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As I sit at home in my control room, looking over footage and imagery, to ascertain if there are any immediate threats, my mind wanders back to Isabelle and her break-in at her D.C. office. I watched the security footage she gave me over and over today, and I still can’t shake the thoughts I have of knowing who it was. It was dark, he had no identifiable features, but it was the way he walked and bent down over the desk that looked familiar. I just can’t place the person. It has been bugging me all day, and I know it is something that will play on my mind for a while.
I flick through the paperwork my team emailed through. I base myself out of Club Nitro, and I manage the security team there. Since an incident over a year ago with Stephen and Molly, we have had to tighten all security further and spend an extraordinary amount of time on pre-employment checks and background checking of all new employees. Stephen, who is one of my closest friends, and like me, a member of the Marshall family by love not blood, owns Nitro in Boston and also a club in New York. His girl, Molly, is a great catch and now he is completely smitten.
As if on cue, my cell lights up and his name appears.
“Jake, how are you going?” I hear lots of girly chatter in the background.
“Hi, Jake!” Molly yells out, and I know he must be at home with his girls. After finding Molly, Stephen moved both her and her grandma, Shirley, into his penthouse and they also took guardianship of a young foster child, Jasmine. Stephen is totally under the watchful eye of three women, and he loves it.
‘Hey, brother, I'm doing well. Are you keeping those women under control?” I say, jovial, because I love to tease him.
“When are you coming home, man? We miss you.”
It is nice to hear, but I have only been gone a few weeks, so I'm not ready to come back yet.
“To be honest, I hope to be here for a few more weeks, but Sebastian has arrived home, so I am on edge. I feel like something is brewing,” I say and hear the background noise disappear, and I know Stephen has moved into his home office to have this conversation.
“I was in New York last night, and rumor has it that Sebastian has found a woman. Her name is Maddison, and she runs an art gallery, you may want to check it out.”
“Thanks, I will.” Taking down a note on the paper notepad next to me, I look out my window and see Isabelle moving around her cabin.
“Listen, have you heard anything from the Feds lately?”
I'm not surprised that Stephen is asking me about this. Just over a year ago, Molly was kidnapped and nearly sold into a human trafficking ring. She managed to escape, but the two men responsible were never found, and it is something that eats away at both Stephen and I. We are not able to forget it and won't be able to until those men are behind bars.
“No, but if I hear any updates, I will let you know.”
“Thanks, Jake. I know you have a lot going on at the moment after Sicily, but I just can’t rest easy until we get them, you know?”
“I know, I can’t either. I want them found. I will call Agent Jai tomorrow and see what I can find out. Look, I got to go, talk to you tomorrow,” I say, wanting to end the call and go see Isabelle.
“Sure, brother, speak then,” he replies, and we end the call. I turn off my screens, grab my cell, and head downstairs, wanting to get over to see Isabelle before it is too late.
As I walk past the kitchen, my eyes catch the letter from Danny that I left on my kitchen bench, and I stop to look at it. I have been so caught up in thoughts of her and work that I haven’t opened it yet. Now as I pick it up, it's like fire in my hand. I stand, flicking the envelope in my fingers. I know what Isabelle meant when she said she didn’t open hers right away. I am actually afraid of what his parting words are to me.
I sigh and rub my hands over my eyes. I am starting to feel weary, maybe it was all the activity with the boys at darts. It is probably not a good idea to see Isabelle tonight. I really need to keep my distance. Seeing Danny’s handwriting right in front of me reminds me of our age difference, and I am sure she does not want to be anywhere near an old guy like me.
I sigh and take a seat in my living room on the sofa. The wind has picked up a bit, and a storm is due tomorrow, although I am not yet sure when it is to reach us or how big it will be. I might head over to fix Isabelle's roof tomorrow morning before it hits, just to make sure it survives the next few days. At least then, if I am on her roof, my hands will not be itching to be on her body, so it is probably a safe place for me to be.
My cell rings, startling me from my thoughts, and looking at the screen, I see it is Federal Agent Jai. I immediately stiffen, my body on edge. His call can only mean one thing.
“Jai, how are you?” I pick up immediately, itching for news.
“Hey, Jake, I’m well, how are you going? Still in Boston?”
“Good to hear from you. I’m at my cabin at the moment but heading back to Boston soon. Have you got any news?”
“Nothing positive, but we have picked up some chatter that is familiar, and we think it may be them. There are some coded messages, indicating that women are needed for a man in Russia. I can’t tell you too much, but the chatter is consistent with what we saw in your control room over a year ago. I have a feeling that they may now be coming up from underground.”
“Any location? Are they still in Boston?” I am on edge, because if they are in Boston, I should know about it, but I have been so focused on Marco and Frankie and the whole New York mob these past few weeks that my mind hasn’t been on finding the two bastards that got away after they kidnapped Molly.
“Not Boston, we don’t think, but the location is still yet to be determined. I hate to ask, but if you can get your team and their skills back on the dark web to see if they can pick up anything, I’m happy for us to work together to try and find out more. You helped us a lot last time, and I know you are as eager as I am to find these guys.”
“You got that right. I will talk to my team, set up some online surveillance and let you know what we find.”
“Thanks, Jake. Speak soon.”
The line goes dead, and I immediately sprint back up to my control room. Putting in a quick call to both my Boston cyber team and Stephen, I then get to work. Working with the Feds puts us at a huge advantage, and I know that Jai shares more with me than he should. But given we helped them out so much when it all first happened, I appreciate him keeping us in the loop.
