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Who was she? I’d never found out and I had gone back to the area on two occasions. Another rule I’d broken of Xavier’s. I shook my head, trying to drive the cobwebs aside. I’d even used my brother’s former last name in making reservations for the lighthouse, but that wouldn’t stop our enemies from knowing who owned the ship coming into port the next day.
I had to be very cautious of how I proceeded.
“Give me a call, bro,” Dante said.
I nodded, ending the call, noticing Ivan standing in the doorway. I could tell by the look on his face that he’d found something. It was about goddamn time. I was going stir crazy sitting in the lighthouse, no matter how beautiful the setting. “You have something to share.”
Ivan walked closer, shaking his head. “Yeah, but it goes along with what your brother was saying. I have a very bad feeling this entire scene up here is nothing but a setup.”
“If so, why? That’s the big question. To have me a thousand miles away from my home setting?”
He shrugged and dropped a file on my desk. “Maybe. With your death or your brother’s, that would set up a perfect scenario for a possible overthrow.”
“What is this?” I fingered the file, not bothering to open it.
“Both Jacob and I worked the streets. It would appear our call for purchasing some party favors was accepted. We have a meeting later today. If that’s what you want to do. That might be the only known photograph of the man responsible for selling drugs to the people who recently died.”
I opened the file, laughing given the fuzzy focus. “Where the hell did this come from?”
“A reporter. Incidentally, the same chick was on the early morning news reporting on the story, highlighting some murder that the sheriff’s office refuses to confirm or deny. However, she supposedly has a source who indicated the murder was gruesome and considered a gangland kill.”
“As in leaving someone a warning.”
Ivan nodded “The local cops? The Feds?”
“That is a very good question.” And one I needed to answer “We’re going to make that meeting. Then I might have a conversation with that reporter.”
He grinned as if eager to do so. “She’s a sexy little blonde. I’ll tell you that. Easy on the eyes.”
I was ready to tell him that we weren’t here on vacation, but I’d already broken my own unwritten rules. I lifted an eyebrow instead, keeping my glare stern yet unable to hide my level of amusement.
“Muzhchina uvlechen,” he muttered. When I hardened my look, he rolled his eyes. “A man infatuated.”
“I suggest you keep your eye on the balls. We could have more kamikazes headed into the state. Flag every ship and flight coming in. I need to know their origins and whatever passenger lists you can get.”
“Whew. That will take a while.”
“It’s a good thing we have the lighthouse’s WEP key then. Isn’t it?”
He backed away, his expression mimicking mine. “You’re a slave driver of a boss.”
“That’s what makes me a damn good boss.” I thought about the fact a DEA agent had made contact. That could also mean someone was trying to put our organization under scrutiny so they could come in under the radar.
“You mean a merciless one. I’ll email you the link for the reporter. She’s pushing the sheriff’s office as well as the mayor. I’d love to get our hands on the incident report.”
“Yeah, so would I.” Small town sheriffs were fun to fuck with, especially those attempting to hide a horrific crime scene. I was unknown in the area, although I’d never shied away from the camera before. As Ivan walked out, I shifted my attention to my laptop. Maybe I was going about searching for information incorrectly. Why not allow law enforcement to do it for me?
Chuckling, I shifted to the internet, attempting to pull up anything I could on the local sheriff’s office. Often in small towns, they didn’t have a direct website to their office, but their information was usually found on the city or town’s official government site.
I sat back as I scrolled, thinking about what Dante had told me. If there really was an organization formed exclusively for the use of kamikaze assassins, it would alter the effectiveness of every crime syndicate, which could potentially send any organization with publicly traded stock plummeting. In my mind, that would shift the methods of doing business into the dark ages where blood truly did rain on the streets.
What the fuck was the point in doing so? Control of the world economy, military systems? Maybe. But that would be a huge task, the secrecy and funding needed let alone the security one of the most formidable propositions ever heard of even for the largest country. I laughed, almost wishing Dante and I had thought of it.
Something my brother had said from almost day one of entering into a life of crime was that one day crime syndicates would cease to be effective if they didn’t shift their methods of operation into the next century, getting and staying ahead of the curve. Global markets. Stocks. The dark web. Hacking. They were indeed signs that Dante was correct in his assumptions. However, suicide missions were something else altogether.
I finally navigated to names of city councilmembers and other important administrators within Sitka.
As I scrolled through names, my eyes immediately focused on one of them.
