The thought had stuck in her craw the entire night.
The director snapped his head in her direction, his chestnut brown eyes cutting. “There is no proof of any illegal activity. As far as we’re concerned, Mr. Marguiles is simply a victim of a horrible crime. Understood?”
David coughed and took a step back.
The others in the room remained dead quiet.
“Let’s take a look at what we have. Shall we?” A clicker in his hand, the director pointed toward a small screen on the adjacent wall, flipping up a picture. “You’ve heard some of this before, but we’re going through it again. Meet Ricardo Constantino, Wrathas he is better known for his skills in perfecting the kill. This man has been on our radar for almost six months. That means we haven’t caught him in six months. Which means, in case you were wondering, that the governor is breathing down our necks. Specifically, my neck. I won’t talk about the words spoken from the offices of the Pentagon. Brutal. Career-ending. Which means I’m shifting responsibility to all of you. We could have had this man three. Fucking. Times.Three.”
Flinching, Sophia tried to maintain her composure. The director never lost his cool.
“Now, given we just lost a prominent citizen, we are going to be working long hours in order to catch this violent criminal. Do you understand what I’m saying?” the director started. “That means there are no days off and zero time with your families and yes, you have Agents Waters and Camden to thank for this.”
“Ah, come on,” a voice came from the group.
“This is ridiculous,” another hushed voice stated, his tone full of anger.
All eyes turned to her. Hell, yes, she was pissed at herself, but there had been other agents assigned to the case. Sadly, only she and David had gotten close. And lost him. The rub was nasty.
“Maybe so, but the bloodshed is going to stop in this city. Period. We’re also taking heat from the CIA, who wants to yank this away from us. That’s not going to happen, boys and girls. This is our case to solve and by damn, that’s what we’re going to do.” The director looked around the room. Now, take notes because I’m not going over this again. We will catch this man before he kills again. This Dark Haven consortium group is pissing me off. There have been almost a dozen assassinations in less than sixtydays throughout the world, which means there are certainly several assassins. Whatever their plan, they’re expediting the timing.”
“What if the entire group of assassins target the United States?” David asked sheepishly.
The entire room glared at him.
“Okay. I’m just asking,” he huffed under his breath.
“Do we know who his next target is?” one of the female agents asked, raising her hand tentatively.
Sophia snorted, the sound floating into the room.
“At this point we do not.” Director Montgomery slowly turned his head in her direction. “Why don’t you do the honors of filling us in on Wrath, Agent Waters? You’ve certainly gotten closer to this man than anyone else. Perhaps you can shed some light on his intended targets.”
She hesitated, tamping back a nasty comment before moving through the group and closer to the screen. She continued to have the feeling the director knew she was withholding information. This time, she was unable to stop the shiver from crawling down her spine. “May I?” she asked the director, holding out her hand.
Director Montgomery lifted a single eyebrow as he handed her the clicker. “By all means.”
After flicking through several screens, she found the exact picture she was looking for, the very one she’d taken only moments before four FBI units closed in. How he’d eluded them at that point still remained a mystery. The grainy shot taken onher cell phone in a speeding car did little to highlight the man’s features, especially given he was wearing sunglasses.
But she could describe him from head to toe.
Sophia shoved aside the thought, swallowing before opening her mouth.
“This is the only partial we have of his face. Wrath is no fool and he is well connected, his Mafioso family considered royalty throughout Europe. Money. Weapons. He has access to everything he needs. Wrath is also extremely dangerous. No one else has even been able to get close. From what we’ve learned about the Dark Haven, and the information is still sketchy, the other families involved are just as powerful. Italy. France. Germany. Sweden. Those are the countries we suspect they are from.”
They actually knew shit, the informants used all over the place. What she’d learned indicated the controlling country was Italy, the Constantino family irreproachable as far as the Italian police were concerned. They’d been zero help. She had a feeling that the consortium owned several law agencies. Glancing across the room, she moved from slide to slide, highlighting the bloody accounts of his most recent victims.
“He gets personal with the majority of his kills, preferring the use of a knife, signifying a revenge kill and he is very skilled,” Sophia continued.
“Then why the use of the pistol?”
The question came from the back. Sophia gave a knowing smile. She’d seen nothing but a gun in his possession during their… time together. Curious but not telling. “Time. He knew we wereon the hunt.” Why was she actually tingling telling the story? The answer was far too easy.
The sexual attraction was unbridled. The connection was something she’d never be able to understand, but she would now use the knowledge against him. “As far as his next intended victim? There is no way of telling. The connections bring us back to the Dark Haven, the victims powerful in their respective businesses with worldwide customers. However, the connection ends there. We know about Stephen Wallace and his business. The Dark Haven certainly needs access to computers worldwide. The second victim doesn’t fit any scenario. John Baker was a financial advisor. And Mr. Marguiles, well, his connections with a cartel could certainly have the muscle to cause interference to the consortium.”
“That’s not much to go on,” an agent scoffed.
“No, it’s not. We need to find that connection in order to facilitate an end to the Dark Haven’s reign. Bear in mind, when he’s finished his operation, he will move on to another city, another country.”
