Blake smiled, mopping her own brow. “You have an open invite, as far as I’m concerned. Bryn and Riley have nothing but the highest respect for Infinity and their people. As a matter of fact, the twins were beyond pissed they couldn’t be here today, but they had some pressing client business that had to take priority. Riles said to let you know you’re on their ass-kicking schedule the next time you make it down to Whimsy.”
Dani burst out laughing. “Frankly, I’m surprised Kelly wasn’t here, even though Riley couldn’t be. I bet that girl is freaking lethal.”
“She is. Riley, however, said if she couldn’t have fun, then neither could her wife. Which means Kelly will get Riles on the mats in Hades and beat the shit out of her in revenge.” Dani laughed harder.
“Besides,” added Blair, “the Utopia crew was happy for the chance to play with Infinity all by ourselves. Talk about some excellent fighters. Indi, I didn’t recognize some of your techniques. Care to share, or are they proprietary?”
Indi shook her head as she blotted the back of her neck. “Not at all. I’ve trained in Sambo, which is a martial art and combat sport that was developed and used by the Soviet Red Army in the early 1920s to improve their hand-to-hand combat abilities. Pavel Vasilev, who was my instructor, was born and raised in Kazan, the capital of the Volga Federal District, and trained there. He emigrated to Florida in the late 1990s.
“Although Tallahassee doesn’t have the largest Russian population in Florida, the community is still fairly substantial. Pavel and his brother opened an MMA training center, I wandered in one day, was introduced to Sambo by Pavel and Sergei, and was immediately hooked. Sambo didn’t receive a lot of attention from the general public until Sambo-trained fighters started winning major fights in MMA, so now it’s much more widely known.”
“She still pops over every once in a while to spar with him, even though we have our own gym facility now,” Shaelyn broke in, grinning. “Indi is Pavel’s little sister in all but biology. Honestly, I think what he loves most is when she takes down some big dude who thinks this petite little golden girl with lavender eyes doesn’t stand a chance against him. I give Pav shit all the time about how much money he’s probably made on her over the years.” Blake, Brooke, and the Utopia crew snickered.
Retying her braids back, Shae said, “Brooke, what do you need us to do after you call Thom tomorrow? Anything?”
“No. But I think Bryn wants you to sit down with Syd, who’s on Drew’s counterintelligence team, and listen to what she’s heard floating around in Purgatory.” Brooke looked at Blake for confirmation, who nodded. “I don’t really get involved in APSoperations, to tell you the truth. Reflex has me behind with my other projects, the fuckers, so I’m going to keep my happy ass at home and catch up on my work.”
Blake and Blair started collecting weapons. “Why don’t you three run to the Wendy House and shower, then meet us back here when you’re done? We have showers and a huge locker room in Hades, but we know you don’t have your stuff with you. When you get back, we can arrange for Syd to meet with us tomorrow to tell the entire team what she’s heard bubbling up so far. In the meantime, Brooke can decide for sure what she wants to tell Gene after she calls Thom and quits, and we can go over our strategy so far.
“I’m going to take her home and clean up there, then I’ll be back myself as soon as she’s settled. BetweenCyb3rmoon, Reflex, and Kilgore’s bullshit, they have me itchy as hell. I can’t help but feel the other shoe is about to drop. Norris, at the very least, won’t be one to overlook Rob shutting them out of his grift. There’snoway. Neeta told us Jack was a fucking demon, and I’m thinking she’s about to be proved right.”
?ω?ω?ω?
Blake tapped her fingers thoughtfully on the conference room table. “In a nutshell, this is where we are. The microbrewery caper has been halted in its tracks because Rob Kilgore stole resources that had originally signed up with Reflex to move product and equipment but is instead using them in his body brokering grift. However, he is no longer off radar since India blew his whole scam wide open and exposed him to his partners, so his ass is in a sling with them as a result. Thom Berger is an ineffective moron and Jack Norris is nothing but a raving lunatic, but Clay Langston is digging incognito in Purgatory.”
She regarded Dara Cochran, Drew Hollister’s second, and Ari Mendoza, another associate from Drew’s team, who had joined the meeting. “Since you two are down in Purgatory more than Drew is, and neither she nor we have wanted her to change her appearance schedule at this point,” she gestured to Drew, who dipped her head in agreement, “we’d like to ask you two, what have you heard? Syd is coming in tomorrow to tell us whatshe’sheard, since no one is aware she knowsThe Shadowor her associates, and she may have more intel, but has anything hit your radar?”
Dara nodded, sitting back in her chair. Like all of Drew’s counterintelligence team, a dangerous operative lurked behind Dara’s mild and friendly exterior, her very light gray eyes—much paler than Brooke’s darker gray ones—turning icy cold when she was provoked. Now, raking a hand through her short reddish-gold hair, she filled them in on what had recently come to light.
