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“I’ll finish up my calls while you’re out. Be careful and take the gun I gave you just in case. Lions love freshfossa.”
“Eww.” She slapped at his arm and he let her go, watching her disappear into the kitchen before he turned and headed to theshower.
Grant watched Thalia through the window as she moved from tree to tree, picking off the wild loquat from the low hanging limbs. The cut on his knuckles stung as he clenched and unclenched his battered fist. He wished they could put the world on hold for a week or ten. Hole up there and figure out this thing between them. He was screwed no matter what happened; he just wished he could put it off a little longer. As if the fates had heard his thoughts and rendered immediate judgment, the instant messenger icon dinged on the laptop in front ofhim.
He immediately closed the computer and picked up his sat phone, dialing Diver’s secured line. “About time you got your ass out of bed and answered my call,” he barked when the call was finallyanswered.
“Fuck you.” Grant chuckled as Diver hacked up what sounded like a piece of his lung. “It’s two in the fucking morninghere.”
“Who says there’s no rest for the wicked?” Before Diver could deliver a snappy retort, Grant rattled off a list of additional things he’d learned from Thalia during the previousevening.
The feeling in his gut had only worsened as she told him about what was on the thumb drive. Issa had been transporting for both Jauhar and Don Lalia. That in and of itself didn’t bode well for her dear uncle. However, it didn’t explainwhatthey were transporting. Nothing on the drive indicated the types of merchandise. No bills of lading were attached as they normally were, only alphanumerical codes entered next to eachshipment.
Thalia, the crazy fossa, thought she was going to use those records to get her face to face with Jauhar. She didn’t know who or what she was dealing with. He was surprised she didn’t have half the goddamn continent out to killher.
Of course Diver hadn’t found anything on her or her parents. Nothing was adding up, exactly as he suspected it wouldn’t. Opening up the laptop, he took another glance outside and saw that Thalia had only moved a few feet down the line oftrees.
Confident he had time, Grant clicked on one of Jauhar’s files and glanced over it. There was nothing there he wasn’t already intimately familiar with. Drugs, human trafficking, weapons, it was all there. Picture after picture of faces he’d studied and memorized long ago. He stopped and clicked on one picture inparticular.
He didn’t usually like to think about his former marks. They were scum who didn’t warrant any more of his time than he’d already invested in them. The dead man staring back at him on his computer screen had been worth every second. Imad Shavish, former Indian military translator turned arms dealer to the likes of Jauhar. He would probably still be alive if he’d stayed close to home, but the minute he started turning out RPG’s to Al-Qaeda splinter groups his days were numbered. As soon as that number reached the top ten on the most wanted terrorist list, Grant got the call. Disgusted, he closed the file. Too bad he hadn’t been called to take out the trash Shavish had been dealing to as well. People like Jauhar were the real threat.Another bureaucratic fuck-up.
It didn’t matter. Jauhar’s days were numbered now. He didn’t need an assignment for that. The U.S. Government was about to get a freebie. As he reached to close the laptop, another thought occurred to him. On a hunch he opened the bureau search engine, moving in and out of servers and file folders until he found the electronic evidence file on HectorMorganti.
He’d never seen a slave brand shaped like the mark on Thalia in any of the photos he’d studied in his field research. Not that he’d seen many. Most of that type of data was overlooked as a whole since it wasn’t vital to taking out the targets. His friend Daniel hadn’t told him much about the case against Morganti, but he knew the bastard was the one who had taken Daniel’s daughter and sold her as a sex slave. He’d also heard media reports during his trial about possible brandings. His curiosity pushed him through file after file until he found one marked as victim profiles. Clicking on the folder, more folders appeared, but each one he clicked on resulted in anAccess Deniedmessage.
“Dammit!” He didn’t know why, but he needed to see what was in those folders. He pushed the laptop away and carded his fingers through his hair. None of the preliminary trial reports mentioned anything about branding, at least not that he could see. Was it possible the media were talking out their asses?Mostlikely.
Grant picked up his sat phone and dialed Diver again. Where there was a locked door, there was always another wayin.
“I’m not going back to sleep tonight, am I?” Divergrowled.
“Not justifying that with an answer, D. You should know better.” Grant rattled off the server number and folder location he needed access to. Again he could hear Diver’s fingers flying over his computer’s keyboard and wondered if he slept with the damn thing on the pillow next tohim.
“No can do, boss. That’s a Federal evidence site and it’s locked up tighter than my girlfriend’s skinnyjeans.”
Grant stood and paced to the kitchen. “So are you telling me you haven’t fucked your girlfriend? What’s theproblem?”
“I’ll work on it, but I’m not promising anything on this one. They’re victim profiles, so you’re probably dealing with pictures of minors. That’s why even we can’t access them. Your best option is probably going to be filing a request for waiver, but you and I both know you won’t get in thatway.”
“Dammit!” What good was having SCI clearance if he couldn’t use it when he needed it? “Do what you can and I’ll look for another way in.” He sat back down in front of the laptop and clicked the files closed. “AndDiver?”
“Yeah,boss?”
“Go back to bed.” He heard the tail end of Diver’s colorful response as he disconnected the call and dialed another number. The man could be quite creative for such an earlyhour.
When the familiar recorded voice came over the line, Grant entered his seven digit SCIP key and asked for a patch through to a secure line. If there was anyone who had or could gain access to those files, it would be DanielGregory.
“Gregory.”
Grant laughed as his friend’s curt voice rang in his ear. “Still the company man, I see. I thought you had retired.” He chuckled again when he heard Daniel’s struggle for words to respond. “I’ve stuck with Grant Kendal for a while. You were right. I kind of liked himtoo.”
“Jesus, for a minute there I thought you were gonna make me guess.” Grant smiled. He didn’t know what it was about the old man, but he’d always liked and respected him from the first day he’d met him. He’d given up on his father a long time ago, but if he could hand pick another one it would beDaniel.
“By that country twang I gather you decided to stay on with Miss Morganti and her new clan?” He was glad Daniel had found some level of peace, practically adopting Gabby after the loss of his daughter. He chuckled. It still felt strange not to call her Claira, the name she’d used while she was still in hiding from Lucien Moretti. He’d often wondered if Daniel would stay in Montana with her and his spook friend Cade. He shook his head. In no way could he picture the suit and tie wearing former United States Marshal from Washington D.C. out riding a horse and drivingcattle.
“Shit,” Daniel huffed. “Is it that bad? You wouldn’t believe some of the things I hear aroundhere.”
Grant laughed again when another picture of Daniel in a Stetson passed through his already overloaded brain. “How is shedoing?”
