Page 44 of Perfect Chaos

“Yeah, I didn't wanna risk someone hacking the call, I know that sounds paranoid, but if he can find Maizyn, then he can find me. I'm pretty sure I'm already being followed. I want to be careful.”

“Are you okay? Did you need my help with anything?”

“I found something. I think it’s what you might need. But before I tell you what I found, can I ask what your connection plans are for the information?”

“That's pretty simple. They plan to take care of them and the men who carried out the job.”

“Good, that's all I needed to know. Does WD Navicorp mean anything to you? A three million dollar transaction went through from that LLC to the shell company right around the time you said the kidnapping was.”

“I’m not sure if the name means anything. I would have to ask the boss but you found the payment, which is exactly the proof we needed to connect it to Vin. Can you send me the files?

“Yeah, sending it right-”

Crash

“What the hell was that? Are you okay?” His voice rising loud enough that I can hear it over the ringing in my ears.

It takes me a few moments to regain my bearings. The impact from the airbags causes me to momentarily lose focus. I take a deep breath, trying to decipher how bad i’ve been injured. My chest is sore from the seatbelt locking in place; my arm stings from where the airbag probably burnt me, but I don’t think anything is broken. I pat around for the phone that I dropped while bracing for impact, finding it in the passenger seat. I bring it back to my ear. “I think so. Someone just clipped my back bumper, pinning me into the guard rail. The airbags deployed, other than a little sore, I feel fine.”

“Out of the car now!” Two voices I don’t recognize scream at me to exit the vehicle.

“Talk to me, Gavin. What’s going on?” Ramos' voice breaks through the line, his rising panic easily heard. If he is panicking, I know this isn’t going to end well.

“Two men with guns are approaching the car. I’m not going to be able to get out of this, Ramos.” I squeeze my eyes shut replaying how amazing yesterday was. I smile at the memory before the thought turns sour. I will probably never see them again and I didn’t even tell them bye.

“Where are you right now?”

Shit! I forgot Ramos was on the phone. His rugged voice breaking me from my thoughts. “Concourse and 5th.”

“Alright. Hang in there, Gavin. We will get you out of this.” He says it with such conviction that I want to believe him.

“Just keep them safe for me.” It takes everything in me to keep my voice from cracking but it’s impossible to mask how despairing the situation is.

My door is yanked open as a gun is pressed to my temple. One man unbuckles my seatbelt while the yanks me from the car yelling into my face. “Hand over your phone now!”

“Gavin! Gavin! Fuck!”

Ramos

I tossed my phone in frustration. This wasn't supposed to go like this. Vin wasn't supposed to be able to track the hacking back to anyone. If his hacker is good enough to beat us, then we need to make sure we kill the hacker as well. I storm out of the guest room I'm staying in and head to where I know I'll find my brother. Entering the war room without knocking, all heads turned towards me.

“What is it, Ramos? Any update from your hacker?”

“Yeah, I have an update and we have a problem.”

“What happened now?”

“They just grabbed Gavin.”

“Who? Vin? Grabbed Gavin? When? How do you know?”

“He called me about 10 minutes ago from a burner phone. He mentioned that he felt like he was being followed but he had information for me.” I force myself to sit down in a near by chair to stop myself from pacing. My leg bouncing as a way to expel pent up energy. That gained the bosses attention though.

“What did Gavin say after he mentioned being followed? How do you know it was Vin that took him?”

It wasn’t until now that i realize I never updated them about what happened yesterday. This conversation could go very bad. “As far as knowing it was Vin, Gavin told me that someone fitting his description stopped his girl on the sidewalk and left after a cryptic threat. He is the one who activated the code at the safe house earlier. He left to try and keep Atlas and Maizyn safe while he finished the job.” I pause to take in their reaction and give them time to respond.

“If he was at the safe house how did he get captured?”