Chapter 3 #2
“Don’t badmouth Harry again,” Chase snorted, lifting an eyebrow. He tossed back half his bourbon. “He’s kept that piece of shit of yours running for what, a hundred years?”
I had a feeling we were all in similar shitty moods.
I’d spent a few hours trying to locate anything substantial on the Privileged, including through a couple of sources I’d used over the years.
Given their ear to the seedier side of Miami, I thought they’d be able to provide me with something concrete.
Nada.
Evidently, the club and its members were the best kept secret in town.
Or they’d blackmailed or threatened all those with any knowledge to keep them silent.
I managed to draw myself from the haze of fury long enough to highlight my mood by giving him the middle finger. “That piece of shit is my baby.”
“The only baby you’re going to have with the way you’re going,” Chase chimed in.
Even I had to laugh with the others. He could be right.
I was a man of simple needs. A hot sports car, a few pieces of furniture, a fridge full of beer and steaks, some classic rock on the satellite and I was good to go.
We’d been friends for years, all members of law enforcement.
We’d been down rocky roads and had seen criminals walk while innocent victims suffered.
And a few months earlier, we’d decided to do something about the atrocities by forming Raven Intel.
A select, secretive group of our own consisting of the five of us and now a dozen trusted individuals with extraordinary skills.
Everything from highly specialized military training to hackers, ex mastermind criminals, a former multilingual spy, and members with powerful government and financial connections.
There wasn’t a person alive we couldn’t find no matter what hole they’d crawled into.
In our capacity, we’d pledged an oath to do whatever was necessary for justice to be served.
Including crossing the line of lawful into unlawful.
We’d been successful in our endeavors, providing peace to several victims. Once dealt with, our work and subsequent success was destroyed, never to be mentioned again. That’s how we kept our day jobs, and no one was the wiser because we were careful in choices made and diligent in our activities.
Did the situation brought to me warrant our interference? Yes, but this wasn’t a cut-and-dried case. In those before, we’d had a name, face, and information allowing us to move forward. Not this time.
Not a single name had been dropped of anyone involved.
The blip on my phone instantly made me tense. Once I pulled up my email, for a few seconds, the entire room filtered to a dead stop. No noise. No conversations. Nothing.
But Reese’s picture.
Dear God, she was beautiful in an angelic way: blonde with huge doe eyes and heart-shaped lips begging to be kissed. Everything about her screamed of innocence, including her smile. An instant tug of protectiveness filtered all the way to my cock.
Her sister looked very much like her, only in the photograph she had blue hair. Both were so innocent.
“You alright?” Chase asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“No,” I said quietly. “Just an angel.”
As the cards were dealt, I shifted back and forth in my seat.
Not only because of my continued rage, but also because the drawing continued to haunt me.
The artist had done an extraordinary job of bringing her features to life, which had driven me to near intoxication.
Her photograph had shoved me into an unwanted place.
No woman had ever affected me so darkly.
Maybe getting lost in a poker game was exactly what I needed to clear my head.
“So what gives?” Hudson asked after I’d won the third hand after barely paying attention to my cards.
And they all knew it.
We could read each other like books, although no pun was intended to Maverick since I’d yet to read one of his thrillers. I just didn’t have the time. Reese’s photograph lingered in the forefront of my mind, her image haunting me more than the sketch.
“What do you mean?” I yanked the nickels toward me, soon after heading to the bar for another beer. The first two had gone down way too easily.
“You won three hands. You never win. Ever. Now, either you’re cheating, or you have a case that’s pissing you off.”
With the cold brew in my hand, I glared at the newly married judge quizzically.
He knew damn good and well I didn’t cheat at anything.
My mama hadn’t raised a cheater. I was the original squeaky clean of the crew, or at least that’s the jab I’d gotten over the years. Maybe because I was a cowboy at heart.
I leaned against the edge of the bar. Why not toss out what I’d been dealing with. “You ever heard of the Privileged?”
Chase spit out his beer. “Like every other asshole in this town.”
