Page 104 of My Temptation

“That was my call,” Jax explained. “Again, we needed you to stay focused on your job, which was getting into that bar and not blowing your cover. We wanted as much on this bastard as we could get so when he goes down, he stays down.”

“Did we get anything?” Ethan asked.

Brody grinned at Ethan. “You did good.”

Ethan returned his grin. “I picked the right place to plant the device?”

“We hit fucking gold off that device and the one Mila was still wearing when she was taken into a separate room to complete the transaction. We got enough, thanks to both of you asking the right questions, to establish what type of business he ran, show a sale was made, and show that the exchange of money took place. That information was gathered in a public place, so it’s admissible. That, along with the warrant and what the FBI is about to find, will put Samson and a lot of other people away for a long time.”

“The whole time he was talking, I couldn’t believe he was actually telling me shit about the business,” Ethan admitted.

“He was testing you,” Jax explained. “He already knew if you weren’t willing to play ball that he was eliminating you, so there were no drawbacks in telling you.”

I shook my head, disgust filling me. “We knew something felt off the first time we were there, but I had no idea it was so extreme.”

“Your instincts were right. I’m glad you insisted on going back in,” Brody acknowledged. “This is a big organization. It’s not just in Devil’s Lake. The FBI will be busy tracking this for a while, but at least they’re on it.”

“I still don’t understand why he involved Beth.” Ethan asked the question I’d been wondering.

Brody glanced at Striker before replying. “The reason was in the box. We found Martin Sullivan’s original will.”

“The one that was missing?”

“Yeah. We think Samson was in Beth’s apartment at some point long before Sullivan was even released from prison. He obviously found the will, realized how it was written, and took it. Beth didn’t even know it was missing until after we met, and she realized it wasn’t where she normally kept it.”

“How was it written?”

“Martin Sullivan left everything to his son Daniel. The will stated if something happened to Daniel, everything would go to Beth. And if something happened to Beth?—”

“It all went to Kevin Samson.” Ethan finished his statement. “Is Martin Sullivan worth that much money?”

“Between real estate, his businesses, and investments, he was a multimillionaire. Beth didn’t even know how much she had because of how much was in foreign banks. She thought she had a few million bucks left to her by her father, but that only scratched the surface. We assume Samson realized she didn’t know where the bulk of the money was, and if he eliminated her, it would be his.”

“Jesus,” I muttered. “He would stand to make a lot of money from what he’d gain from the will and all the business contacts he got from Danny’s box.” Murmurs of agreement filled the room. “Do you think Skinner knew what was in that box?”

“No idea,” Brody replied. “Whether he thought it was money or business information, it meant a big payday for Max Skinner if he got his hands on it.”

“Or at least that’s the story Kevin Samson likely told him,” Jax added. “Remember Samson and Skinner were friends, or at least that’s how it appeared to Beth. His name was on the visitor logs at the prison. They had a plan, but I doubt Max Skinner ever believed he’d be the fall guy in the plan.”

“He was using Skinner, hoping he would kill Beth so no one looked twice at the third heir to the Sullivan fortune,” I concluded, but then something else occurred to me. “How the hell did Samson even know about that box when Sullivan was alive? From what we know, Sullivan didn’t like him, and I can’t believe he kept something like that in his house.”

“He didn’t. It was in a safe deposit box at the bank. He managed to break into their computer system and change the owner of that safe deposit box to himself the day Daniel Sullivan was killed. By doing that, he could change the codes needed to access it too. He literally walked in that day and walked out with it. We have no idea how he knew it even existed, though.”

“Told you he had mad skills on computers,” Kyle said. “The guy could’ve been an asset if he used his powers for good.”

“That’s why we could never track him,” I summarized.

“Exactly.” Jax grinned. “Until you made friends with Jenny and Carl.”

I shared a knowing look with Nick. “They were definitely scouts.”

“Looks that way. I’d bet they’ve been going to that event for years, pretending to be tourists, but were actually finding girls for Samson and sending them his way.”

“This operation has so many moving parts.” I thought aloud. “I can’t believe they haven’t had a snitch before. Or someone who got greedy and threatened to expose them.”

“I’m sure they were taken care of immediately if that happened,” Jax replied, and I knew that meant they were killed or silenced in another way. “Daniel Sullivan’s black book contained a list of some very powerful men. Men who wouldn’t want that information getting out. Crimes are easier to cover up if the ones responsible for the cover-up are high enough in power.”

“A lot of them avoided prosecution when Daniel was killed,” Brody added. “They won’t be able to do that this time.”

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