Chapter 47
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
The sun is barely up when we walk back into Perdition. The casino floor is still alive. Cards shuffling, chips clacking, people moving in and out of whatever stores are open. They have no idea the world shifted overnight.
But they will.
Everyone is waiting in the booth when the four of us step inside.
Jeremy tips back an energy drink. Slater pours over security footage from the parking garage.
Watching that bartender get abducted over and over, hoping he’ll see something we missed the first million times we’ve seen it.
I don’t want to be the one to tell him that the likelihood of us finding her–or where they took her–is next to impossible now.
I think he knows, but refuses to give up. So we won’t.
Cole sits in a chair in the corner of the room and looks me over from head to toe. “Judging by the amount of blood not on you, I’m guessing fuck stick is still breathing?”
“For now,” I tell him. “Let’s get Kellen and Levi up to the warehouse to watch him.”
His brows pull together. “Do we trust them?”
I shrug. “They say they had no idea what Owen was up to. Let them prove it. If they fail, they can end up in the river too.”
Cole studies me for another second, then nods slowly.
“Fair enough.”
Jeremy chugs the rest of his drink and tosses the can in the trash. “So, what’s next?”
I look over to Nick, who steps into the middle of the room.
“Already started.”
Everyone’s eyes dart between the two of us.
Nick shrugs. “Made a few calls on the way back.”
Elias nods. Slater swivels his chair around slowly.
“What kind of calls?”
Nick stuffs his hands into the pockets of his slacks.
“The kind that make men like Jack Steele sweat.”
Jeremy tips his head to the side. “You talking investigators?”
Nick nods once. “Federal ones.”
Elias snorts. “You really think they’ll move on something like this?”
Nick lets out a quiet chuckle. “These ones will. Men like Jack leave trails. Money. Influence. People they’ve stepped on. It might not be the cleanest trail, but a trail nevertheless.” He glances around the room. “You just need to point the right people in the right direction.”
I remain silent while Nick lays out the plan. Every now and then, someone’s gaze will land on me, and I just nod. I trust Nick. He knows people like the Steele’s all too well.
“So the wolves are circling,” Cole chimes in.
“They were already circling,” Nick says. “We just rang the dinner bell.”
Maverick’s gaze slides to me. “You good with all this?”
I nod slowly. “Who do you think told Nick to make the call?”
Nick smiles faintly.
“Well shit,” Jeremy exhales.
“I’ve already started to pull together some financial records from The Steele Group–Jack’s business,” Slater says, holding a file in his hand. Elias reaches for it.
Those two could hack the Pentagon with their eyes closed.
“I’ll work on their personal accounts,” Elias adds, flipping through the pages.
“Declan can tail them for a few days,” Maverick adds, already pulling out his phone.
“I need anything and everything we can find on The Children’s Legacy Foundation,” I say, crossing the room and pulling up a chair next to Jeremy. “I want to know all the homes that benefited from their bullshit charity. Not just the ones Ashlynn was in.”
Slater’s fingers start moving across the keyboard.
“Give me a couple of hours,” he says. “If there’s dirt, I’ll find it.”
“There will be,” Nick says quietly.
Satisfied for now, I stand from my seat.
“I’m going to go back up and check on Ashlynn. Maybe get a couple hours of sleep before shit hits the fan.”
Maverick nods in agreement. “I’m going to take Parker home and try to do the same.”
We all shake hands, ready to go our separate ways when Slater whistles at an alert on his phone.
“Hold up,” he says, turning on a television that hangs in the corner of the room, separate from the monitor bank.
“That didn’t take long,” Jeremy mutters.
Everyone turns toward the screen.
The morning news anchor sits behind her desk, hands folded as she speaks. It’s muted, but the banner across the bottom tells us all we need to know.
brEAKING: FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS OPEN FORMAL INQUIRY INTO THE STEELE GROUP FINANCES
Glancing over my shoulder, Nick stands behind me with a sideways smile. I nod to him, then look back at the screen.
“Good. Now they know I’m coming.”