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I didn’t see the call to Marcus or her realizing the severity of what those two were up to. For one, I never expected Jack to go to the apartment because a big part of their cover was appearing as if they didn’t know each other. But she got him to go there somehow.
When I had a sit down with Dad earlier, he was no help; he was proud of his daughter-in-law, while I was worried for my wife. I don’t know what the hell happened to my father, but the man who had kept what he was hidden from Mom for more than fifty years is all onboard with my wife sticking her nose in.
According to him, times have changed. Personally, I think he’s fascinated with those damn kids, and the shit Mancini and Lyon allow them to get up to. He didn’t let me get anywhere near this side of things until I was in my early twenties, but apparently, these kids are way more advanced than I was at that age.
I only know about the kids because, as part of what is now being called The Squad, we’re briefed at least twice a week on what’s going on. It’s kind of like the way the country is run. The head guy gets briefed daily, and he passes on what needs to be done to his subordinates.
My father had been the head guy my entire life until roughly three and a half years ago, right around the time the world went to shit. Things are done differently these days, and I guess that has a lot to do with the fact that Lyon’s handlers didn’t bring him in when they were supposed to.
On the other hand, I guess it says a lot about the guy that he wasn’t inducted when he was supposed to be and yet had lived his life according to the rites and ethics of the organization without having any affiliation. That’s not an easy feat, but after meeting him, I can see why.
My own induction was crazy. That’s when my own father sent me into hell and then sent Marcus in to get me. I guess that was both our inductions. It’s not been easy living a double life. One as a businessman and the other as a glorified international rescuer.
Our thing has always been and will always be about rescuing trafficked kids and women. It’s not a new thing; this has been going on for centuries and is more prolific than the rest of the world knows. I doubt three-quarters or more of the world is aware that there are human beings still being sold into bondage as we speak.
Or that most of the kids on milk cartons were actually trafficked for gain. These monsters are so fucked they actually kill a few innocent bystanders to make it look as though kidnapping is just about some sick fuck who’s into kids, but it’s much deeper than that.
The men and women behind this ugliness are a well-organized band of evil fucks that spread out to the four corners of the world. Their thing isn’t about making money; they’re the ones with money. You need money to do the shit they’re into.
It's an evil that, if the known world was aware of it, would strike nothing but fear in their hearts and minds, and my wife is on the cusp of finding out about this shit. I’m not sure why Lyon thought it was a good idea to let his kid get involved.
I know she’s set to take over from him, but that’s many years from now and she’s too young, too innocent. At least, that was my argument when we took the vote, but he seemed to think differently.
From what I know now, he had no choice because the kid was just too smart, which is saying something because the way my Dad talks, there’s no one smarter than Lyon. All of that aside, I have to decide how much I want my wife to know and figure out a way to keep her out of danger.
Jack Spears is not just some low-level bum out to make a quick buck, and he and Jessica aren’t just trying to shake me down. Their game is more sophisticated than that. They want to use me and my company as a front for their trafficking shit.
As long as they have me in their pocket, they will have access to my clientele and connections. They will use blackmail to get me to do their bidding, and with my name and company at their disposal, they’ll then have access to everything I know, including the owners of some of the biggest tech companies in the world.
What they don’t know is that I’ve been onto them since the beginning. So, while they’ve been trying to play me, I’ve been trying to figure out who was backing them. It’s not TV; these things don’t happen within an hour or half an hour, these things take time, and the enemy isn’t dumb enough to leave their ass hanging out.
It's a delicate balance, and my wife is threatening all the work we’ve done in the last two years. Actually, I can’t blame her. Jack wasn’t supposed to be here this long, but the pandemic had thrown off his timetable. Jessica was supposed to be part of the game long before now, but since I’ve not been an easy mark, things have been prolonged.
Now I’m in a race to find their backers before my wife gets her ass in trouble.
CHAPTER11
“Who are you?”
“Russo! Special delivery from Cierra!”
“Oh, okay.” I looked up to thank him after taking the package and he was gone. I looked all around my front lawn from above, and he was nowhere to be seen. I imagine he was the one in the plane that flew overhead minutes later. I didn’t even hear it land.
How did he know about the balcony? And, more importantly, how the hell did he get up there? I looked around my bedroom as if there were eyes on me. Ever since my conversation with Cierra, I’ve felt like I was in a Bond movie. Speaking of which, what did that child look like just now?
I rushed to my office and closed the door behind me, though the staff doesn’t usually interrupt me without reason. My hands trembled as I opened the package. It was a phone and another little gadget that I didn’t recognize.
As soon as I turned on the phone it rang in my hand and almost scared me half to death. “Hello!”
“It’s me; this line is secure for now, but be careful what you say. In the box you have, there’s a sheet of paper with code words for you to use. Once you’ve learned them, burn it, don’t let your husband get his hands on it ever.”
“Oh, okay!”
“Don’t say anything you don’t want him to know. I’m sure he’ll know about the delivery soon, just keep the phone hidden, the other one is a decoy, show him that one. Do not speak inside the house or your car. You can use this phone to text if you’re not in a secure location.”
“I don’t understand, you mean he can see me all the time?”
“No, but he can hear you all the time, and he always knows where you are. They draw the line at imposing on our privacy when it comes to visuals, but that’s not always the case. Just know that they can hear you whenever they need to.”