“That’s what I said. I was very wrong. They’re some top-secret men’s club where they kidnap, exploit, sell, and sexually assault women.”
Gabriel whistled. “And here I thought your lowly position within the state attorney’s office handled itsy bitsy cases.”
As always, he liked to tease me. I’d been inside his courtroom more than once. Yes, I was lower on the totem pole, not because of qualifications, but because I preferred handling the nitty-gritty in your face ones that usually didn’t bring notoriety to the state attorney.
That’s why I didn’t make the big bucks like the others. “Yeah, well, I had a detective bring a case to me with a girl who’d been kidnapped in tow.”
Suddenly, Maverick stiffened. He was staring down at his drink, lost in his own thoughts. That wasn’t like him.
Hudson leaned forward. “Who are the members?”
“That’s just it. No one has been able to put a bead on them.
And from what the detective mentioned, law enforcement has tried over the years and every time they came close, they failed.
What bothers me almost as much as hearing the stories of their atrocities is that her boss suddenly wants to sweep the situation under the rug. ”
“All true,” Maverick said in a quiet yet knowing voice.
“Which part?” I threw out quickly.
As Maverick took another deep breath, I sensed increasing tension. “Likely all of it.”
I glanced at the others, Chase lifting his eyebrows. “Does that mean you know who I’m talking about?”
Maverick brought his drink to his lips, tossing the entire half glass into his throat.
Another telltale sign he knew exactly what I was talking about.
“Yes, I’m aware of the group. The FBI investigated them years ago.
When my boss couldn’t find anything, he tossed it into my lap.
Tough group to learn anything about. They are highly secretive and I wouldn’t put it past them to use whatever methods to keep their organization on the down-low. And I do mean anything.”
That meant including murder.
I returned to the table, studying his face. We had at least one case that had haunted us through the years. Another reason Raven Intel had been born.
“And?” Chase asked.
“Have you heard of them?” I threw at the active DEA agent. Chase had investigated various dangerous criminals over the years, going undercover in a crime syndicate several years before.
“Yeah, but no one has been able to get close. I’m sure that’s why the FBI wanted nothing to do with it.”
“That’s because according to the detective, there’s only the one victim who managed to escape.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t much help. The men were all wearing masks, girls given cutesy names for an auction after being groomed for the event.
But they switch their proclivities and if I had to guess, their location as well.
From what I can tell, there are no rules for the elite members other than keeping the secret about who they are and the perverse acts they indulge in.
” I was much more interested in what Maverick had to say.
Chase shook his head. “I can fill in a few blanks. They are all from very powerful families. All wealthy. All flying under the radar. They all take an oath of secrecy and privacy and anyone who ignores that pledge is hunted and killed.”
“You’re certain that ex members were killed?” I pressed.
His chuckle was dark. “I’m sure. One former member was arrested then promised to expose the group for immunity. Before it was granted, the guy turned up on the Miami Beach shores. He’d been tortured before he was killed.”
“Fuck,” I hissed.
“I’ll continue with a characterization,” Maverick interjected.
“You’re right about switching locations.
They have any number of locations sprinkled throughout Miami and the surrounding counties they can use.
When they believe law enforcement is getting close, they sell the property.
The members are upstanding citizens that you’d never expect would be involved, their proclivities increasing in acts of dehumanization.
Not just auctions but pet parties. Orgies.
Hunts. Twisted shit. They trade the women back and forth like baseball cards.
The unlucky ones are auctioned several times during their enslavement until they are no longer useful.
They believe women are nothing but objects and I assure you, they will also eliminate anyone who gets in their way. ”
“And the lucky ones?” Gabriel asked.
Maverick slowly turned his head. “They find a way to kill themselves.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
Hudson brought the bottle of whiskey, refilling Maverick’s glass. “And how do you know so much, my writer friend? Since the FBI didn’t make an arrest, I’m going to venture a guess you have a private source.”
Maverick swirled his glass and I could tell by his expression he wasn’t certain he wanted to mention where he’d gotten the information. “Let’s just say my latest book is loosely based on the story of the Privileged.”