Earlier that day
I pulled up to the curb and threw my kickstand down. This was the last thing on my to-do list before I could go home and be done for the entire night.
I would get to relax with no other job to do for a few hours. The thought alone made my shoulders droop. I was still exhausted. Nothing had slowed down and, with adding all the shit I had to do with Regan to my list, I was only busier than before.
Not tonight, though. I might even put on a ridiculous true crime show and sleep. The thought of doing that with her crossed my mind, and I shook it off as I pulled off my helmet and looked around. The informant wasn’t here yet, which was fine. I preferred getting here first.
I had someone tailing Cameron still. I always had someone tailing Cameron. From the moment I had a few extra hundred dollars in my pocket to give someone to keep tabs on him, I’d had someone tailing Cameron. He had brought me useful information over the years, and I knew a few of his business dealings. Mostly stolen items he resold on the black market.Sometimes, there was the occasional bigger deal for him. I think one time, he transported an entire cargo ship of exotic animals into the country, but none of it was what I was looking for. Nothing he did felt like enough to ruin him the way he had ruined me.
Yeah, I could send him to prison, but there was always the chance that he could thrive there. I needed everything taken from him. I needed him to know there was nothing left for him on this entire fucking planet. I needed him to burn and suffer the way my parents had.
And no matter what information I was given today, it probably wouldn’t be enough to do that, but the compulsion was still there. It was always nagging at me. I couldn’t leave Cameron alone, and I would never be able to until he was dead.
Now the only difference was I had his daughter, and she kept falling perfectly into my trap.
The informant finally appeared. He was a wiry man with a nervous twitch. He always dressed normal, looked normal, but nothing else about him was normal. He was smart and fast, always able to slip around the city unnoticed, and he stayed my top guy for getting accurate information fast because of it.
“You want to tell me why I didn’t know Cameron’s daughter came back around last year?” I asked.
The informant cocked an eyebrow. “She involved in his business?”
“No.”
“Then how the fuck would I know? You have me running around for him and his business. And before you ask, I don’t know if he’s got a wife or mistress either. I’m going to need paid more if those things need checked.”
I shook my head. I could figure that all out myself, and I could only be mad at myself for not keeping a better eye on Cameron’s personal life.
“Got anything useful?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, pulling out a cigarette. “I got something, but I don’t know what the fuck it is.”
“Alright, I’ll still take it,” I said, pulling a thousand dollars out of my pocket and handing it to him. He didn’t count it. We had grown some sort of trust after years of working together. I knew he would give me true information, and he knew I wouldn’t stiff him any cash.
“Cameron’s got something big going. I think it’s something bigger than ever. He’s meeting with a few people in the city.”
“Who?”
He handed me a scribbled list of four names. I knew every single one of them. “These are the guys I’m working with,” I said, wishing I hadn’t. They were the reigning drug lords of the city and the exact guys I’d been working for as an in-between. Two have had shipments go missing and the other two were about to declare an all out war between the others before they had anything go missing.
“Is he offering security?” I asked. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to think Cameron would be trying to get an in to the drug business, but this was a weird way to go about it. Once you worked for them, you would never rule them.
“I have no idea. He goes into the building, stays for twenty minutes, and leaves with his guards.”
“How many now?”
“He’s upped it. Has about four men with him at all times now.”
I nodded, knowing he always traveled with one or two, but him adding two more wasn’t a good sign either. It also wasn’t a good sign that he wasn’t guarding their house. Regan sat there, alone, every fucking day, with minimal security. He needed four grown men to protect him, but she was left on her own?
It’s not like everyone didn’t know where his house was. He basically had a sign with his name on the gate.
How the fuck was he protecting her?
“It sounds like there’s another meeting going on soon, but I can’t find details yet.”
“What kind of meeting?”
“At least two of those guys have agreed to a meeting with Cameron.”
