“How’d they even know where to send it?” I ask.
“Hollis keeps his inbox open on the darkweb because he still takes jobs sometimes. People know who he’s protected by, so they know better than to screw him over. That they know how to find him tells us they’re comfortable navigating those sites. It could lead us to them with time and a little patience. Neither of which we have right now, but H and I are working on it. They’ve routed their IP through a handful of countries, but I’m hoping to replicate that series and see if I can’t find a pattern of similar addresses or lines they might have used for other things.”
“Such as hiring assassins…” I muse.
“Yep,” Leandro agrees. “Might not lead anywhere, but I’m going to try anyway. There weren’t any distinct markers in the video we were sent, so I can’t track them that way. Though, they were in a house, I think, rather than a warehouse. H is pressing his contacts for any leads they might have on the Senator and Cecily. If they have properties not in their names, or anything that might be in the son’s name, we’ll find it.”
“Good. Thank you.” I take a long, slow breath, wincing slightly as the wound in my chest aches. “Has anyone else seen the video?”
“Soren and I have,” Doc says. “Leandro wanted an opinion on Emilio’s…state. We agree with him and Hollis that somethingisn’t right. I hate to think what they’re pumping into him, but…I think it’s safe to assume he was drugged.”
Benjamin curses. “I want to see it.”
“No,” Doc says. “You don’t…it’s…no. The less people who do, the better.”
“I’m his Second, I have a right to?—”
“No,” I speak over him, backing Doc up. “I haven’t even seen it. Whatever happened, you don’t need to watch it in order to know it’s traumatic, and something Lio isn’t going to want everyone to see. You can support him without watching.”
“You really don’t want to see it,” Leandro says. His tone is soft, but his eyes are hard as he looks at Benjamin. It’s as if he’s pulling on how he knows he should act, but is having a hard time displaying the emotion. Which…is concerning, as the mimic is very, very good at showing what he wants you to see. “If you care so much about helping your Boss, you’ll accept that some things are private, and be prepared to listen should he need to talk about it. But watching isn’t going to help you understand what happened any more than his own words and feelings about the incident will.”
Benjamin glares at Leandro, but doesn’t protest. I don’t have the time or inclination to ask about what’s going on between the two of them. Leandro is who he is, and though he’s good at pretending, he only really interacts with Roman, Hollis, and Tennant. Everyone else, he is disinterested in, so his open dislike of Benjamin is…well, hopefully, Benjamin is smart enough to stay out of his way.
“I’ve prescribed some meds for Hollis. They're not a cure or anything, but they should help manage his anxiety more. Between those, and limiting his working hours for a little bit, and the therapist I will drag him to by his dick if need be, he’ll hopefully be more stable soon enough. Roman and Emilio beingfound will be what ultimately helps, and Tennant returning today, but for now, it’s what I’ve got to work with.”
“Thank you, Doc,” Jude replies, and this time, emotion shows in his tone. “I…” He pauses and runs a hand through his curls, before signing, “I feel fucking useless without Ten. We all rely on Tennant to keep us steady, on Roman to bring love into our relationship, and Hollis to hold us all together. It was a rough night, but I held him through it, and the meds seemed to help him finally fall into actual sleep, so, thank you.”
“It’s my job, but I’m glad he’s resting. He pushes himself too hard, which doesn’t help, but we’ll take care of him,” Doc assures the younger man.
“I’ll help, too,” Benjamin says. “Tennant is injured, and I know you’re busy with Roman gone. I respect Hollis, so…anything I can do, I will.”
Jude studies Benjamin for a long moment, before giving him a clipped nod and a signed thank you.
Leandro scoffs, but doesn’t say anything.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be back to check on you later. I need to check-in with Jayden and Ignacio—fucker almost hurt himself when he heard Roman had been taken, then I need to talk to Hollis about therapy. I also need to review Dr. Ranlen’s notes from today on Keegan and Tennant, so I’m up to speed for when they get here later.”
“I’m fine, thank you for the update, Doc.”
“Thank me by not getting hurt anymore.”
I laugh a little. “I’ll get right on that.”
Doc rolls his eyes and goes to leave the room, only a knock on the door stops him. He glances at me and I give a nod, so he opens it. One of Leandro’s guards stands outside the room, an apologetic look on his face.
“Sorry for the interruption, but there’s an officer who says he has information on Omar Campbell—the Jamaican gang leader—and he’d like permission to speak with whoever’s in charge.”
I let the guard’s words sink in for a moment, before glancing at Jude and Benjamin. “Go speak with him. I don’t want cops this deep in the house and, well, I’m not exactly fit for company.”
A muscle in Jude’s jaw tics before he locks down his expression, once again becoming nothing more than a blank mask. He’s hard to read on a good day, due to his family training him to hide, and his own brand of sociopathy, so I can’t even begin to guess what’s going through his head, but with Keegan gone, I trust him to be my Voice. Benjamin, too. After all, they’re both Seconds to the Council, and Tennant’s lovers. They have more stake in this new development than anyone else.
“Here.” Leandro hands a tablet over to Jude. “Just press this button once you’re in the room with him, and it’ll scan and start copying his phone.”
“Will it be enough for you to remotely access it?” I ask.
“Most people don’t have the level of encryption on their phones that will prevent me from that, but you never know with these fuckers. Either way, we should hopefully get something from it.”
“Okay, go. I trust you two to validate the legitimacy of his claims, but I want it all brought back to me before anyone makes a move.”
