Page 14 of Echo

Wizard had been impressed with their thoroughness. It would take someone with considerable skill to tear through the walls they’d built around the fake persona.

“I emailed you the documents,” the man informed Jeff. “But you need to pick up the rest of it tomorrow at noon.”

Jeff sighed dramatically, and I could picture him pouting like a spoiled little kid.

Such an asshole.

“Where?” he asked.

“The coffee shop by the library. Don’t be late.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Jeff huffed, then the line went silent, telling me that he’d hung up.

I wrote down the information on a notepad, as I listened to him move around then heard the sound of his front door shutting. Since he was gone, I removed my headphones and grabbed my cell to call Wizard, who picked up after the first ring.

“You get it?” I questioned.

“Too many relays,” he replied with a frustrated grunt. “These fuckers aren’t messing around. Whoever is in charge has deep pockets.”

“Dammit,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair. “We’ll have to put a tail on both of them after their meeting.”

“Already on it. Sent a text to Prez, and he’s sending Ink and Shadow to go with you. Kevlar and Cross are comin’ to guard your woman.”

I nodded even though he couldn’t see it. “Great.”

Both men were club enforcers and knew how to stay out of sight. Shadow had picked up his skills as a former thief, but Ink had ties to the southern mafia, and they’d given him many skills that came in very handy.

“Tell Ink and Shadow to meet me at the library at eleven thirty.”

“Got it.”

After ending the call, I noticed Violet standing a couple of feet away, craning her neck to look at my surveillance equipment. She seemed fascinated, and a smile spread across my face.

Holding out my hand, I motioned her toward me. “C’mere, baby.”

She hurried to close the distance between us, and I pulled her onto my lap, then gave her a quick tutorial of the setup. When my phone buzzed, she glanced at it with disappointment, and I chuckled.

“Go ahead and try it out,” I told her as I helped her to her feet. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”

Her face lit up, and my smile grew. She was so fucking cute.

I walked out onto her balcony and saw the name of the club’s treasurer, Ace, flashing on the screen. He was brilliant with money and kept our accounts more than flush. However, he’d been given his road name because of his gambling. It wasn’t an addiction, though—he wasn’t reckless. But he rarely lost and had cleaned out several patches while he’d been a prospect.

“What’s up?” I greeted when I’d answered the call.

“Wizard sent me some more financials to do some forensic accounting. Think I finally found a new lead.”

I’d have been happy to hear the news a couple of days ago, but now that I’d met and claimed Violet, I was fucking thrilled because I was itching to get this shit handled as fast as possible.

“Go on.”

“I don’t think women are the only targets for this group,” he announced, astounding me.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I muttered.

“Been looking for similar spending patterns near Jeff’s last half dozen victims and ran into a couple that were strikingly similar.”

Jeff had an arsenal of “moves” when running a con, and it had made it easier for us to narrow down the woman he was fleecing by following his money transactions. Wizard had found them by combing through security footage, reservations that required an ID for both participants, and even shit like flower deliveries.

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