“Where is Gustav?” asked Sebastian. “Where are the other board members?”
“I would imagine that they’re all safely tucked away in their homes,” said Reginald.
“We need them together,” said Victoria. “How can we get them together?”
“It won’t be hard. Gustav called an emergency meeting for three days from now to allow for everyone to fly into Pensacola. He rented out the top two floors of the Royal Flamingo.”
“Why?” asked JB.
“To find a way to kill the girl and get the suitcase. Nothing can be done without that.”
“This is your lucky day, Reginald. I’m not going to kill you and I’m going to protect your parents and sister.” Sebastian smiled at the young man.
“Really?” he asked excitedly.
“Really. All you have to do is make a phone call to Gustav.”
“Aw, nuts.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“They’re never going to go for this,” said Reginald. “Gustav likes to be close to the water. He has a few yachts and one of those supersonic speedboats so he can escape if necessary.”
“A speedboat, you say?” grinned Ham. “What’s her name?”
“The JenniLynn.”
“Tanner, Ethan, and Connor. Time to go swimming,” said Ham.
“I don’t know how swimming is going to help this situation.”
“Leave it to them,” said Ham watching the men run out of the room. They were headed to the helipad where Autumn was waiting. From New Orleans, they could be at the docks in thirty minutes, beneath the water in fifteen, and home within an hour.
“Once they’re back, you’re going to make the call and say everything, verbatim, written on this script,” said Gator.
“Who are you guys?” he asked for the tenth time.
“No one you need to know about. Be grateful that we’re going to let the authorities know you helped us in the end. Your parents and sister are being looked after. No one will harm them.” Jak just glared at the young man as his lip quivered.
“I just thought it was easy money,” he said shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I knew they were criminals but I just thought it wouldn’t touch me or my family.”
“And that’s why people look the other way,” said Gator. “Everyone thinks, ‘it’s not my business’, ‘it doesn’t affect me’, ‘why should I get involved’. You get involved because it does affect you! It affects everyone in this damn country.
“I’m so sick of people looking the other way, not reporting suspicious behavior in their own backyard, hell, not even reporting it when it’s in their front yard. Do you realize that there was a house in a middle-class neighborhood of Cleveland that had been trafficking young girls for seventeen years? Seventeen. Dozens and dozens of girls forced to have sex with the local banker, minister, or football coach.
“Everyone looked the other way. They thought that someone liked to party, maybe another teenaged girl lived there. Except not one person questioned the fact that as far as they knew, no teenager lived there or went to school from that house.”
“I-I didn’t know,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“You were blessed with a fucking brain for technology and electronics. You had a great job at the DOD, helping our country in all the right ways but you were so consumed with greed, wanting more, that you couldn’t see your way to doing things right,” said Ham.
“Ham, honey let’s feed the guy before he passes out. A hot plate of food will clear his head and maybe get him to see things more clearly,” smiled Sadie. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he nodded. “I could definitely eat.”
While Reginald ate, being watched over by Sadie, Dylan, and Mattie, the men met with their own technical team.
“Where are the other board members?” asked Gator.
