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“Do you? Well, I’ve definitely changed my mind.” As soon as I said the words, I realized he had absolutely no idea what I meant. “Come on, Zeppelin, I know you thought I was a bitch. Admit it.”
“Misogynistic? Is that what you really thought of me?”
“Maybe a little?”
He had the pouty, puppy-dog eyes look on his face.
“But I was wrong. Very, very wrong,” I said in the sincerest yet playful voice I could muster.
“And you’re sorry?”
I was having a hard time not giggling, but I managed. “Yes. I’m sorry.”
“I know a few ways you could make it up to me.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but he silenced me with a kiss.
“After the op is over,” he said, smirking. “Now, we need to get back to work.”
My eyes scrunched. “You’re a rascal. But you’re also right.”
“Where do you want to start?”
“With Mithras.” I opened the first brief where I remembered the name mentioned. It had been scrawled in the dirt on the bottom of a container where ten trafficking victims were intercepted in the Port of Felixstowe. Nine other containers were liberated at the same time.
“The word Mithras had no meaning to us then,” said Zeppelin, reading along as I skimmed the brief.
“Then it became personal with Bexli’s abduction.”
He nodded. “It was during the briefing where the members of the coalition first saw a photo of Mithras.”
“Right. Cayman recognized him from a photo Bexli had sent.”
“That’s when we found her on the sex-slave auction website,” Zeppelin added. “You were the one who determined the IP’s origin was at a villa on Gozo. That’s when I first remember hearing the acronym AMPS.”
“At which point, Oleander became more involved.” I rested my head against the seat and closed my eyes.
“What’s up, Ver?”
“There are three accounts belonging to the shell corp FDI-Italia-ndr.”
“The acronym FDI is commonly accepted to mean foreign direct investment, the driving force of underground economies.”
“Italia obviously indicates an Italian origin, but what about ‘ndr’? I feel as though it should be obvious. Wait. Itisobvious.”
Zeppelin raised a brow. “It is?”
“The ‘Ndrangheta. They’re one of the largest and most sophisticated criminal organizations in the world. It’s estimated the syndicate brings in sixty billion US dollars annually. Which, by the way, is more than the GDP of many countries.” I continued reading. “While their investments are quite diverse—from legal enterprises to typical criminal activities, like fraud and extortion—they are also major players in both human and weapons trafficking.”
“Godwin is involved with some very dangerous people,” Zeppelin said under his breath. “It makes you wonder if he isn’t a fuck of a lot smarter than we think.”
“Crazy like a fox, as they say.”
He nodded.
“With power, though, comes arrogance. I remember Poseidon saying his father told him many in the diplomatic core believed Godwin was dirty for years but could never pin anything directly on him.”
“Power equals arrogance equals sloppiness.”
