Page 29 of To Catch A Rook

Few people in my life knew about my extracurricular activities. Winter, my most cherished friend, and Logan, a man I could now call upon like a brother, were left completely in the dark on purpose. Years ago, they’d had their own trauma to work through, and I wouldn’t burden them with my own twisted vendetta.

Marty, my assistant and confidante, had earned my trust and respect one thousand times over, but I would never drag him into the darkness of this world. His high-power lawyer husband made it even riskier to share my underground deeds. Marty was likely not to approve, anyway. At his core, he was too good.

Aaron knew I tread the line between black and white, preferring to keep shelter within the layers of gray, but I was sure my path of vengeance was as discreet as my stealth team. His dirty needs were far less hidden than mine.

I had discovered the Rodriguez house of sex clubs’ years before, after completing an audit of Daddy’s more illicit expenditures. Camden Lane was a particularly high paying client of Club 7.

To say I’d been surprised to learn Aaron ran all seven clubs in the Carlisle city district was an understatement, but learning his family paid a tithe to the Carlos Cartel for weapons and drug running had been a vase over the head. The Carlos family and their activities were a deathly plague that continued to infect every person I touched.

OneCarlos man in particular continued to infect me withhistouch.

Kellan had secured the building where we were headed this evening, but until I had last seen him at Sammy’s gym, I hadn’t realized how much he knew. Layers of security, dozens of countermeasures, and false paper trails covered my tracks, but Kellan had somehow gotten through them.

The man was ruthless in his delivery and swift with his own justice, sharply observant and stealthily strategic. He wasn’t someone to underestimate, and he’d proven time and time again he got what he wanted, whether or not I was willing to part with it.

If only I could harness that energy for my gain. I could use a king on my board.

Beyond the vehicle, I stared through the shadows shifting into smoking silhouettes as steam rose from the grates within the pavement.

“The Palace tonight, Joey. Please take the back entrance.”

She nodded and flicked on her signal light to move into the next lane as I mulled over my strategy for tonight’s discussion.

I’d been working to rid this town of sexual predators for the better part of two years. When one was swiftly brought to their knees, another popped up in its place; a continuous cycle of deeply disturbing Whack-A-Mole.

I was playing the long game; men like Judge Cowan were now in my pocket through carefully crafted blackmail, with the expectation these powerful people would use their influence to help remove the most disgusting portion of our society. Those who couldn’t further my agenda—the men and women who defiled children and youth for their own pleasure—received a quick defilement in return, and a tracker chip under their skin. Then they were sent home to contemplate their futures.

That they were still alive was the extent of my mercy.

A predator couldn’t hunt without its weapon, so I took away their weapon. I didn’t bargain with the corrupted for the lives of innocents.

Despite the years in the boardroom and leading companies through crisis, this task had become my greatest challenge. I buried the sharp pangs of frustration before they blossomed and shifted my focus to tonight’s activities.

Alec Turner was one of the few I hadn’t returned to society with his dick-less tail tucked between his legs. His deplorable actions required a different approach, and he was currently being held in a secured facility a few miles outside of Carlisle’s city boundary.

I needed answers. Since Judge Cowan’s admission, Alvarez was the name I couldn’t get off my tongue. My most trusted ears to the ground were on it, but nothing was coming up as a solid gold lead.

Marco Alvarez was the obvious household name in Carlisle. He and his two brothers owned a few different companies in the area and his family riches were just a few billions less than mine. Their squeaky-clean ‘Christian family values’ image didn’t particularly scream ‘underground criminal,’ but media alone had shown that outward appearances could be crisp covers for the worst in society.

I didn’t know the man very well, but I could bet I’d be seeing more of him in the near future. A boorish invitation sat on my countertop for an upcoming gala of the wealthiest movers and shakers in our circles. I was sure the host, Jediah, would have invited him. The elaborate parties were a chore to attend, but useful; I always left with the most valuable commodity: information.

I would get information from Alec tonight.

Josephine pulled onto a hidden gravel road, cutting the taillights as she approached the warehouse a half mile down the overgrown lane. The building looked abandoned from the outside; the dense trees and rocky terrain a proper deterrent for wandering hikers in these parts. Inside, however, was a state-of-the-art facility that rivaled a maximum-security prison.

In Alec’s case, it was.

We slowed as we approached an electric fence gateway that immediately retracted, sensing the vehicle’s presence. Muted solar lights lit the path and Josephine drove into the single parking space sheltered on the north side of the building.

“Plan?”

I couldn’t see Joey in the dark cab of the vehicle, but I could picture her fierce expression as we took on another criminal. If I allowed it, she would happily torture the deviant herself, breaking his fingers one by one with her little bone hammer. I’d seen her do it a few times; it was fascinating to watch a bone crush under the perfect precision of a well-calculated blow.

“Interrogation, and then we’ll improvise.” I grinned into the blackness of the vehicle, unafraid of the tingle in my blood at the thought of hurting a thoroughly guilty man. The system was broken, in disrepair beyond saving—so I had built a better one. I wouldn’t lose sleep over one less rapist in the world.

My haunted dreams suffered far greater losses.

We slipped out of the vehicle on silent feet, redundant in the stillness of the late night, but I took all precautions with this side of my businesses. I had no plans to get caught until the work was done. And the work wouldneverbe done.

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