Ivan shot me a quick glare before turning back to the screen. "Brant and I chewed some of the same dirt in our previous lives. I'm hoping that he is still as good as he used to be."
Brant smirked as he picked up a file. "Anatoli Brasov has his grubby little fingers in a lot of pies. Very few of them are legitimate." The man leaned over and pressed a button on his keyboard. "I am emailing you a list of the different enterprises he is currently involved in."
"We know he's selling people," Ivan said. "He tried to sell Mr. Darby. We were able to free him before the buyer showed up, although we suspect we know who the buyer is now."
"Yes, I saw the news report." Brant glanced down at the file in his hand again. "I am not positive that Stanton is the buyer, but the two men are definitely in business together. Stanton recently purchased a small trucking company in Corpus Christi, Texas. He's there in New York setting up a base of operations for said trucking company."
"Bloody hell!" Knox pushed his hand through his hair. "If they are in business together and Stanton just bought a trucking company, that opens a transportation highway between New York and Corpus Christi."
"That also gives him a straight shot to the Mexican border." Brant sighed as he set the folder down. "Honestly, Ivan, I think this thing is a lot bigger than whatever troubles you are having there. I'd like to call in a friend if I may. He's a former FBI agent who now works for my boss on the SWAT team. He's good, Ivan. He might not work for the FBI anymore, but he can get you in touch with the people who would be very interested in what we've found."
"Do you trust him?" Ivan asked.
"I do."
Ivan glanced at Knox, who nodded. I was surprised when he glanced at me. "Do I have your permission to let Brant call this guy in?"
My eyebrows rose swiftly. "You're asking me?"
"Brasov is after you. You have a say in what happens here."
I looked up at Andrew. "What do you think?"
"I think we could use all the help we can get. Brasov is raising the stakes faster than we can react to them. It would be nice if we could get ahead of him."
Andrew was right.
"Okay, call in the FBI agent."
"Former FBI agent," Brant clarified.
Whatever.
The screen split in two, and another man appeared.
"This is Miles Burke," Brant said. "I'm not sure who everyone is in the room."
We introduced ourselves one by one.
And then Burke looked straight at me. "Brant sent me the file he was able to put together on this Brasov guy. He's into some really fucked-up shit."
No kidding.
"I say we put in a call to Vinnie," Burke said.
"Vinnie?" Andrew asked. "Is he another one of your FBI agents?"
Burke snorted. "Not hardly."
Even Brant cracked a smile. "Vincenzo Castellano is the former head of the Castellano Crime Syndicate."
Pretty sure my eyes were on the verge of popping out of my head. "Can you be the former head of a crime syndicate?" I thought the only way to do that was with cement shoes.
"Normally, no," Burke replied. "You're either dead or behind bars, but damned if Vinnie didn't pull it off."
I moved a little closer to Andrew when the screen split into three different sections and an older man with a cigar in his hand appeared. "Good morning, Brant, Burke." The man smiled. It was a friendly smile, for a former crime boss. "And everyone else in the room."
"Thank you for taking our call, Vinnie," Burke said. “I believe we've moved into your former territory and could use a little insight."
