Chapter 19
Adrenaline surged through Jace as he paced the spare room in the low light. Amy had gone to bed just after they’d returned from Cone Toppers. Jace, however, wouldn’t see an ounce of sleep all night.
During the drive earlier, after suggesting Jace take the phone off speaker mode, Sutton told him about the latest intel. A real whopper: Turned outTaker104wasn’t some peon in the pool of offenders as they once believed; he was the ringleader himself! The top dog Jace had been dying to sink his teeth into.
He could hardly believe it. Electric volts surged through his blood at the idea of actually getting his hands on the man running the show.
According to Sutton, Logan had matched the man’s cloud IP address with one used by a local business owner operating under the nameMr. P.It was still not an actual first and last name, but it was better than the ridiculous profile name.
Jace recalled the final detail Sutton had shared. “Creed and Baron discovered that this Mr. P has contacted the studio about doing a sponsorship for one of his Denver businesses in the near future.”
That had left one very important question: Just why would someone who’d maintained anonymity for so long risk exposing himself now? The answer was, according to Sutton, simple: Port access. It was invaluable. So much that only making the right connections could buy it.
Angry heat thrashed through Jace at the mere recollection. “Typical,” Jace hissed under his breath. Laundering money throughout two-dozen legitimate businesses, all to disguise what hereallydid for a living: trafficking innocent women out as slaves.
The man had gone to painstaking efforts to keep his real name off public records. So much that it wasn’t attached to even one of his businesses. But with a little more persistence, they’d uncover the truth one way or another. Maybe Jace would just ask him face-to-face, after he took him and his entire ring out.
That face-to-face interaction was more than just a distant dream on the far horizon. As it was, Volkoff believed he was still communicating withTaker104(Mr. P), and Mr. P was convinced he was making a deal with Volkoff himself. In reality, Logan was acting as each. It would be up to Logan to arrange a meeting here in Denver in the next few weeks.
Not only would this allow them to catch one of the growing traffic rings here, it would score them the tradesman— a man who not only perpetuated the abductions through the purchase and sale of kidnapped victims, but carted them off of US soil through his illegal access to east coast ports.
These scum had no place in this world, save a ten-by-ten prison cell.
He plopped onto the bed, snatched his battered notebook off the side table, and heard his phone buzz out two quick vibrations.
A text from Sutton.
Just senta lovely picture of me and the wife. Thought you might enjoy it.
His heart thunderedout of beat; as innocent as the text might seem, it indicated something was wrong.What now?Jace covered a curse with a cough. It was often that—when one rock fell, a landslide ensued. Seemed things were definitely on the move.
With a heavy sigh, he cracked open his laptop and logged onto the team’s live chat room. So far, he was the first one to respond.
He watched as Sutton typed out the message, each letter popping up on the screen to the rhythm of his sick, aching heart.
Volkoff has been arrestedfor carting a counterfeit license at the US port. Officials agreed to delay press reports, but for no more than five days, then it goes public. We’ve got to stage the sting before then if we want to pose as Volkoff.
Adrenaline stirredand swelled with every word Jace read. They got Volkoff already. But the press wasn’t going to report it yet. He shot to his feet and paced as it settled in. This definitely changed things, but it was good. One down, one to go. Of course, the ringleader would hardly be as simple as that. He’d have a layer of henchman at the ready.
So the biggest piece of news here—aside from the arrest—was that they had to plan this thing soon. Withinfivedays soon. Jace shook his head as he sunk back onto the bed and typed out a reply.
Guess Maddox will be sportingthat fedora after all. Giddyup, boys. Let’s plan us a good old-fashioned sting op, Team 2 style.
He sethis focus back on the ringleader. Mr. P—orTaker104as he’d called himself—hadtakenhis last victim. In less than five days, the man would fall victim to Jace.
* * *
Jace hated draggingAmy to the auto shop an hour before they opened, but it was a safe place to set up a tech shop of his own. A place where he could listen in on the negotiation between Maddox, who’d be posing as Albert Volkoff,and Mr. P.
The team’s chat site would be active, so Jace or the other team members (who were also listening in) could share insights with Maddox. Blaine, who specialized in negotiations, would be giving a lot of direction, no doubt. Jace would have plenty to say as well.
He forced his next breath to come in slowly, and leave that way too. This would be good. If anyone knew how to throw a sting op together in record time, it was Jace and his unprecedented team.
Sleep hadn’t been an option last night. All he could think about, all he could imagine, was how this phone call would play out.
The guys hadn’t caught many Z’s either. Each had shown up on the live session to put in their two cents about how things should go down. Creed and Baron shared details about the intel they’d gathered. The business Mr. P hoped to haveAverage Amysponsor for him was a massage parlor calledThe Rough Diamond Spa.
“Everything okay?” Amy asked as she walked past him. She’d done her best to sound casual, but she wasn’t fooling Jace. Earlier, she’d asked about listening in on the call this morning, and while Jace would never come out and say no—she was a grown woman, after all—he’d done his best to warn her about what she might hear. About the way this guy’s voice might haunt her. And who knew what kind of things he might say? She’d never be able to erase stuff like that from her mind. Luckily, she’d seen reason.
