Chapter 11
Hudson
The bar was seedy as hell.
Just the way Chase liked them. He was more than a little rough around the edges, preferring biker bars to anything upscale. Not that I minded. How many times had I been sitting in a fancy bar only to be accosted by a reporter or an ex-con who’d been in one of my courtrooms?
Too many.
Right now, anonymity was in my best interest. And that of the entire group of men I was close with.
I found him nursing a whiskey in the back corner, the location preventing anyone from coming close unnoticed. The lights were dim, the stench of old stale cigarettes and booze filtering through the air, and what few people were inside were rode hard and put away wet.
Thankfully, they had no interest in who I was or why I was here.
“Your kind of place,” I said as I slipped onto the seat.
“Very funny. But yeah. They have good whiskey here.” He held up his glass and nodded to whoever was standing behind the bar. “Did you have any trouble finding the place?”
“I just followed the Harleys.”
He laughed and quickly glanced over my shoulder toward the door. “No one knows who I am in this place. I’d appreciate if you kept that just between you and me.”
“You’ve been undercover, huh?”
“More than once. You’ve got me curious. What happened in the time between last night and today?”
“What happened?” The glass of whiskey was plopped down in front of me with a hard slam. “A beautiful woman. A foray into a nightmare. And an ugly realization the concept of law is fucked. That’s what happened.”
“Wow. You had a busier day than I did. Let’s start with the woman.”
“The witness from the case showed up on my doorstep, saying she’d been stalked and threatened. She had a kid in tow. A child. She’s maybe three or four. The sweetest little thing with bright eyes and her entire future ahead of her.”
Fuck. I was superimposing an old case with my crude attempt at keeping Valentina and Bella safe.
I could tell by the way Chase had a single eyebrow lifted he knew exactly what I was doing.
He and my other buddies had heard about the tragic case more than once.
It had started our grousing about what we considered problems within the justice system.
Since then, we’d regularly brought the worst cases into the conversation to lament and suffer through the injustices together.
Thankfully, he resisted challenging me, instead snorting before lifting his glass. “Well, ain’t that a kick in the pants.” He studied me carefully. “Why do I have a feeling you have more of a history with this woman than simply overseeing the case?”
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes briefly. “Because I do.” When he said nothing, I lifted my gaze.
“Wow. Okay, then. Now I better understand your strong interest in this case.”
“You and I both know what Jones is capable of. Even worse, the case won’t be retried. That’s the true kick in the pants.”
“You found out for certain.” He narrowed his eyes.
Nodding, I shifted my gaze toward the door. It was only a matter of time before Jones carried out his threat.
“Why is that?” Chase pushed.
I finally took a sip of my drink, almost choking to death as soon as I did. Of course, my buddy grinned. “Jesus, Chase. What is this shit? Lacquer cleaner?”
“Very funny. Strong enough to keep you warm on a winter’s night.”
“This is Miami.”
He chuckled. “So what the hell is really going on? Why would a career criminal like Jacob Jones risk so blatantly returning to prison? He’s a smart guy.”
“The desire for retaliation is a powerful aphrodisiac. And get this. The names and contact information of everyone involved with the case were leaked.”
“Fuck me. You need to tighten security.” He whistled, shaking his head.
How many times had I laughed with no joy in the sound? “Something else I find interesting. My information was kept secure. Not that Jacob couldn’t find me. Valentina easily did. Still, for some reason my name was removed.”
“Not accidentally. Maybe so you won’t consider the issue a significant problem.”
I shook my head, lowering my voice even more than before. “Then people misunderstand my reputation. Did you know the Florida attorney general is dirty?” The last thing I needed was for anyone to overhear our conversation.
Chase prided himself on having a deadpan face when necessary, but I also had a way of reading eyes.
“Yeah, I know. He’s suddenly become a wealthy man in the last eighteen months.
He tries to pretend his increase in wealth is from his investments, but the DEA has been actively looking into his state of affairs for a few months. ”
“And you didn’t warn me.”
“I didn’t think it would come into play. I will say it could be useful if you’re suggesting he’s the reason Jones was released.”
