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“That was one example,” Teo said. “What else are you talking about?”
I took a deep breath, feeling myself getting more and more worked up as I spoke. “There have been multiple instances of hired guns being sent after us. There was the time I was with Grayson at the club that’s yet to open.”
“The Captain Monroe incident,” Jace said.
“There have been other hired guns inciting violence in the city,” Sam piped up. He hadn’t yet quit the force, partially to keep up appearances, but also to be our eyes on the inside. “I hear about it all the time. So add the bounty on the two of us, the fact that the Blades are always a gang people want to go after, this influencer who is posting your location online...whoever is doing this behind the scenes is doing a hell of a job with the chaos part of the equation.”
“Okay. So they’re winning,” Teo said. “I mean, we knew that.”
“Well, we’re all alive, boss,” Grayson said. “I wouldn’t necessarily say they’re winning.”
“Do you think they’re having meetings in warehouses and moving their girlfriends around so they don’t get hurt?” Teo said coldly.
Grayson looked at him. “Right. I take your point.”
“I did manage to find one thing, though,” Jace said. “So whoever this Sara person is, they use tools to mask their IP addresses. Means we can’t get a handle on location. She uses different places to login from, all of them dummy addresses. But she did like one video which caught my attention. It was the only thing she’s ever liked on that profile she has…”
We all waited for him. He hadn’t yet told me about this and I was very curious to hear where it was going.
“So Sara liked this video by a tiny content creator that brought up people missing in the Everglades,” Jace said, stepping up so he could take a space next to me in front of the television. This content creator, she called him ‘The Everglades Viper’. Said he’s the scariest serial killer anywhere. Barely got like a hundred views. So that means that this Sara person had to specifically go looking for this to like it. Very unlikely that it would’ve just landed on their newsfeed or whatever.”
“Does that tell us anything else about this person?” Teo asked.
“Only that they seem to be a fan of this Viper,” Jace said. “And I didn’t do much digging on them, but if the video Sara liked is to be believed, the Strangler’s victim count is kid’s play compared to them.”
Teo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Why do I have to deal with serial killers?” he asked. He wasn’t really talking to us. “Drugs and other men’s capos, I can do that. But serial killers? I never signed up for that shit.”
Sam smirked. Teo glared at him.
“It still weirds me out that you’re squeamish,” Sam said.
“At least I don’t sleep with serial kill--”
“We are getting way off track here,” Grayson said. I could hear nerves creep into his voice. “Do we know anything else, Jace?”
Jace said something, but I just thought about the exchange between Sam and Teo.
Sam was right. It weirded me out that he was squeamish too. I found it endearing, but I understood why my brother didn’t share the same point of view. Teo had been born to take control of the city. His skills and command were unmatched, and if anyone could get this job done – to take down a serial killer making a game out of picking off gang members and, well, his girlfriend and her brother – it was him.
“Anyway, like Sof was saying,” Jace continued, bringing me into the conversation. “What’s important is getting to the bottom of this. And I think the best way to do it is to pool our resources and skills. Together, we can dig deeper into these connections and uncover any hidden players.”
“Jace is right,” I nodded. “We’re stronger together. We need to work as a team if we want to expose the truth and protect ourselves.”
“Any ideas?” Sam asked after a second. “Because we’ve all been doing our homework and so far it just feels like we’re banging our head against the wall.”
“Yes,” I answered, my voice steady despite my racing heart. “We need to identify the key players in this conspiracy – who they are, what they want, and how they’re connected.”
“Agreed,” Jace said, his eyes scanning the evidence laid out before us. “It’s like an intricate web of lies and deception. We’ll have to be systematic in our approach.”
“Exactly.” My gaze met his, and I saw the same determination mirrored in his eyes. “We can start by following the money. Find out who’s financing these operations and what they stand to gain.”
“Good idea,” he replied, nodding enthusiastically. “And we should also look into the Everglade Vipers’ activities. If Sara is interested in them, and her only purpose seems to be to manipulate Olivier to stalk Sof, then there’s gotta be something we’re missing there.”
“Let’s give ourselves a week to gather whatever intel we can find,” I suggested, looking around the room at the Blades. They were all hardened criminals, yet they possessed an unwavering loyalty that couldn’t be bought or faked.
How deep their loyalty to each other ran shouldn’t have surprised me.
“Sounds fair,” Grayson mused, his cool-headed demeanor a constant source of comfort amid the chaos. “But remember, if any of you find something big, don’t sit on it. Share it with the group immediately.”
