30 #3
Riggs nodded and Lev continued. “It appears Albatron and Octavius are brothers. They also have a third brother, Basilion. I need more time to research them, but I found a few of their legal, public dealings and they basically have their hands in everything. Between the three of them, they have quite the empire. Including Atrox which they finance together—a little side hobby if you will. None of the brothers or Vetticus make public appearances. They are pretty much ghosts.”
“To avoid being hunted,” Riggs muttered.
“Exactly,” Lev said. “Men like that don’t take risks, and are exceptionally hard to isolate.”
“So, nothing helpful…” Riggs grumbled.
“Yes and no,” Lev held up a finger. “They seem to stay in their specific lanes. Octavius and Basilion mostly deal in drugs and trafficking, while Albatron pops up around weapons deals and black sites.”
Well, that wasn’t very encouraging. I knew I wanted to take them down and I knew it would involve a lot of work, but I hadn’t thought that it might involve taking down the people and organizations around them first. This was starting to sound like a long game operation.
Before my mind could spiral around the possibilities, I felt Riggs’ attention.
I met his stare. “What?”
“Who the fuck did you piss off, girl?” He demanded.
“I didn’t piss off anyone,” I said.
Lev opened his mouth to continue, but Riggs held up his hand. “No. Before we go any further, I need to know why we’re doing all this.”
“I thought you said you didn’t want to get involved?” I snapped.
Riggs exchanged a look with Lev and then returned his attention to me.
“I changed my mind. I’m in.”
“What if I don’t want your help?” I grumbled.
“Sacha taught you a lot, but you have no experience—” When he saw me open my mouth to object, he held up his hand. “Real world experience. I have over a decade of experience in the field and we’re gonna use it.”
“Wow, you must be ancient then,” I taunted.
“Still young enough to kick your ass.”
“I’d like to see you try—”
“Children, children—” Lev muttered but fell silent at a sharp glare from me at the use of the word. He held up his hands. “I didn’t mean—”
“I just need to know why,” Riggs interrupted. He crossed his arms and waited. I pressed my lips together. Like hell was I going to open up and tell Riggs about my past. I had a feeling he was the type of person to use it against me later, and I didn’t like the idea of that at all.
Lev sighed. “He’s right. These are some powerful people, Syn. What kind of trouble are you in?”
I slumped back on the couch, my attention flickered between the two of them in irritation. When it was obvious I wasn't going to get any more information until I was more forthcoming, I growled in frustration.
“I’m not in trouble,” I muttered. “This is revenge.”
Riggs’ eyes narrowed. “You told me you didn’t know the people who killed Sacha.”
“What? No,” I said, irritably. “This isn’t about him. This is–this is about my past.”
“Go on,” Riggs demanded.
I chewed on my lip and scowled at him.
Lev leaned forward. “Syn, I know this is difficult, but you need to tell us at least a bit about what’s going on. We need context or things could get missed.”
I rubbed a hand over my face and realized he had a point.
“Those people—specifically Vetticus—killed my family,” I ground out between a clenched jaw.
“And the other two?” Lev encouraged gently.
“Octavius—he, uh—” The words wouldn’t come. “I was a child and um—well, things happened.”
That seemed to be enough of an explanation because neither man asked me to elaborate.
“And Albatron shot me,” I said flatly.
Riggs leaned heavily over his thighs, fingers steepled against his lips. He seemed to be studying me, with an obvious debate in his eyes.
“I’m going to regret this,” he groaned.
“Then don’t be involved!” I cried out in irritation.
Lev clapped his hands. “Too late, kid. We’re in. Besides, he’s just being dramatic,” Lev chuckled. “Riggs loves a good vendetta—don’t you, mate?” He clasped his hands together and looked at me apologetically. “I am sorry that happened to you though.”
I jerked my head in a rough nod.
Lev jumped up. “Right—we need a plan.”
Riggs stood up, cell phone in hand. “I’ll make some calls.”
“Some calls?”
Lev looked positively gleeful. “He’s going to get the team together.”
“Team?” I echoed, dumbly.
“Of course,” Lev said. “You didn’t think we could do this alone—oh right, you did…you were—”
I frowned. “I didn’t expect help.”
Lev brightened again and he gave a cheeky smile. “More the merrier when you’re trying to take down a massive underground organization, with multiple kingpins, in multiple avenues of corruption that span the entire world.” He winked. “You’ll see.”
Lev returned to his computer and cracked his knuckles before launching himself at whatever it was he was doing.
I watched Riggs as he wandered off with his cell phone against his ear.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about having help.
Part of me felt overwhelmed and like I didn’t have control over what was happening.
The other part knew, but hated to admit, that they were right—I needed help.
This was bigger and darker than I’d ever imagined, and I knew it was time to put a little trust in the people who wanted to help.