If today goes any more astray, I might snap. Before we walked in on Maya and Marcus dry humping each other, Ethan was filling Vade and I in on a lead I would have never expected causing my initial irritation. There’s someone in my inner circle who could potentially jeopardize this whole operation if things don’t go their way.
“I started doing a facial recognition scan of people in the city to start a database where we can keep track of people going in and out of Cottontails, while also searching for the missing girls. Check this out,” Ethan says, zooming in. “Recognize either one of these faces?” Vade and I get closer.
“Yeah, that’s Logan Bradley, Sasha’s brother. What about him?” I grab a round of beers from the mini fridge and pass them out. I’ve been careful not to drink whiskey at lunch.
“The other guy in the photo is Tony Siles, and he’s the manager at Cottontails.” Ethan glances back to Vade and I, neither one of us making a solid connection. Gulf View is a big little town. People know one another despite it being a large tourist destination.
“I’m listening.” My curiosity piqued for where he’s going with this.
“Look here,” he clicks back a few slides, “this is Logan, a week and a half ago, with one of the girls who was reported missing.”
I lean in closer to get a better look. She appears very young. “Son of a bitch.”
Logan’s always been on the wild side. Drugs, alcohol, petty crimes, but never did I see him getting caught up in a trafficking ring.
He clicks ahead a few more slides. “And here he is, walking into The Lucky Rabbit with her by his side. I was able to hack their cameras, and follow them inside Cottontails, but a minute and forty-two seconds into the footage, they disappear.”
“What the fuck do you mean they disappear?” Vade says. “Casinos have cameras covering every single inch of the place, except for bathrooms. I have a hard time believing they vanished in thin air.”
“Well, if you look here,” Ethan pauses the video, “this little line right here in the feed. The footage has been scrubbed from the system. I’ve been watching it from different cameras all day and the only thing I see is him leaving the casino at 4:17 p.m., sans female.”
“Any audio?” Vade asks.
“I’ve checked, there’s noaudio recording anywhere inside.” Ethan sits back in his chair and stretches.
“That’s one hell of a solid lead. Good job, Ethan.” Vade pats his shoulder. “But now we have a bigger problem. How close is your secretary to her brother?” He turns to me.
“As far as I know they’ve been out of touch for a while.” Sasha doesn’t associate with anyone who isn’t of personal service to her in some way. Her and her brother had a falling out a few years ago because he wouldn’t hand over control of his assets to her when he did some time in jail.
“What’s your next move? She could potentially spoil this whole operation,” Ethan asks.
“Keep your friends close and enemies closer. We don’t let her know of our potential lead and carry on business as normal. We only give her vital information. Ethan, see if you can clone her cell phone.”
“That’s easy. I’ll have it done by this evening.”
“My nephew, Liam, is starting security at Cottontails next week,” Vade says, setting his beer down. “Pass me another.”
“We’re going to take them down, and rescue all the girls, I promise.” I know how hard he takes these things. I pass out another round.
“I’ve set up a program that will record surveillance feed from The Lucky Rabbit. It takes time to process these large files, so I’ll need my days free to monitor things there and throughout the city. If you can, get someone to follow Logan. I can’t watch him, the city, the casino, and make sure you don’t destroy your decoy during the process,” Ethan deadpans. He stays mad at me lately.
I’m assuming thegirl’s too mad to do her self-defense training, so I might see if Lucas will spar with me instead. I have to let some rage out.
I walk down to the gym where Lucas is waiting. “Feel up to a fight, old man?” I roll my neck and shoulders around, loosening them up.
“I thought you’d never ask.” He gives me a stupidly fake playful smile. “I heard your fight with the missus.” The whole town heard that one.
“She’s not my missus.” He knows good and damn well that will never happen.
“Oh yeah? Fuck her and find out. You two are made for each other.” He circles me like a tiger ready to pounce.
“You’re going to regret saying that.” I take a defensive stance, ready for him to come at me.
“Bring it on.” He comes at me and I swing as hard as I can, my fist cracking across his jaw sending blood spatters flying through the air. That felt good.
He stops in front of me, slightly dazed but smiling. “I deserved that one. Been sparring with your future missus too long. Tell me Nick, does that niece of yours moan for you like she does for me when I pin her down?” He purposely taunts. “You’re not fooling me with that ‘she’s family’ bullshit. You’d have to have siblings for that to be true.”
I know he says it for the sole purpose of working me up, as if I wasn’t already. Lucas loves to fight and rile up his competitors. We used to go to the underground fighting rings. He’s won countless fights by getting in his competitors’ heads. To this day, his only loss was against me.
