“Yeah, I will.”
“There’s one more thing. Reese’s name was also flagged because of her father.”
“Who is he?”
“Thomas Murphy. You might not know his name, but he’s the CEO of Global Universal.”
“The security company.”
Jackie exhaled. “Exactly. They provide security for everyone from various government agencies across the world to NASA.”
“You’re suggesting if either Reese’s or Briana’s identity is discovered, they’ll bring a hefty price on the black market.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Shit. Just another layer, another reason the girls needed to be found.
After ending the call, I took a minute outside Maverick’s house to collect my thoughts. I’d come across powerful men in my days as a prosecutor. They truly believed they were bigger than the law. What I’d also learned was that when they felt the need to threaten anyone questioning them or eliminate anyone who could expose them, there were cracks in their perfectly coiffed system.
That’s what I intended on exploiting.
What I was having difficulty rationalizing was why anyone of any intelligence would drop into a highly dangerous situation by themselves. Assisting a family member was one thing, but we were talking about a sex slavery operation where the women weren’t invited to become participants, but forced. Maybe I was just a bonehead. Although…
Thoughts of my sister popped into my mind. Maybe I did understand. I would have done anything for Emily. Hell, I’d done some brotherly and what she’d called stupid things including roughing up a boyfriend. She hadn’t forgiven me for weeks.
Laughing, I walked inside, rubbing my jaw as I did. How many brutal punches to the jaw had she given me over the years?
“There you are,” Maverick’s deep voice grumbled, pounding in my eardrums.
As I walked into the game room my mind was still elsewhere. I glanced at the host of the bi-monthly poker game beforeheading to the bar in the corner, immediately jerking open the refrigerator door. Remaining silent, I popped open a Corona, swigging a third of the bottle before I came up for air.
When I did, I noticed all four men were staring at me, one form of amusement or another on their faces.
“What?” I barked out, still feeling the tight confines of the day and my shitty mood.
“Nothing,” Maverick managed as he swirled his drink, no doubt a whiskey. The man’s blood had likely been transfused with the shit. “Except you’re late. You look like you just rolled out of bed. Your attitude sucks and for God’s sake, stop using gasoline as your choice of aftershaves or you’re never getting laid again.”
Maverick Callahan, the owner of the oversized, overpriced beach house, and a former FBI agent turned number one best-selling author on every goddamn chart there was, offered his infamous smug look.
Chase Barrett burst out laughing, even pounding on the table as Maverick wasn’t known for his comical approach to everything.
He, on the other hand, was a career DEA agent, a man who used comedy as a weapon and everyone was fair game.
I wasn’t in the mood.
Gabriel Rawlins, a judge aptly titled the Executioner simply continued cutting the cards while my buddy Hudson Armstrong, also a judge although not nearly as much a pain in the ass as Gabriel, shook out the bag of nickels we used when we gambled.
“I don’t look like shit,” I growled as I peered down at what I was wearing. Jeans. A tee shirt. Cowboy boots. “This is what I always wear.” When not forced to wear a confining uniform for court.
“Yeah, that’s the problem,” Hudson threw out. “And what the hell is that smell?”
I grabbed another beer before heading to the table, jerking out a chair and plopping down. “My soon to be ex mechanic forgot to put the gas cap back on. So it splashed. So what?” I was only teasing about firing him. Harry was the only man who I trusted to work on my Vette.
“Don’t badmouth Harry again,” Chase snorted, lifting an eyebrow. He tossed back half his bourbon. “He’s kept that piece of shit of yours running for what, a hundred years?”
I had a feeling we were all in similar shitty moods. I’d spent a few hours trying to locate anything substantial on the Privileged, including through a couple of sources I’d used over the years. Given their ear to the seedier side of Miami, I thought they’d be able to provide me with something concrete.
