Page 172 of Wreck Me

“It could be an attempt to throw us off.”

“Or, Elijah could be involved. Maybe he found out and cleaned up his brother’s mess before it got back to you?” He shoved a hand through his crew cut. “The worrying thing—well, beyond the obvious—is that these two helpers of Jett’s were long-time residents of Rossun. So, Jett was able to infiltrate the city and get close to you and yours without even being here in person. The good news is he’s clearly afraid of you. The bad news is we have no idea how he’s contacting or turning these guys, so there could be many more.”

I thought for a moment. There was something we weren’t seeing here.

“I can look into the fight club angle. You reported that Skylar confirmed that Jett had been traveling around the underground fighting circuits. The club we were at is connected to a network of them, it will take time but I can find out if Jett stayed within that network, then we can pull connections he’s made from there, see if these guys fit in with a pattern.”

“Enabling us to predict further accomplices he’ll use.”

“Exactly.”

“All right, get to work on that.” I screwed up my face.

“What? What are you thinking?”

“We’re missing something. Another angle. Let me think on it. In the meantime, follow this path.”

As he gave a nod and rose to his feet, my phone buzzed on my desk.

“I’ll leave you to it.”

I gave him a chin lift, then he took off out of my office, closing the door behind him.

I smiled as I heard Daria giving him shit for the interruption, no matter what the reason was, then locked my door for me. She really was the best.

I snatched up my phone and took in the call display.

Dante Mancini.

Swiping it open, I answered, “King.”

“I assume you enjoyed my gift.”

The corner of my mouth turned up. “That would be an understatement.”

“Excellent. Now, are you ready to seek out justice alongside me?”

“Not only justice. Ruin.” I shifted in my chair. “To do this right, it will require a long haul approach. Infiltration. A complicated, multi-pronged strategy.”

“I agree wholly.”

“Good. Then let’s get started, my friend.”

“I’ll begin putting together something on my end, compile all the intel I have on Elijah and his extensive operations. Pull what you have and we’ll connect.”

“Seventy-two hours.”

“Sounds good.”

I smiled as we hung up, sinking back into my desk chair.

Although I didn’t like the idea of this taking so long, it was the most optimal strategy given all the constraints associated with such an undertaking.

And the payoff would be immense.

It would achieve justice.

But it would also achieve that which I’d always coveted ever since that dark time six years ago when I’d been orphaned in one fell swoop and lost everything in a blink.

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