30 #2
Lev pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “Okay, we can talk about all of that later. Who are we looking up?”
I didn’t understand how Sacha could have possibly left me money, nor how Riggs figured it all out, but I decided to ask those questions later, and take advantage of the moment before they changed their minds about helping me.
“I-I only have a few names.”
“I’ve worked with less,” Lev nodded encouragingly.
“Vetticus, Octavius and Albatron.”
“Those sound like pseudonyms. Do you have any other names they go by?” When I shook my head, Lev whirled in his chair with a flourish. “No worries. Give me a few hours, love. Go enjoy a beer with Riggs, wait—” He looked over with narrowed eyes. “How old are you?”
Riggs barked a laugh.
I scowled. “Why does everyone keep asking me that?”
Lev gave me a lopsided smile. “Cause you look—” At my narrowed eyes, he chuckled and turned back to the computer. “—old enough.” He finished smartly.
I didn’t want a beer, but because I’d been asked about my age twice now, I grabbed one from the fridge anyway and sat down on the opposite side of the couch from Riggs.
He watched with a gleam of wicked amusement in his eyes.
He took a big sip of beer and tossed me the bottle opener.
It took two tries, but I popped the cap and tried not to look at Riggs as I took a sip.
Sacha didn’t keep alcohol around the cabin and beside the vodka I’d had once with him, I’d never tried any other kind of alcohol.
It took all of my self control not to make a face. It was kind of gross. A rumble of something close to a laugh came from Riggs. I shot him a glare, but he just shrugged and finished his bottle in two large swallows.
He held out his hand for mine. “Give it here, girl,” he said.
I reached out to give it to him and he smirked. “I’m sure there’s a juicebox in the fridge.”
I bristled at the slight. “Lev, I think he’s insulting you.”
“Hey, I love juiceboxes,” Lev called. “You find one in there, I call dibs.”
The next few hours passed and I grew bored out of my mind.
Riggs dozed, or pretended to, while I paced the living area or perched on the edge of the couch, unable to sit still.
Fang spent most of the time investigating every square inch of the place before he finally curled up on the rug and fell asleep near my feet.
Sometime later, Lev came over with a tablet in his hands, but instead of being forthcoming, his previously bright demeanor was nowhere to be found. He clutched the tablet to his chest and frowned.
“Are you sure you want to see this?”
My brow furrowed and I held out my hand. “What do you mean? Of course I want to see it.”
“These are bad people, Syn.” He looked over at Riggs. “Riggs—”
“This has nothing to do with him,” I snapped.
Lev sucked on his lip. “These people are powerful—”
I took a step toward him. “Give me the fucking tablet, Lev,” I growled.
His lips pressed together and the tension in the room thickened. Riggs simply stared at Lev and when he made no move to step in, Lev sighed and handed the tablet over with a shake of his head.
I carried it a few steps away. My eyes flew through the multiple documents, notes, and photos Lev had collected.
By the time I was done, a cold numbness had settled over me and sunk down into my bones.
I looked over everything again and engrained it into memory, then with cold clarity, set down the tablet and grabbed my pack.
“Thank you.”
I headed for the door. Fang jumped up and was immediately on my heels.
“Whoa! Whoa, wait!” Lev called.
“As soon as I can, I’ll figure out how to pay you,” I called over my shoulder.
“Syn, wait!” Lev raced ahead and slammed his back against the door.
“Get out of my way,” I said flatly. “I’ll get you the money—”
“Fuck the money—where are you going?” He asked. “You can’t possibly be thinking about going after these people—”
“What does it matter to you?”
“—I mean by yourself?” He went on like I hadn’t spoken. “It’s suicide! They’ll kill you or—or worse. You did read the part where they’re involved in human trafficking right? And, that’s only part of it—”
“Get out of my way,” I repeated.
“Seriously, think this through—”
“Lev, I don’t want to have to—”
Riggs' voice interrupted from directly behind me. “You think one little girl can take down an organization entrenched in years of corruption?”
I turned into a solid wall of muscle and glared up at him. “I don’t remember asking for your opinion.”
Riggs scoffed and waved the tablet in my face. “First of all, these addresses Lev found are probably dead ends,” he said. “If, on the off chance, they are active, they’re going to be filled with men who probably don’t know anything about who their boss’ boss is.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll take them down anyway.”
Riggs raised his eyebrows. “You want to take down trafficking dens—” He looked down at the tablet in reference.
“—weapons suppliers, two kingpins—oh right, one of which is associated with fucking black sites? You do realize that means government influence most likely, right?” He waved the tablet in my face.
“Are you actually insane? Or, do you just have a death wish?”
“I’ll figure it out,” I snapped.
“Do you even have a plan? Because please tell me you weren’t planning on going in guns blazing—”
“I’m not helpless—” I growled.
“You’re a child,” Riggs snapped back.
“Fuck you! Stop insinuating my capabilities are less than, just because I’m young,” I yelled. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
Lev stepped in to break things up. “Hey, hey, okay, let’s just go sit back down and have a conversation about all this. I got you all the preliminary info, maybe if you tell me what you really want to happen, I can find out more.”
“You’re in over your head, girl,” Riggs snarled. “This is a suicide mission.”
“Please—there’s been plenty of things that have tried to kill me, but I’m still here.”
I could feel his eyes run down my scar and his lip twisted in a sneer.
“Falling on the playground doesn’t count, princess.”
My rage threatened to boil over and explode, but I knew that’s what he wanted. He wanted any excuse to prove he was right—that I was a child doing nothing more than throwing a tantrum.
I scowled at him. “You’re an asshole.”
Riggs edged closer until I had to look up at him. “Tell me something I don’t know, sweetheart.”
“Fuck you. Whatever this is—” I waved my hands at him and refused to back down. “—isn’t doing shit to intimidate me, or whatever it is you’re trying to establish, so back the fuck off. I will not be scared out of doing this.”
Riggs’ glare was glacial as he towered. I didn’t budge.
Maybe a few years ago I would have clocked him, or exploded, or done any number of things differently.
But, I was Sacha’s through and through, and I’d be damned if I was going to give in to my emotions and disrespect his training by losing control.
Riggs spun on his heels. “Fuck!” He shouted and stormed back to the living area where he turned back, jaw clenched, and pointed to the couch. “Sit down.”
“What?”
“Lev is right. Let’s have a conversation.” He chewed the word out like he didn’t like how it sounded.
“Why?”
“Sit the fuck down, Syn!” Riggs exploded.
“Fine.” I crossed my arms. “Then I’m leaving.”
I sat down reluctantly on the edge of the couch as Riggs looked up at the ceiling like he wanted to call in celestial help.
Lev ran a hand over his face and with a resigned look, grabbed his tablet.
Once he’d turned a few of his larger monitors to face us, he threw a few documents and images up and cleared his throat.
“Now, like I compiled on the tablet, Vetticus is a top level executive at Atrox, maybe even a possible co-owner—”
“Atrox?” Riggs grunted.
“Basically similar to an underground live action Call of Duty, or Battlefield, capture the flag situation where ex-military and, or, ex-law enforcement play for teams sponsored by rich elite. Oftentimes they are trafficked and forced into it. There are many leagues around the world, all under the Atrox umbrella.”