That meant the DEA could be actively investigating the AG and he couldn’t provide the details. There were aspects of our jobs we couldn’t discuss no matter how tight our friendship.
“You bet James Worthington in the reason, but I assure you that he’s covered his tracks. Him being a suspect is why you mentioned this whacked-out idea about becoming vigilantes last night. Don’t try and deny it.”
“Whacked-out vigilantes? I would hardly call my ideas whacked out. In truth, I’ve thought about the idea for a long time.”
I slowly glanced around the bar even though I doubted any of the patrons gave a shit what we were talking about. “What are we talking about with Worthington? Drugs or weapons?”
The way he swigged back a good half of his drink told me that he shouldn’t be sharing any pertinent information about Worthington. But knowing him, I figured he would. “Maybe. That’s the reason the inquiries about him have gone nowhere.”
“Then what?”
“Human trafficking. What I just told you is highly confidential.”
Interesting. “Understood. Let me guess, you have a feeling nothing will come of this inquiry.”
“Ding. Ding. You win the kewpie doll for the day.” The disgust on his face was stronger than usual. “He’s too powerful, wealthy, and has all the cool kids as playmates.”
“You have been thinking about this organization for longer than I realized,” I suggested.
“Yep. I’m used to conmen and monsters getting away with some shit, but not one of our own. You know?”
That much I completely understood. “Explain to me how we’d go about this… organization again?”
He sat back, spinning his drink back and forth. “When you were in the Marines, you ran missions.”
“Of course.”
“My guess is you played one hand against the other. You tracked down your target and took whatever means necessary to gather intel. Right?”
“Yeah, what are you getting at?”
“I’m suggesting we develop a group. Call it Raven Intel. Just like I said last night. It would be comprised of a few men in operations and several behind the scenes obtaining information.”
“Whether done legally or otherwise.”
He lifted his glass, grinning over it. With a silent salute he threw back the rest of the glass, immediately lifting it toward the bar. “Something like that.”
“I take it you have a few people in mind.” I was warming to the idea.
“I do.”
I nodded several times, maybe just trying to process what he was suggesting in my mind.
Or maybe I was hoping for the return of a strong conscience.
That certainly didn’t happen. I was furious with the system and with anyone who dared defy the law and its good merits. “Law abiding and non-law abiding.”
His grin spread across his face. “You do understand. I thought you would. Why are you suddenly so interested? Is this more about the girl or the cause? Perhaps the flame didn’t die?” While he was teasing me, I wasn’t in the mood to follow the banter.
“Leave it, Chase. I need to shove what happened behind me. I won’t be able to protect her effectively if I don’t.
Bottom line, she was threatened and that’s not something I’ll accept.
And I assure you that I’ve never been so angry as I am regarding the greased palms with this case.
” Even though my statement was spot on in that I needed to keep the relationship I had with Valentina on a professional level, my entire body ached with need to touch her again.
“You’re sure about that? With the girl I mean?”
Shoving aside my frustration, I showed him the picture that she’d taken of her car that I’d shared with my phone.
“Yeah, I’m sure. She swears some guy has been following her, but that doesn’t mean it’s the Undertaker or that she’s the one being targeted.
He’s certainly not stupid enough to leave evidence of any threats. ”
Now he rolled his eyes. “No, he’s not, but let’s be realistic here, bud.
Even with Worthington being on the take, there will still be those concerned that the FBI or the CIA will push the case back into the light of day.
She’s the only witness currently alive who has had anything to with the Delgados.
You know they won’t allow her to live. You have every right to be concerned. What do you want to do with this?”
“I want him back behind bars, but it would appear my hands are tied. At this point nothing is off the table. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to take down a corrupt attorney general.”
“A tall order and very dangerous. He has buddies keeping him protected. You’re right that I mentioned it last night because I had a bad feeling I knew what would happen with Jones’ case, but you’re like the squeakiest clean guy in the world. You follow the letter of the law and always have.”
I snorted after taking a sip, spitting all over him. “Please.”
He wiped his face, shaking his head. “You are. Come on. I doubt you even have a fucking parking ticket.”