Page 39 of Wizard's Spitfire

I look at the first file. Marcus “Pistol” Brooks, age forty. Six feet tall. Black hair, hazel eyes. A small-time hood trying to work his way up the food chain.

The second file is one I recognize. Caleb “Cal” Robillard, former detective for NOPD who got bounced for taking bribes. Now he uses his skills for illicit activities. He’s thirty-nine, five foot eleven with light brown hair and brown eyes.

Victor “Vico” DeLuca is the third file. He’s a smuggler that specializes in running goods through the bayou. I wonder if the goods he’s been smuggling are drugs or people. He’s the oldest of the four at forty-five. Five foot ten with dark hair and green eyes.

The fourth and final file is on Raynard “Ray Ray” Jacobs. He’s thirty-nine with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. Standing at six-one. Another small-time thug trying to make a name for themselves.

“I’ll get to work and see what else I can find on these four. Do you think one of them left the note for you on your car?”

“It’s possible. If they did it. It was before they sat down to eat. I left them at the table last night. I’d just taken their order when the girls’ called the diner. I still don’t know why they couldn’t reach Ma or Pops. They both had their phones on.”

“I’ll check and see if the carrier had an outage around the same time the girls tried calling them.”

“They tried to text too, but it never went through.”

We spend the next hour going over all the information Charlie’s gathered on Lola’s case, so far. I have new information to share with Gambit and the rest of the Kings. It’s starting to look like Lola was targeted for the twins. Some people are just sick fucking bastards who need to be put out of their misery. Human traffickers, in my opinion, are scum. We’re all better off without.

Chapter 24

Charlie

Sweat dripped from my brow as I worked to stay up with the spin class instructor. He’s extra brutal this morning, or maybe it’s been too long since I’ve been to spin class. Things have been beyond crazy lately.

A week had passed since the incident with the girls. Today is their first full day back to school. Tully drove them to school while three brothers escorted them. One in front and two in back. Wizard hacked the cameras, so he has eyes on them.

We’ve been out a few more times and tonight I agreed to go to a club party with him. All adults.

The kids are in their new mini clubhouse. Jackson and Sons construction just finished the mini replica of their clubhouse. Still, the structure is around ten thousand square feet, with entertainment for all ages. A movie “theater”, complete with a concession area.

Red and Brick are supervising the clubhouse. The club built the couple a townhouse in the new structure. They moved from Baton Rouge to New Orleans to help Gambit and Stormy with the orphan children they adopted.

The couple in their early fifties are childless but love children. They also loved sending them home at the end of the evening or morning.

Wizard told me the club hired a few workers for the younger kids and chaperones for the older ones. Lucia has volunteered to help with the younger kids every day since we moved into the guesthouse.

The class finishes, jarring me back to the present. I grab the towel, wiping the sweat off my brow before gulping down water. My phone begins to play The Who’sPinball Wizard.

“Hello, Damien.”

“Charlie, I’m on my way to school. I got an alert on JR. He’s on his way to the school if he’s not already there. I’m five minutes out, four if I catch all the lights.”

“I’m on my way.”

Fuck me!I’m fifteen minutes away from the school. I shoot off a quick text to my attorneys and run to the lockers. I go through the spin lock’s combo in record time. Grabbing my street clothes and stuffing them in the bag. I don’t have time to change. The school can deal with a sweaty, pissed off mom should my ex contact the girls.

They had new phones, with new numbers. JR’s numbers are blocked. Any unknown numbers are routed to a program Wizard setup. The calls go randomly to one of the following phones: mine, Wizard’s, Gambit’s, Smoke’s. Or Ma’s. If any of us get a random call, it sends a notice to Wizard’s computer.

He made a program that starts a trace on the caller’s location and information immediately.

I keep my mind on all the security measures Wizard put in place to protect the girls. He and Bug are working on connecting JR to Barnes. And Barnes to Brooks, Robillard, DeLuca, Jacobs, and Petrov.

I push the speed limits and the yellow lights, throwing caution to the wind. I park in front of the school and run inside to the office. Grace waits for me outside the office. A serious look on her face.

“JR is in the office. He says he has papers to take the girls out of school. He came in and demanded to see you. Before we could call you, Mr. Morelli and his friends showed up. They’re in the conference room with Mr. Stanley.”

“Thank you, Grace.”

She reaches out and takes my hand, patting the back of it in a reassuring nature.

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