slowly, the expression on her face contemplative, “I realize what I’m about to say will freak my cuz the hell out, but you know there is no way the management team would ever ask you to do anything that would put you at risk.” Blake’s forehead scrunched as Trill continued.