Forty
Kaiden
Dominic meets me in the grand entryway of the compound.
“What the hell happened?” he demands immediately.
I stride right past him, nodding my head towards Mika’s wing of the building, and he falls into step beside me.
I rang Mika as soon as I could to let him know I was on my way, because this situation just escalated beyond my pay grade. The Red Scorpion operating in our territory, targetting our girls - this is a direct challenge to the syndicate’s authority.
“We have a problem,” I say as soon as Ares allows us access. “The Red Scorpion just made a move. They beat and… fuck! They branded one of the girls from the brothel.”
The silence in the room stretches long before a string of curses vent from all three men. When Mika finally speaks, his voice is ice. “Are you certain it’s Red Scorpion?”
“I checked the girl myself. Went to the address where the incident took place. Found the perp already dead, but also, I was led into a trap.”
I explain how everything went down, and Dominic adds his own story.
“I received a message from Connor Maguire,” he explains.
Useful that he’s married to the sister of the man at the head of the Irish mob.
“He got a tip-off from someone on the force about a sting operation. The guy on the inside didn’t know who it concerned, but decided to warn them, just in case.
And they, in turn, contacted us and the Radaevas. ”
Another convenient alliance, ostensibly through Dominic’s wife’s friendship with Emylyah Radaeva, who’s married to Niko, the head of the Ukrainian Bratva. But more likely through Callum Maguire and his relationship nobody talks about with Darian, the other Radaeva brother.
Not that it’s common knowledge. That kind of relationship would likely be condemned by both syndicates, where men are supposed to be men and diversity is a foul word.
Maybe no one else knows, but hey, I’ve stayed alive through being better informed than anyone else.
“I checked out who was close by and had them fire a couple of shots through the window of a twenty-four-hour convenience store a couple of blocks away.”
Yeah, I knew I could rely on him.
“And that’s the only reason I got out,” I admit, giving him a nod of thanks.
“The cops didn’t find the things I did. Not yet anyway.
I tried to conceal the entrance as best I could, but they were planning to go back.
I guess it’ll depend on how hard they look.
The way they were talking when they left…
well, it sounded like they’d written it off since there was nothing obvious after the initial search. ”
Mika drums his fingers on his desk, and Ares looks grim.
I know I need to tread carefully right now.
With things going wrong at the brothel, paired with Mika’s attitude towards the exploitation of working girls, I really need to avoid anything that might rock the boat and have him decide to cut them loose.
The girls have it good now. Decent conditions.
Excellent pay. And I thought they had security too…
well, they do if they stay on site. I’m certain of that.
None of them want to leave, and I need Mika to accept that.
But I know he’s still on the fence and could fall either way.
And things like this might be what push him to one side or the other.
Also, there’s something else niggling me about all this, but I need to choose my time to articulate that speculation.
“Give me your phone,’ Mika demands, holding out his hand. “And the address where this happened.”
“My phone?” I ask, almost stumbling over the words as a sliver of panic rises inside me. I need it to stay in touch with Aspen.
He gives me a single nod and looks me in the eye, so I know there’s no getting out of this.
“I want to run all the images and videos, and I don’t want any of the resolution compromised from sending, so I need to check them from the source.”
“You’re going to leave me without coms. Is that wise right now?”
It’s not much of an argument, but it’s valid, and it’s the only one I’ve got.
Mika nods. “I appreciate that, but I’ll monitor your calls and forward any that are urgent.” He digs in a drawer, then pushes a burner phone across the table to me.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I’ll be out of touch with Aspen… and I haven’t told anyone about Kai yet and now is definitely not the time. I also don’t want our personal messages intercepted, so there’s only one option.
Taking my phone from my pocket, I open it and surreptitiously block her number.
I also send an enhanced quality download of the evidence to my email, since I’m pretty sure I can find more than anyone else they put on this.
But of course, my IT abilities are something else I’ve kept to myself, and I don’t think that kind of secret will go down well right now.
“Hurry the fuck up,” Ares growls.
I stop and look at him. “I assume you want to be able to access my phone?” I retort icily as I stare him down. “You sure as hell won’t be able to unless I remove the security protocols.”
And they won’t. My cell has an additional layer of encryption, making it almost impossible to hack.
With a glare, I scan my left eye and take off the fingerprint and face scanning options.
If any of them wonder about the unusual biometrics, they don’t say anything.
Maybe because they can tell I’m already pissed off and don’t want to push, though I’ve no doubt Mika would if he thought it would benefit him.
Fortunately, he’s a ‘catch more bees with honey’ kinda guy.
I hand over my phone reluctantly, the weight of it leaving my palm feeling like I’ve just surrendered a piece of myself. Mika takes it without comment, passing it immediately to one of his tech guys who materializes from somewhere behind us.
