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The buzzer then sounds signalling the end. He steals one more kiss, then stands up straight.
I keep my hand on his chest until he’s forced to walk away with the other inmates. Looking back one final time, he rounds the iron door leading to the prison.
Chapter Twenty-One
UNKNOWN
“Zoom in. Freeze image. Move it to camera one.” I look at the screen, knowing what’s coming. A body bloated by water, the skin blistered and purged from the bones. “Who is that?”
My tech guy starts to explain. “A kid, nineteen years of age. Last seen leaving the city centre last Tuesday. Police found his body along the riverbed after a dog walker spotted him.”
“Is his death related?” I ask.Why the fuck would it be?Looking back at the screen, the green and black of the boy’s remains make my skin crawl.
“Hard to say.”
“Bring up his profile.”
Sean clicks the buttons, bringing up the boy’s information.
My eyes scroll down the list. “No known affiliates?”
“No. None.” Sean keeps scrolling. There’s nothing. No family. No school mentioned. No record this kid even existed.
I suck in a breath walking away from the computers. Making it to the drinks cabinet, I pour myself a whiskey on the rocks, holding back the rocks. I sip, immediately pouring myself another.
Would Costa recruit child soldiers to run things? Or maybe this was one of the unfortunate ones. “Bring the network up onscreen.”
Sean clicks some buttons, bringing up what we’ve pieced together so far. “It’s getting bigger.”
I nod my obvious agreement.
“We know our lead’s Costa. We also know that both MCs are now shifting the cargo across the country.”
My eyes travel over the pictures of the members on the wall, stopping on one.
“This body showing up doesn’t suggest he’s unlawfully recruiting children, but I think it’s safe to assume he means business. He isn’t wasting any time getting this off the ground.”
I tear my eyes away, looking at recent cases we think might be linked. Missing people. Dead bodies showing up in the area. We know he’s backed by big money and the drop offs and pick ups are scheduled on a need-to-know basis. Which makes the fact we were so close to stopping the first one, really fuckin’ irritating. We won’t get that opportunity again.
Sean slaps the table in his own frustration, clearly thinking the same thing. “If we could find where the people are being sold from, that would be our best chance of stopping him.”
“What else?” I ask, my tone clipped.
“We know most of the crimes are being committed overseas once they leave the UK. They’re transported alive by private boats and jets to the highest bidders. He isn’t working this on his own.”
Tell me something I don’t know, Captain fucking Obvious.
“Remind me why we can’t just move on the man we know is fronting all of this?” Sean asks.
Because it’s exactly that. A front. The notion of selling guns hides what’s really happening. “No.” Plus, this is personal.
“But if you cut off the head—”
“—I said no.” I don’t want to just stop what we know is really going on. I want to end it all. End all of them. Crush their world and leave no trace of them behind. Obliterate every last fuckingone of them. Then, when all is said and done, I get the last man standing. And I end his life the same way he ended mine. I just need to find him.
“You’re going to have to see him.”
I let my head hang, swilling the drink around the glass. I know what Sean is saying is true. “Not yet.”
