Page 24 of Elite Metal: Warriors

“Wait,” Steele barked. “Back it up.”

Back it up? He didn’t want to see that footage ever again.

Ant did as he was asked.

“Okay. Freeze it.” Steele leaned closer. “Isn’t that odd?”

“What?” Sterling had to ask, but the word was choked.

Steele touched the screen. “Why is the license plate blurred out?”

Ant shrugged. “Standard SOP when videos are released. Protect the innocent and all that.”

Sterling bristled. “Those fuckers aren’t innocent.” They’d killed Roni’s mother. Crippled her sister. God only knew what kind of damage they had done to her inside. He knew. Hell, he knew what it was like to lose everyone you loved.

“Do you think you can get the undoctored footage?”

“Why?”

“I want to see those plates.”

“On it.”

Ant spun away but stopped short when a soft voice said, “I have the undoctored footage.”

They all whipped around to see Roni standing in the doorway. God only knew how long she’d been listening. Sterling hoped to hell she hadn’t seen the video, but judging from her ashen face, she had.

Chrome’s eyes narrowed. “You do?”

“Yeah. And I had a friend at the FBI run the plates. The car was stolen, but the same plates were used on a car in a Santirios Cartel hit two days before.”

Sterling’s gut clenched. Her words were calm and clear, but he heard, felt, the wobble in them. He wanted to yank her against him, comfort her, hold her. But he couldn’t.

Steele crossed his arms and fixed her with a steady gaze. “You think the cartel killed your mother?”

She tipped up her chin. “I do. And I think Marcus asked them to.”

“Why would they?” Ant asked. “Why would they take a risk like that for him?”

Her features tightened. “He wanted access to her money. And they probably wanted to solidify a relationship with a major US sleaze publisher.”

“Why?”

Roni shook her head. “Because he has information. Loads of it. He has informants everywhere. FBI, CIA, ATF, NSA. Moles in all the top agencies. Probably even knows when raids are being planned.”

Chrome shot a sharp look around the group. “If he’s passing information to Escobar, he’s aiding and abetting every crime that bastard commits.” He turned to Ant. “Let’s see if we can find anything incriminating on that hard drive. Especially relative to Morrow’s relationship with Escobar.”

“Right.”

“I can help.” Again, they all turned their sharp gazes on Roni. Her features firmed. “I know Marcus. His quirks. His foibles. I can help you find what matters much quicker.”

Ant shrugged. “She’s probably right.”

“Of course she’s right. The question is, can we trust her?” Leave it to Chrome to dive right to the heart of the matter.

“They killed her mother,” Sterling said softly. He was aware of Roni’s attention on him, the warmth, the gratitude in her gaze, though he didn’t meet it.

“I do want to help,” she said.