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You might want to see this. Kore.
Attached is a video. I press play, and my eyes go wide. What the fuck is that?
On it are a bunch of women chained to a pole. Most of them are half-naked. While some are only restrained by their wrists, others have both their wrists and ankles restrained with bruises and blood on their faces.
I run my hand over my face, feeling the weight of exhaustion settling in.
It’s been a while since I received anything from Kore, and it usually means that shit is going to go south. No one has ever seen his face. He’s like a ghost. Everybody knows he exists, but he could be literally anyone.
The first message we received from him was years ago. I remember it like it was yesterday. I thought it was a joke at first, but I learned pretty fast how real it was when I found a gun pointed at my head.
Over the years, he kept sending us important information that helped us do our jobs and stay alive. We’re not the good guys here. Far from it. But Kore doesn’t send that kind of information without purpose. And in this case, he’s waiting for us to find the girls and who is behind it all. My fingers fumble through my contacts, searching for my da’s number, and press the call button.
“Aidan?” he answers.
“Kore sent a video.” That’s all I say. Father like son, we’re men of few words. I hear him exhaling on the other side of the line. I add. “I’m contacting my team for an emergency meeting. I’ll join you in your office after that.” I can picture him nodding before I hang up.
As I enter my office, I see Scott sitting on the corner sofa, a glass of Baileys in his hand.
“Seriously, man, don’t you have an office?” I ask.
“But yours is so cosy,” he replies, batting his eyelashes.
I shake my head and raise my brow.
“And Baileys? Where did you find that shit? Because it sure as hell wasn’t in here.” He gasps, his hand on his heart. So dramatic.
“Don’t you ever speak about Baileys that way. It’s the perfect combination of creamy and sweet. It reminds me of a cosy Christmas night.”
“Man, I don’t know how you come up with this shit, seriously,” I say as I walk towards the minibar to pour myself a glass of whisky. “Very Slicer-like.” He grins at the nickname. “I presume you’re here because you received a text message from Kore?”
“Yup. It’s been a few months since we received something from Kore, and I didn’t miss it. Do you think the Snakes are behind this?” I slump into my chair and let out a deep sigh as I face my desk. “I don’t know. It feels odd not to consider it, knowing the shit they’ve been involved in recently, but human trafficking is another level.” I groan, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“So, what now?” he asks, crossing his legs.
“Now, we request an emergency meeting with the team, and we meet with my father after.”
Taking my phone, I text my team, asking them to be here in ten minutes max. They’re all nearby, so there shouldn’t be any problem with them arriving on time. I’ve made it clear how much I despise when people are late after I’ve set a specific time.
As I take my eyes off the phone, I notice Scott staring intently into the distance, lost in his thoughts.
“What’s bothering you?” I ask. I meet his gaze, and a heavy sigh escapes from his lips.
“I had a discussion with Blake.”
“Oh.” I don’t know where he’s going with this.
“Yeah. I bumped into her in your da’s mansion, so I asked her about our video footage.”
“And?” I whirl the whisky in my glass, watching the amber liquid swirl.
“Her response was that her team handled it, and she was unaware of how they did it. She also mentioned that our codes proved to be a challenge for them to breach.”
“But?” I know there’s something else.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s me, but I feel like she’s not telling everything.”
“What do you mean?” My brows furrow.
