And only one of us would survive.
“You won’t believe this shit,” Chase said, pushing his way into my condo.
“And hello to you too.”
“Is this about my father?” Reese asked, her voice trembling.
“No, not yet. We have two Raven members heading toward your father as we speak. They’re going to take him and your mother to a safehouse. But this you needed to see, Kendrick.”
Hours had passed.
Hours of waiting and my patience was completely gone. “What do you have?”
“Show me to your computer.” Chase was far too excited, the gleam in his eyes what I’d seen before when the man talked about solving a particularly grueling case.
This had damn well better be good.
He slipped a jump drive into the system, leaning over the computer as he opened a file. “Tell me if that man looks familiar to you?”
“What am I looking at?” The picture was almost like a drawing.
“Ruger came through, his skills a little rusty but not bad. I ran it through the DEA database, confirming a hit. Think about your past.”
As I studied the picture, I realized what I was looking at. “Wait a fucking minute. That looks an awful lot like Dante Rinaldi, theson of Don Carmine Rinaldi.” The first man I’d ever prosecuted in Miami. And I’d sent his ass to prison for ten years for manslaughter and extortion.
“It is. He was released from prison a year ago. That’s Lucifer.”
“Fuck. Which means he knew who I was all along.” As I turned my head, Chase was already nodding. Sure, I was older and had worn a mask, but we’d faked photographs of Drake Cavanaugh.
“A good assumption, which means we have to go in with both eyes wide open.”
“That also means…” I threw my head back, scrubbing my jaw. “I’ll be a son of a bitch. Jackie led me straight to the man.”
“Maybe, although the question is why play a vicious game?” Chase had a good point. “With what we know about the chief of police, she could have been coerced just like you originally believed.”
“Yeah, maybe. Lucifer isn’t a stupid man. He learned well from his father. He likely knew there was a potential snitch in the organization.”
“The meeting last night proved his point. Why didn’t the man just eliminate Franklin the Catcher Duffries?”
I nodded, glancing at Reese.
“Because there’s an issue with the software provided to the Privileged.” Reese stood with her arms folded. While she was still anxious about her parents, she had the grin of a Cheshire cat who’d swallowed more than one canary.
Chase sucked in his breath with a hard whistle. “Just when Franklin thought he could initiate a coup with the Privileged, thesoftware he’s sold, installed, and had been paid a pretty penny for had a glitch.”
“That’s why my father is still alive and why my sister was used as leverage.”
I shook my head. “Franklin will begin to spiral out of control. Tell them about how many hits the great chapter of Maverick’s latest bestseller has gotten.”
“Over the million and counting. People are quite eager to hear about the Privileged and the members.” Reese was quite pleased with herself.
“Is Maverick headed to the safehouse?”
“Yeah, with Ruger.” Chase checked his watch. “My guess is Catcher has already attempted to contact Maverick by now. The plan is coming together, which means both of you are in significant danger.”
“We need to play this out. Right now, if we change what we’re doing, the Privileged will fade into the shadows. And everything we have so far is fairly circumstantial. Especially if the women can’t be found.”
“Agreed. What about your detective friend?”
