Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
It’s been a week since I asked Aaron to send that email.
He did it today. It just landed in my inbox.
Now it’s time to watch the Levine accounts.
Once they start selling off stocks, shit will drop.
I doubt the idiots will even realize they’re causing their own downfall.
I have a program set up to monitor all their transactions over the next forty-eight hours, taking videos and screenshots.
I can also log into their emails and see what’s been read.
Bradley’s father has already emailed their broker with instructions to sell quickly.
The broker is a little smarter. He warns Mr. Levine about the risk of following up on that tip.
True to his asshole self, Mr. Levine does not take kindly to being told what he should do and makes it clear he wants to sell.
I print a copy of the emails. I’m not sure how much more proof the authorities will need when it comes to insider trading. But I’ll have plenty of it.
I’m eager to watch the houses fall, one by one.
I have to be smart, though. This might work for the first family, but I’ll have to come up with different plans for each of the others.
And play it out over a few months. I can’t hit them all at once.
The fact the Levines are about to be investigated will send the others into a frenzy.
There’s a knock at my door. When I look up, it’s the last person I expected to see. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“We need to talk,” Bradley says, walking into my office and closing the door.
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“Well, I have shit to say to you.” He sits down. “I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t know what?”
“That your parents were being hit. That you were being targeted. You know I don’t get told much when it comes to The Court,” he insists.
I stare at him. I don’t know what conversations he’s had with his father. I also don’t care. I don’t trust him and no longer want him as part of my inner circle.
Brad runs a hand through his hair. “The Carnegie estate got hit this morning. Did you know?”
“Why would I know anything about that?” I counter.
“It was the De La Sangre Cartel. They went in, shot the old man’s wife in front of him, and then shot him.”
“Carnegie’s dead?” I ask, shocked. That was not part of my plan. What the fuck is Emmanuel doing?
“His son is coming into town tonight.”
“His son is a moron.” I sigh. I really don’t want to be dealing with Logan Carnegie. He’s a forty-year-old playboy who’s never worked a day in his life. Although it will make it easier to bring down his empire.
“You didn’t know that your girlfriend’s uncle was hitting them?” Brad questions.
“She’s not my girlfriend. And no.” I’m not lying. Jazzy is not my girlfriend. She’s my fiancée. She might not have a ring on her finger yet, but she will soon.
“Right, well, whatever is happening between you two, you should know they’re watching.”
“What do you mean?” I play dumb. I know they’re fucking watching. I know exactly how these old bastards work.
“Like I said, my father doesn’t tell me shit when it comes to you. But I’ve heard her name mentioned here and there when he’s been on the phone. Whatever they’re planning, they are going to come after her.” Bradley stands. “Make sure you don’t let them get to her.”
“Like I said, we’re not dating. Barely friends.”
“Sure. Keep telling yourself that.” Bradley shakes his head.
I knew spending so much time with Jazzy would put her on their radar.
I fucking knew it, and I did it anyway. Because I’m a fucking idiot.
As much as I want to run out of this office and find her, I can’t do that.
Like Bradley said, they are watching, and they’ll be expecting me to act irrationally after his warning.
I always was smarter than him. I also know when he’s talking shit out of his ass. He knows exactly what his father and the other four—well, I guess it’s three now—are planning.
I pick up the phone and put a call through to Logan Carnegie. I might not like the asshole, but I know I can get him on my side before the others get to him. I can convince him that this is the work of The Court, just like it was with my parents.
“Jacob,” Logan answers.
“I just heard what happened.” It’s on the tip of my tongue to say that I’m sorry for his loss, but knowing how much I fucking hate hearing that load of crap, I don’t.
“Yeah, it’s fucking shit,” he says. “I’m on my way back to town now.”
“I’ll have a car waiting for you. We need to talk,” I tell him.
“About?”
“Our parents have been murdered in a span of weeks, Logan. That’s not a coincidence.”
“I hear it was the cartel. Why the fuck my father was doing business with them, I have no idea.”
“Do you believe he was?”
“I believe he was trying to,” Logan says. “I don’t know for sure if he made it happen or not.”
Huh, interesting. Is that why The Court is targeting Jazzy’s father and uncles? To make way for themselves to take over the local industry? Why the fuck would they want to do that?
“I’ll see you when you get here.” I cut the call. Then I log into an encrypted program and send a message to Carlo Bianchi.
Me:
Wherever she is, lock her down. Now.
I can see the message is read, but no reply comes through. Leaning back in my chair, I fight my every instinct to go to her. To find her and hold her in my arms so I know she’s okay.
Her father will keep her safe. I know that. But fuck, do I want to have her with me.
It’s dark, and the office is empty by the time Logan Carnegie walks in. I’m nursing a glass of whiskey, contemplating my next moves. “Got another one of those?” he asks.
“Sure.” I stand, walk over to the wet bar, and pour him a healthy dose.
“You think The Court is responsible?” Logan asks, taking the glass from my extended hand.
“I know they are.” I sigh and reclaim my seat. Over the past few hours, I’ve dug up every bit of communication I could find between the members of The Court. The idiots aren’t as careful as I am when it comes to sending messages.
Turns out, Carnegie wasn’t game for the Vegas takeover the others want to enact. Fuck knows why they want to play mobsters all of a sudden..
“Read this.” I slide the papers across my desk. “Messages between Levine and Van Baron.”
Logan takes his time reading the incriminating messages, the outline of the plan to make it appear like a cartel hit, even to the point of leaving Lopez’s trademark calling card behind.
I can only imagine how pissed off Emmanuel is at someone pretending to be him.
I haven’t shared this intel with anyone from his organization.
I’m not sure I should. I don’t need an all-out cartel war.
“I’m assuming you got a plan?” Logan asks.
“Let them take each other out,” I suggest. “They’re going after the Wickenshems next. That will leave Levine and Van Baron to do what they want.”
“And then what? You know how this works. They’re going to drag me into it. Then, when they clear off Wickenshem, his son will get dragged in too. We’ll be recruited to replace our fathers.”
“It will be three against two,” I say.
“It doesn’t matter how many there are, if they’re prepared to go to these lengths to get rid of anyone opposed to their ideas.” Logan’s right.
“We’ll bring them both down. Cut them out completely,” I tell him.
“How?”
“Take their funds.” I’m not about to share the fact I’ve already got a plan in place for Levine. I just need to put one together for Van Baron. They’re an old oil family, but they’ve invested well over the years. They now have a bunch of different ventures under their belts.
There has to be a way, though.
“Or, we just hand this over to the actual cartel. Let them deal with it.”
“I thought about that, but that’s not the smartest option. We need to end their influence, the pull they have on the country. We need to tarnish their names so no one will want to be associated with them. And then, we need to make them broke.”
Logan laughs. “Other than hacking in and stealing billions of dollars from their accounts, how exactly do we do that?”
“First, it starts with a scandal,” I say. “We’re going to target Van Baron, his wife. That’s where you’re going to come in. I hear she likes younger men and you’re, well, unattached.”
“You want me to fuck his wife?” Logan smirks. “She’s what? Fifty?”
“At most,” I shrug. “And she will want to offer you comfort in your time of mourning.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because she tried it with me.” I grin. “You’ll take her into a room and record everything. I’ll have cameras covering every angle to make sure we get her face. Yours will be blurred out.”
“Okay, so we have to put out a sex tape? Not exactly that big a scandal.”
“It is if you get her to talk. After you’ve fucked her, you have to get her to share her husband’s darkest secrets.”