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“Oh, yeah, I think she’s just drunk.” I chuckled and averted my eyes. “Thank you for the food.”
“Of course.” He rubbed my arm and leaned down, kissing my forehead. “Come mingle when you finish, OK?”
He went off and stood with a group of men, who looked at him as if he was king of the world, and I rolled my eyes. Now was my time to move. He would be occupied for a while now. I set the plate aside and walked casually to the back of the room and then up the staircase. “I’m heading for his office,” I whispered.
When I got to the two-sided doors, I swung them open and slipped inside, locking the door behind me. “OK, bookcase first. Maybe his journal is here.” I scanned each book, looking for the journal or any other book that looked out of place. “It’s not here, Cian.” I moved some things around the bookshelf, searching for anything. “There’s nothing on the shelf.”
“Try the desk, Nova,” Cian breathed. “Be calm, you have plenty of time.”
My chest felt heavy, adrenaline pumping through my veins as I walked around the desk and turned on the lamp. I yanked open each drawer, searching for anything and everything. Invoices, contract documents, the same old shit he had at his other home office. I hadseenthis already.
Where was the journal?
I opened the middle drawer and rifled around, half expecting to find another box with women’s hair in it. I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn’t find one. “There’s nothing in here, Cian.” My voice shook, and I tried to compose myself.
“It’s OK, Nova. Keep looking.”
I slammed the drawer shut, but something was stuck, and it wouldn’t close all the way. “Wait, there’s something wrong with the drawer. It won’t close.” I pushed and pulled, but something was blocking it from closing.
“Is there something underneath it getting stuck?”
He was right, maybe something was stuck in the back or the bottom, like a pen. I kneeled down on the floor and felt around, not finding anything. Just when I was about to give up, my fingers grazed over an object. It was square, and I tugged, tape ripping off the wood.
“I found something.” I was breathless as I held the tiny stick in my hand. “It’s a flash drive.”
“Great, Nova. Take it and get back downstairs.”
“Wait, there’s a laptop right here. I want to see what’s on it.” Ryzen’s screensaver, a bunch of dollar signs floating in a circle, was on the screen and I pressed enter, the password screen opening. “Damn it, it’s locked.” My shoulders slumped forward.
“Try ‘I am a king six nine eight.’” Cian’s voice was low, a hint of worry in it.
Would that actually work? I typed in the password and the main screen popped up. “Holy shit, it worked. How did you know that?” My voice was breathless as excitement raced through me, and I inserted the stick into the laptop.
“It was his password back in the day. Kind of a stupid move not to change it.”
“OK, it’s loading.” I tapped my fingers on the desk as folders started to pop up.
“I don’t like this, Nova. Take it and go downstairs. We’ll come get you and check it together.”
“No, Cian, it’s right here, one second.”
I opened the first folder and a bunch of electronic bank statements popped up. They looked similar to the ones I had found at Ryzen’s home office, but the deposit and transfer amounts were much larger. The next folder I opened had several scanned letters, all on casino letterheads.
“What is it, Nova? What do you see?” Cian’s voice was tense, and my anxiety went up another hundred notches at his concerned tone.
“Bank statements, letters from a casino. Hold on. I just found a bunch of pictures.”
Pictures of the entire Voledetti family popped up on the screen—some of Althazair, some of Kaviathin and a lot of Voledetti senior. It looked as if Ryzen had taken them with his cellphone, as there were snippets of his hands and body in some of the corners of the photos. I scrolled through, and gasped. Pictures of Voledetti senior with pallets of drugs and guns. Lots and lots of guns.
“Cian,” I breathed, my voice shaky. “There are pictures of Voledetti with drugs and weapons.”
He let out a deep breath. “OK, Nova, take it and go. I’m coming for you.”
“Hold on, there are audio files here too. And videos.” One in particular caught my eye. It was dated the day before my wedding. I held my breath and pressed play. It was security footage from our Waveland and Ash building. A small car pulled up and a man—I was assuming it was a man based on his size—dressed in all black jumped out with a backpack. “It’s a video of our warehouse. Two guys just pulled up.” I checked the timestamp on the video, my mouth falling to the floor as I realized it was the missing chunk of video Delove had shown me.
The screen changed angles and picked up the man’s movement as he ran to the back of the building, staying close to the wall and keeping his head down. He took out what I could only assume was a bomb based on the size and placed it behind the dumpster. He tossed the bag into the dumpster and ran back to the car.
“Oh, my God, it’s Riddick.” The video went back to the car where the man jumped in and took off his hood, showing his face. It was Riddick clear as day on camera. “Riddick blew up the warehouse.” I wiped my forehead and blinked rapidly. “We got them, Cian. We fucking got them.” A laugh escaped my throat and I had to stop myself from jumping up and down. “Let me record this with my cell phone so I can send it to you. I’m not taking any chances.” My hands trembled as I pulled my cell from my garter and hit record.
