Chapter 29 Cade
Chapter Twenty-Nine
CADE
The last thing I fucking want is Vi putting herself on the line.
I wouldn’t put it past the training center being multiple levels. One where it is about being a hostess or a server or how to be with the men or even the women who are paying big bucks to be there.
But I know there are other layers to that place. Dank, vile layers. Both in the club and in the training center.
And I’m willing to bet I’m spot on about some of the training.
Of course, I use the term training loosely. The sex shit would be the girl taken in, done up, drugged or not, depending on the girl and the client’s preferences, and then sold to the highest bidder to break her in.
That shit happens.
More often than I ever want to think about.
And I do not want my girl anywhere near even a tenth of that scenario.
Because fuck that.
But if she’s so determined to get in there, then I need to outsmart her and beat her to it. Because if I’m totally honest, I don’t entirely trust her with her obeying me.
Will she go so far as to try and get in? I don’t think so. I hope not.
Now though, I think I’ve hit on the right plan. Something that’ll keep Vi safe.
I know she’s with that girl, Macy.
Of course, Vi didn’t tell me this. But she’s got to know I know. Got to know I read her messages, too. But short of locking her up, I can’t stop her having after work drinks. I can’t make her stay here for the night, either.
I can watch her apartment, though, see when she comes back, see if she goes out again. So, I remotely adjust the cameras to let me know when she comes and goes.
Feeling better about that, I focus on my plan. I’m setting it all up when Enzo comes down to the basement.
“I’ve got it.”
“The plague?”
I send him a dark look. “No, you fool, a plan.” Then I pause. “Did you speak to Gino?”
“Not yet. I’m still waiting for his call to let us know about Ivan.” He turns in his chair, tapping a USB against his chin. “What’s this plan? Send your girl into the lion’s den?”
He’s being deliberately provocative, but I pull up what I’ve been working on and motion him over. “The thing is we keep trying to come up with ideas that don’t weigh in on our strengths.”
“Like my good looks?”
“Asshole.” I half grin. “No. We’re fucking hackers. I’m The Ghost. We lean in on that shit. Old school chaos and disruption. I’m creating a diversion.”
“Okay, now I’m interested. What have you got?” He peers over my shoulder and lets out a low whistle. “Cooking with high-octane gas, man.”
“They’re false accusations, but they align with what he’s into. The kind of thing he’ll deny and will probably get away with, but it’ll cause enough of a panic, especially if his non-kink oriented business partners see it. He’ll want to do damage control and clear up, quickly.”
“And while he’s cleaning up the mess, we do some Spiderman shit?”
I roll my eyes. “We break into the training center, find where they keep slaves or girls for sale, the unwilling, whatever you want to call the trafficked girls, because we know he has some…and we look for Gianna.”
“Okay, but you know having your girl on the inside would make things a thousand times easier,” he says.
“Yeah, but that’s a hard fucking no.” I swallow down the fast rising bile. “She’s not going to be in harm’s way.”
“It is her idea.”
I almost jump out of my chair and lay him flat.
He knows I can do it, and he takes a healthy step away as I swing my gaze to him. “No. Not now, not ever, you get me? Vi isn’t someone we hire, someone who knows the score or does this for a living, and she’ll be in over her head.”
“I’m sure the sex stuff is saved for the real deal, the girl out on the floor or in the private rooms.” He takes one more step away. “She might be safe.”
“And if she isn’t?” I’ve told her embellished stories of what might go on in there.
And I know he’s mostly right. But we also don’t know.
And I don’t trust fucking Thomas. I’ve seen the way that fucker looks at her.
“He might put her on some hardcore thing immediately. Or bypass this so-called training to get his hands on her.”
Enzo slinks back to his chair. “I just had a thought. The training center could be a sorting center, a place for unwitting recruitment, and the girls who might fetch a lot of money get sucked into the darker areas.”
“Exactly.”
He nods. “Okay, do you want to hand me some of these deep fakes? I can spin them my way.”
“No. The Ghost only, I think. We need to make sure we can move when we’re in there. So, see if you can find things like building codes, schematics, blueprints.”
“On it.”
Together, we work. I get my hacks ready to line up for a release bomb, picking arenas that will seem bigger than they are, enough to panic him but not enough, I hope, to suspect me.
But I also set it up that if he gets me in to clean it up, I can have a legitimate trace back path to someone else, out of country…
Bolivia, I think. And a ransom at a bank account I set up on the fly.
We do have some for these purposes, but I want it all fresh.
His systems are basic, but I’m aware it could be a front. It might not be, but treating it like he’s got a high-level team on the downlow is smart, and it’s one of the reasons we’re so fucking good at our jobs.
When that’s all set up and ready to go, I automate it and then start working on the code to override the training center’s security system.
“Got them. Look.”
I pause in what I’m doing, and go to look at what Enzo’s showing me.
“It doesn’t have X marks the spot with hidden rooms or crap like that, though it’d be so much easier if these assholes did that, you know?
Anyway, turns out the same shell company owns the fishing store and three other buildings.
