Page 46 of Brooks

"Right, so I guess when you told me you went out to scout out the Bitoo brothers’ location, one of the guys went with you?" She grinned.

"There's always a special exception."

"Great. So, make one now."

"The two of you gonna stand around and bitch all day? As amusing as it is watching Brooks chase his tail, we all got shit to do." Thad chuckled. "And I think it is worth repeating, it is amusing."

Tatiana's face paled when she remembered we had an audience. Her pretty eyes narrowed and I lost the battle. What had started off as a snicker was soon a full-blown belly laugh.

Her eyes rolled and I would swear on a stack of bibles I could hear her teeth grinding.

"You hungry, Doll? I can make us something to eat before we head out."

I wanted to remind her she'd burned a hell of a lot of calories this morning, but I held my tongue. I liked her sassy and annoyed, not embarrassed and ashamed. The way her cheeks tinted pink, it seemed she didn't need the prompt.

"I'm not hungry."

"Then I'm ready when you are."

"I'll grab my stuff." Wisely, she didn't try to argue further.

I waited until she was in the bedroom before I sorted through the papers on the table. "Anything new I need to know?"

"Falcon Holdings has proved to be a gold mine. Tex is connecting dots left and right. Taking out Al Issa is priority number one. If we can recover any of the artifacts, that's gravy, but not our first concern," Dec told me.

"What else has Tex found?"

"Falcon Holdings owns other companies’ outstanding stocks. When Tex looked into the companies, most of them are bogus. Nothing produced, no goods sold, nothing purchased. Those are the companies he's focusing on. He even found one that traces back to dog rings and cockfighting. It seems that South America has a huge issue with it," Max added.

"Why would that even be on Tex's radar?"

"Because it pulls in millions of dollars, and why are people investing big money into a fake corporation that’s only income source is animal blood sports?" Max's brow lifted.

His question was rhetorical and didn't require an answer, but I had a question. "Seriously?"

"Serious as a heart attack."

"Well, damn. I thought dogfighting was low-end bullshit. Street gangs and thugs. I had no idea it was that lucrative."

"Brother, big time players are involved. Tex is confident he can track it back to Omni."

"Track what back?" Tatiana asked, coming back into the dining room with her backpack over her shoulder.

"Cocks." I wagged my eyebrows.

"Are you thirteen?" She glared.

“No, really, we're talking about cockfighting in South America.”

“Actually, we were talking about the money involved in dog fighting,” Max interjected.

“Oh, yeah, it’s huge. I know a woman back in San Diego, Faith, who works in a shelter who saves pit bulls. It’s dangerous going in and trying to get the dogs. There’s a lot of money being thrown around, and that’s on the low scale,” she told us. “Anything new with Al Issa?”

“Tex’s latest intel shows Al Issa at his palace. The full staff and extra guards indicates he’s gonna be there awhile.”

“Are we taking out the compound or waiting for him to be on the move, with less security?” Tatiana questioned.

“Right now, the plan is to take the compound. That’s our best shot at recovering the missing tablets,” Declan relayed. Tatiana continued to study the satellite images Tex had sent over. “What are you thinking?”