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Each one was owned by a complex web of shell corporations and fake beneficial owners. If anyone ever thought to go digging, they would never find the other places. Exactly the way Daddy had set it up. For someone who had never had a background in finance or business, he had an affinity for it. I’d told him once that he could make a killing from setting up organizational structures for companies, but he’d laughed and petted an affectionate hand down my hair and said…
“I could, but we have a greater calling. I was put on this Earth to destroy the monsters. Wouldn’t you much rather I make it so other women and children can go outside without fear?”
An acute pang stabbed at my chest so unexpectedly, I gasped and nearly swerved off the road. It didn’t matter on this private road with no one to notice anything out of the ordinary, but I couldn’t do that again.
This time, I pushed back the memories and focused on my goal for today. For a year, we’d noticed something was off with our network. We hadn’t been able to figure out exactly where the rot had started, then the unspeakable happened.
Now it was up to me to figure out where it started, what it had affected, and eradicate it. Which brought us to my first appointment of the day.
Dion Green. Master forger and the first link in the chain.
Although, there was another reason I’d wanted to see him that had nothing to do with the rot. Merrick needed a new identity. Somehow, I didn’t even believe he’d ask too many questions when I told him his previous life no longer existed. He was the very definition of someone who was living in the present. At least, as far as I’d seen.
Dion lived about two hours away by highway, and four by back roads. He was a little close for my liking, but since he had no idea where our properties were, I hadn’t felt the need to relocate our base.
Where we had miles and miles of private land surrounding us, Dion preferred to live on the outskirts of the affluent neighborhoods. He’d said he needed reliable internet access, and practically living in the national forest wouldn’t allow him to do his job.
That, and he claimed he wasn’t watched as closely in this area as he could be in the slums.
The sun was high overhead as I reached his location, but instead of parking in front of his house, I pulled around back and parked two houses down. Having double-checked this morning, I knew the property was in the process of being foreclosed and was gloriously vacant.
Scanning the back street one more time, I texted Merrick before rubbing lotion on my hands. Then, I grabbed the documents I swiped from his bag and got out of my car.
Sunglasses in place, I made my way down to Dion's. The sun was hot today and the breeze from the south didn't carry any relief from it. In the distance, there were sprinklers spitting out water to keep their manicured lawns perfectly green. The houses were huge, the area flush with cash. But they were practically stacked one upon the other.
I couldn't imagine living in such close proximity to so many. Then again, I saw no one outside except for the gardener at the end of the block, mowing a lawn. These people could afford to isolate inside their mini-fortresses, all the while enjoying what their address and area code said about their income.
Skipping the walk up to his front door, I followed the cobblestones around the house to the gate. Like my place, it had a code. Only clients were given codes to open the gate and I let myself in using the no touch tool on my keychain. Sanitary and convenient. While I appreciated his security, I still took precautions. If he was smart, and I had no reason to think otherwise, there was a reason Dion was a master forger, every client had their own code. Leaving electronic footprints here was the cost of doing business.
The backyard was a riot of plants, a bubbling fountain like spring that circulated the water, so he had this soothing setting like he was somewhere in the wilderness. With his twelve-foot board on board fencing, he could probably pretend the rest of the world was somewhere else. You could just barely catch the sound of the lawn mower in the distance. His patio included two long loungers, and a lovely wicker sofa. The coffee table and ottomans made it look like an outdoor living room. The giant seventy-two-inch television suspended from the roof of the wooden awning over his patio just added to the effect.
His landscaping and plants went all the way to the edge of the patio. It was a grotto in the middle of wealthy suburbia. The investment of time and money impressed me. A little. No lie. Daddy and I made the most of our investments, but they were practical. This was—almost hedonistic.
At the edge of the porch, a sound that didn't belong registered and I was already sliding to the side behind the greenery before I fully processed what I'd heard.
A grunt, followed by a curse, then a howl of pain.
I eased up to the side of the house. With care, I tucked all of Merrick's paperwork into my back pocket. The light linen jacket I wore was perfect for hiding the lines of the belly band holster. It wasn't my favorite, but it tucked beautifully into the pants. I had some practice with removing the guns swiftly. The knives strapped to the insides of my forearms were easier to access.
They were also quieter.
I glanced down at my outfit. Not the best for concealment. Then, I wasn't planning on walking into an ambush.
Or a fight.
With care, I moved closer to the sliding glass door. It was open, though the screen door was closed. That was why the sound carried. There was another grunt and curse.
"The sooner you give me answers, the better this will go for you." Okay. That was Dion's voice. Since when did hetorturepeople? I narrowed my gaze and freed one of the guns from the belly band. Of all the things not to bring with me, a silencer would have been nice.
They didn't reallysilencethe gunshot, but they sure as shit muffled it by bringing the sound down below 140 decibels. It wouldn't deafen me to fire it in close quarters. It would also contain the muzzle flare. Not to self, no leaving home without one, no matter what my plans were for the day.
I had one in the car.
The sound of flesh impacting flesh carried through the screen as I spent all of two seconds debating going back for it. No.
"I have an appointment coming, Reed, this is your last chance." Well, that was dramatic. So was the sound of a hammer being cocked. I located Dion on the far side of his living room. There was plastic all over the floor. The furniture had all been moved and there was even plastic draped along the walls.
A guy sat in a chair in the middle of the plastic, face bloodied and one eye swollen shut. His wrists were handcuffed to the sides of the chair. They were the only two I clocked in the room.
