20. True Power #3
He lowered the phone without replying. He leaned down to whisper into Augusta's ear once more.
"You have no idea what true power is, but don't worry, you're about to find out."
“Move,” he growled at Enzo as he stalked to the car. He left his in-laws shaking on their porch. His fury over what they had revealed rolled through him.
Enzo backed away and rounded the car to slide into the driver's seat. Nash threw himself into the backseat and slammed the door behind him. The engine gently purred as Enzo pulled down the long driveway. Before they reached the gate, his phone was to his ear.
“Boss,” Carson’s voice rumbled over the line.
“We have a rat,” Nash hissed, his hand fisted so tightly his knuckles were a shocking white. Carson, to his credit, didn’t display any false shock. Betrayal was inevitable in their line of work.
“Tell me what you know, and leave it to me,” Carson’s deep voice said.
“James Ackery weaseled out of his prison sentence. He is under house arrest instead of wasting away in a jail cell.” Stark silence echoed like a gunshot over the line.
“Word is that someone is helping him be able to skirt even that. He can leave whenever he wants, allegedly.” Just the thought of that bastard free to roam the city caused tension to build inside him.
James Ackery, for all his ineptitude when it came to business, was a serious threat to Iris.
The man was desperately unstable and his obsession with Iris teetered on self-destructive.
It was laughably easy for Nash to gather the evidence needed to have his family's dirty deeds made public.
The entire Ackery family fell in one clean sweep, or so he thought.
But James somehow had a failsafe Nash knew nothing about.
He didn't make a habit out of failing, but that was what he did.
Ackery bested Nash, and he wouldn't stand for it.
This time, he wouldn't use the legal system.
No, he wouldn't stop this time until James Ackery was six feet under.
"Shit," Carson cursed harshly. It was Carson who had coordinated the fall of the Ackery's with him. He would take it as a personal affront that it had failed. "I'll get right on it, sir. I can be back in the city by morning."
"No," Nash ordered.
"But, boss—"
"No buts, Carson. I know you want to be here, but this isn't up for discussion.
You need to be there protecting Daisy and her daughter.
" Nash knew that if anything happened to them, there would be no way to keep Iris in New York.
And it would be just like James to target her loved ones to force her hand.
"Fine," he bit out, his anger at being regulated to babysitter clear in the fire in his words, "But I will coordinate my men from here. You can't shut me out from the investigation. My team will find out where he is and how he got out of prison time."
"Of course, start immediately." Carson scoffed at his words.
"I've already started. Expect a report by midday tomorrow from me. I'll find the rat who helped cover this up and find out where this snake is."
"Not a second later," Nash grunted before disconnecting the call. He lowered it only long enough to select another contact. Raising it back to his ear so quickly it was as if it never left.
"Puppeteer, what can I do for you?" The familiar voice of Reginald Winthrop drawled over the line. Nash could barely discern the sarcasm he tried to hide. He must be remembering Nash's threat the last time he was so disrespectful to their traditions. That was a problem for another day, however.
"I need you to hack into the court records, Night Fang." Nash said sharply. "You are looking for any records from the Ackery family scandal that might have been buried."
"Ackery?" Winthrop's tone turned cold. "Does this have anything to do with James?" There was something about the way he spat out the name that gave Nash pause.
"Yes, I have reason to believe that he managed to skirt his prison sentence and is under house arrest." Nash informed him. "A house arrest that apparently is quite lax."
"I'll get right on it, but if you think he's loose, you need to get back to Iris. Now." He spoke in a rush. His nervous energy was clear even over the line. "I don't want her alone, even with all the security." Winthrop's words sent cold rushing down his spine.
"I am already on my way back. What do you know?" Nash spoke quickly, fear for Iris climbing inside him.
"What I know is James Ackery is a sick bastard.
The things I found on his personal computer and servers six years ago were more than disturbing.
They were revolting." Winthrop swallowed heavily over the line.
"He had thousands of pictures of Iris. From every angle, at every age.
Some were as young as eight. He had videos of beating women who looked like her.
Screaming at them they could never be as pure as she was.
The kinks that bastard have are so bloody it would turn even your stomach.
I couldn't sleep for a week after finding out what he was going to do once he married her. "
His words crashed into Nash like a freight train. He knew Ackery was bad news, knew he wanted Iris, but he never suspected anything as extreme as that. Winthrop spoke again before he could spiral any further.
"I think you just found out who's burning down your buildings." His words were serious. "If James is out there, he's coming for Iris. I would bet my fortune on it."
To Be Continued