Page 42 of Lord of Debauchery

He saluted. “Yes, Commander.”

I stormed up the stairs, taking a few seconds to glance back at her again. At least she seemed at peace. For now.

I headed back into the office, sweeping a glare around to everyone in the room. James had brought his laptop in and now he stood over my desk, staring at the screen, my two brothers looking over his shoulder. As I approached, I could tell they were bothered by whatever they were reading.

“What did you find?” I asked.

James appeared startled when he lifted his head. “After hitting a million dead ends, I managed to hack into a computer that had a ten-second lockdown, but I was lucky enough to capture some shit you won’t believe.”

“Were you caught?”

“Undoubtedly. The best security I’ve seen but my cloaking device is better.”

“Let’s hope. CIA?”

“Fuck, no. Whoever these guys are, they call themselves the Brotherhood.”

“What?”

“Yeah, and I can tell they’re bad-asses themselves,” James added, his tone full of admiration. “Just look.”

He turned the laptop around to face me and as I glanced at the screen, I tried to comprehend what I was seeing.

“How did you find this?” I asked, studying the two side-by-side photographs.

“I put the photograph we had into every database I’ve ever hacked into. Somehow, I navigated to the dark web, which as you well know is a scary place. Anyway, I talked to a dude Joe knows, the guy eventually leading me to a forbidden IP address.”

Joe was barely out of high school and had navigated the thick walls of the dark web since he’d learned to walk and talk. James and Joe, or as I affectionately referred to them, J & J, were a formidable team that I’d put up against anyone.

But they weren’t infallible, especially when they were in a hurry.

“The brands are exactly the same.” James was certainly full of knowledge, his excitement increasing.

“How long ago did this happen?”

“A lot longer than you might think, which means these dudes have been building an army for quite some time.”

“What makes you think that?”

He leaned over, forcing another screen to the front and center. I was suddenly reading what appeared to be some kind of report, almost like one given in the military. However, it wasn’t making any sense.

“The Death Squad? What the fuck is this?”

James sighed. “All I managed to get before I was shut down was that they’re supposedly some worldwide operation of powerful people.”

I read the two paragraphs over before I turned my head toward my father. He’d been around long enough he might have a clue what the fuck I was looking at. “What do you make of this?”

He stepped forward and within seconds, I had a sense he did know something that I wouldn’t like.

“What?” I demanded.

“I’m going to make a couple phone calls from my house.”

That meant he needed privacy. “What are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding anything, son. I simply need to confirm a few details. Take care of your lady friend.”

As he walked out of the room, I shifted my attention from Sean to Declan, both just as confused as I was.

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