“I want a full analysis of everything on there,” Mika instructs. “Photos, videos, metadata, location data. Cross-reference with our databases.”
I watch my phone disappear into the hands of someone who probably doesn’t have the skills I do, biting back my frustration. They’ll find some things, sure. But they’ll miss the details that matter. The subtle inconsistencies. The staging… But I’ll find them later.
“Now,” Mika continues, turning his attention back to me. “Tell me about the girl. How bad is it?”
I force myself to focus, pushing thoughts of Aspen and my inability to contact her to the back of my mind.
“Her name is Tina. She was badly beaten, strangled - she’s got bruising around her throat that suggests someone tried to crush her windpipe.
Multiple lacerations from what looks like a whip.
And the brand.” I pause, the image of that scorpion seared into her flesh, making my stomach churn all over again.
“It’s on her breast. Deep. Whoever did this wanted to make sure it scarred permanently.
” I pause for a moment. “I don’t think she was meant to survive. ”
Dominic’s jaw tightens. “Jesus Christ.”
“She’ll recover physically,” I continue, my voice flat because emotion won’t help right now. “Kitty’s taking care of her. But mentally? That kind of violation...” I shake my head. “That’s going to take longer.”
Mika’s expression remains unreadable, but I catch the slight tightening around his eyes. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to keep the brothels open if they’re going to be targeted?”
I knew this was coming. Just knew it.
“You want my honest opinion?” I ask, knowing this is my chance to air my suspicions.
“Always,” Mika replies with a curt nod. “Unlike… others in this organization, I value the input of those who work on the ground and have their fingers on the pulse.”
That’s high praise from this man.
I press my lips together and dip my head to acknowledge his conviction. “I think this is all a little too ‘convenient’.”
His brow furrows. “What do you mean?”
“I think someone out there is very conscious of your… ideals.”
It’s not like Mika’s distaste of the flesh trade is any secret, not within La Cosa Nostra, nor outside it.
“And I think they’re using that against us.”
He frowns, and I push on. “They’ve targeted us like this deliberately. I believe it’s an attempt to force your hand and do exactly what you just suggested.”
“So I’ll close down the operation?”
“So they can move in and take it for themselves and get a foothold in our territory.”
I’ve said it before, but I truly believe it, so it’s worth repeating.
“For what it’s worth, I agree.” I cut a look towards Dominic, surprised he’s backing me up on this, when it’s not exactly a popular stance where Mika’s concerned. “We leave a hole in the market, then it’ll be plugged, and most likely by those we’d rather not let in.”
Mika scowls. “They wouldn’t dare set up in our territory,” he claims bullishly.
“Maybe not,” Dominic agrees, making me want to cringe. “But they would certainly scoop up the girls, and likely abuse them into telling them anything they know about our operations…” He pauses for effect. “Even if they know nothing.”
Mika raises a hand. “Okay, I take your point. We’ll keep things as they are.”
But I can’t help feeling there’s an unspoken ‘for now’, tacked onto the sentence, and I make a note to start making the brothels autonomous. Kitty is more than qualified to run the business herself.
Red Scorpion might be attempting an uprising, but they’re being stealthy about it.
None of our allied syndicates, the Ukrainian Brava, or the Irish Mob, have managed to uncover the mastermind behind the resurgence of an aggressive and brutal regime out of old-world Russia, which was believed to have been erased from existence a decade ago.
“Whoever’s behind this is smart,” I say, keeping my voice level even though rage is still churning in my gut. “They’re not leaving breadcrumbs.”
“No, they’re leaving bodies and brands,” Mika corrects, his tone sharp. “Which means they want us to know they’re here. This isn’t stealth…” There’s a long pause, then an almost silent sigh before he says the words I have no doubt he’d rather keep quiet. “It’s a declaration of war.”
I know he’s right. But how the hell do we fight against a faceless opponent? One that seems hellbent on opening fire from hidden vantages, leaving us impotent and unable to retaliate. While all the time they seem to be trespassing closer and closer.
It reminds me of my suspicion of a mole in our ranks. Is now the time to voice them?
And say what?
I have nothing more to go on than a hunch. And maybe even that is paranoia, considering recent events.
What good would instigating a witch-hunt do? Isn’t that what our invisible foe wants? To pit us against each other? Dismantle us from the inside by causing suspicion and distrust against our colleagues?
In the end, my lack of any real evidence other than my gut feeling keeps me quiet. I can still be vigilant. And Mika always is, as are Dominic and Ares. None of us are the type to rest on our laurels. For now, that will have to be enough. There’s no point in borrowing trouble.
Lord knows, we have enough of that already.