The basements connect, but…they have extra storage rooms above the basement, like one lower level, so I’m betting the basement is where they’ll have the girls, and Gianna, if we’re lucky. ”
“Good find.”
“How’s the code?”
“I’ll be done soon and then see if you want to add to it.” I concentrate on the screen.
The tricky part is going to be internal security, but we can easily have something that. We deal with most of the highest tech security measures, so we should be good. We’ll have guns, and hopefully they don’t have too many guards. Just keypad locks.
“If we’re going to do this right,” I add, “then we need to make sure we collect as much evidence as we can.”
“Taking down a club with that many rich and privileged members is huge.” Enzo isn’t overly bothered, more thoughtful, like he’s trying to fit different angles.
I go over my code. “I don’t think we need to bring down the club, just Allistair. And of course, Walsh.”
“We’ll need to get into Walsh’s stuff,” he warns. “And I don’t think he’ll have files lying around his work computer.”
“Whatever deal he has with Allistair, there’s going to be something. Money, probably. Maybe receipts in coded form.”
The beauty for me in bringing down Joseph first and foremost is I’m betting the rats into the dark shit will scatter and his clubs will shift hands. If they all close, others will open. It’s the nature of it all.
And no one can tell me he’s going it alone.
There’ll be other names, at least on paper, in the whole ownership game.
But that’s not my problem.
I just need to find the girl and bring Allistair and her father down.
Which is why I need this code to be perfect.
There’s a buzzing sound, but it isn’t my phone.
I’m so caught up in what I’m doing, that I just nod when Enzo mouths, “It’s uncle Gino.”
Then he steps out of the basement.
It could be five minutes or five hours later when he returns, and I only half listen.
“Ivan’s been dealt with.”
“Great. One less worry.”
“Yeah, about that.” Enzo pauses. “Things didn’t go quite to plan.”
I spare him a glance. “What does that mean?”
“Joseph was there when Gino took Ivan out. They had a meeting scheduled, on an unofficial level, one of those political things. Uncle Gino said since it was at Ivan’s office they didn’t know. It seemed good timing, he was alone, and well…that’s when Joseph arrived for that meeting.”
I stop and turn. “What the fuck does that mean? Did they take him out, too?”
“No. But he saw it. They made it look like it was a hit from rival bratva, over territory. But it’s possible it could spook Walsh. He’s had problems with organized crime. Documented clashes…I don’t know if they’re how they’re presented or if he got into trouble with them for something he did, but…”
I close my eyes for a moment and remove my glasses. “But either way he might get fucking spooked because he is doing nasty shit now and he might get rid of any evidence linking himself to Gianna’s disappearance.”
Enzo says it for me. “Or Gianna herself.”
“Fuck.” I look at him. “We need to make this happen tonight.”
He’s not thrilled, but he’s not shocked either. We do a lot of things last minute. Clients’ plans change, our circumstances change.
“What do you need?”
“As much manpower as we can muster.”
He sighs, nodding. “I’ll do my best to get enough back up, but manpower is low after our last ambush.”
“Yeah, I figured.”
“I know you don’t like the idea, but you told me those red bracelets mean no one can touch Vi, right?” he asks.
I don’t like where this is going, but I nod. “Yeah. And she still has it.”
“What if she goes to the club to keep an eye on Thomas, she can say she’s waiting for you to get there. And she can let you know if he leaves so we at least have some warning. Things like this can get complicated.”
“Preaching to a choir that doesn’t need it.”
She might be in the center. But Gianna might be somewhere else. She might have already been sold. Or, as he pointed out, she might already be dead.
But I can’t shake the feeling the girl is alive. Too much effort has gone into keeping her alive. For a year.
“Fuck, I’ll text her.” I pull out my phone, and there’s already a message from her.
Violet: Hey. Macy had to go to work, so I’m meeting Lia. Will call you soon. X
I hesitate. If she’s with her friend, then she’s safe, and I’m not pulling her away. Yeah, I agree with Enzo that sending her there to keep an eye on Thomas is smart and it’s easy.
But it’s also lazy, and it puts her in danger.
I can do better than that.
Besides, now I think about it, he’ll get suspicious if she rocks up by herself. I told him I don’t share and even if she’s got the red bracelet on, men are going to want to touch someone as pretty as Vi.
Pretty and sweet looking.
It’s a thrilling combination, and the idea of sullying her, degrading someone who looks like her is going to be almost too much for any man there to resist.
For Thomas to resist.
I’ve fucking seen the way the prick looks at her.
I’m a fucking hacker. One of the best. So, I do what I do best. Hack into Thomas’s phone. I set it up so it triggers an alert if the asswipe comes within ten miles of the training center.
“She’s busy,” I say to Enzo. “But I’ve got something better.”
I show him.
“Okay, that’s good.” He starts making calls.
It better be good. It better be fucking perfect.
But there’s no reason it wouldn’t be, and ultimately it should give us more than enough time to get in and get out. If not with the girl, with her location.
I finish the job and execute it.
And I pray we can get this done and dusted before things go to shit.