“Ari figured out who Clay Langston’s alter ego is. His usual screen name is MidnightLurker, but he goes by RogueInNight when he wants to stay anonymous.” The entire room snorted. “It isn’t difficult to see he’s shadowing Rob Kilgore if you pay attention, but Kilgore disappears into private chats a lot, probably frustrating the hell out of Langston.” She turned to her best friend. “However, Ari came up with a theory when we were talking last night that I think is a damn good one.”
Ari Mendoza, a butch of Hispanic origin who was as dangerous as Dara, smiled—a not very nice smile—as she launched into her speculation, lacing her hands behind her head with its almost black fade and closely shaved sides, muscled biceps and forearms flexing. “Drew has kept us up to speed on this whole cockamamie Reflex clown car. What a bunch of chiselers. You have to admit, however, that Clay isn’t an idiot, nor is Rob Kilgore. Clay Langston would understand that infiltrating those private chats wasn’t going to happen.”
Her smile grew warmer, dark eyes snapping with humor. “So, despite the fact that fearless leader was ready to kick my ass last night,” Drew rolled her eyes as she flipped Ari off, Dara smirking, “Dar and I told her it only made sense to use her new connection withCyb3rmoonto her benefit. Moonchild is quite aware of‘Echo’and‘Raven’in Purgatory and their ties toThe Shadow.
“Frankly, we’re a bit surprised she hasn’t approached either one of us by now, but I will give the lady props: she’s patient. However, I’m positive there’s a way to spur her into action. We still need to talk to Syd so we’ve coordinated our intel, then take our conclusions to Drew so she can decide how to move forward, but it’s high time the moonchild was smoked out.”
Intrigued looks settled on everyone’s expression. “That’s what we’ll do then,” Bryn said. “You three get together with Syd and figure out your approach, then we’ll talk tomorrow. Trill, any more on the live body brokering grift?”
“Not that you don’t already know. However, I’ve also spent time further researchingdeadbody brokering. We’ve already speculated that Kilgore doesn’t have the connections to broker dead bodies at the moment, not in a lucrative way. But then I got to thinking. Given the rate of addict overdoses in corrupt treatment facilities—which is considerably higher than those in legitimate treatment centers—why wouldn’t Kilgore take advantage and make money offthosedeaths if he could?” The conference room went wired.
“He already has a connection to some of the patients, albeit a hidden one. Furthermore, Rob is in a position where he very likely is fully aware which patients are at death’s door or are at serious risk of OD’ing, before anyone else does. Because he is a smart man, his thumb remains on every single drug or alcohol addict he’s brokered. The people who laughingly pass for the medical staff in these places are primed to exchange informationfor cash, so Kilgore gets a heads-up if there is a possible death imminent.”
Blake was staring at her in disbelief. “I can’t evenbelievewhat I’m hearing.”
“Believe it, cuz. When there is a death, the treatment facility—for an additional fee—can provide falsified documents to the family to ‘prove’ the deceased donated their body to science.” Briefly checking something on her laptop screen, Trill went on to say, “Kilgorecouldhire someone to take the remains to some makeshift processing plant that will harvest the organs, bones, eyes, appendages—even the fingernails—then sell those body parts to medical researchers and educators, often for hundreds or thousands of dollars. But since he doesn’t have the network setup to do all that, he sells the body whole to one or two harvesters he has become acquainted with.”
With her muscled arms folded across her chest and her green-hazel eyes even darker than they normally were, Drew growled, “IknewI fucking hated that dick. Can we assume that because Reflex keeps themselves mobile, so they can fold up their tent and disappear at a moment’s notice if needed, it’s highly unlikely Kilgore wouldeverget involved in the harvesting part of the equation? He just brokers bodies illegally when he can?”
“We can assume,” Trill told the room. “Part of the challenge with countering a grift like this one, however, is that the laws are all over the place in the U.S., depending on the state. The disposition of human bodies raises ethical and legal questions. While there is no federal law prohibiting the sale of human remains by anyone, there are state laws that vary significantly from state to state. In Florida, for example, selling dead bodies for profit is illegal. One thing is clear, though: it looks like Rob Kilgore has been running his personal body brokering grift—liveanddead—in parallel with the Reflex embezzlement and moneylaundering schemes and probably has for quite some time. But now, the rest of his partners know what he’s been up to behind their backs.”
Ari’s deep brown eyes were almost black. “And your moonchild knows way more than she’s telling, boss.”
“So it seems.” Drew’s voice was cold. “We can pick it apart in our crew meeting with Syd later.” Turning to Blake, she said, “You need to be there as well, cuz. Even though Brooke is bowing out of the Reflex relationship, little sis should be aware of the dangers inherent in havinganycontact with them whatsoever in light of what’s going on. That whole partnership is teetering on the edge of exploding. As much as I hate dragging our femmes into this shit, they are in a much better position to keep safe if they are clear-eyed and know exactly what’s happening around them.”
“Smart move,” murmured Dani.
Indi hooked a strand of golden hair behind her ear. “Is there anything Infinity can do until Drew and her team get their ducks in a row?”
