Page 52 of Edge of Control

“It was through crypto. I don’t know. I barely even know how it works. I had to get one of my interns to tell me. I told her it was because of some new policy. But, fuck, fuck, fuck. Oh my God.”

“How did they reach out to you?”

“A phone call. They played the audio of the tape over the call.”

“Do you have the number?”

“It was blocked.”

Fuck.“Were there any descriptors to the voice? Anything you heard in the background?”

“No, no, nothing. All I know is that the group calls themselves Pressure Point… Holy shit. If this gets out. Holy fuck.”

Pressure Point? At least I have a name.

“Focus, Ashton. I can help. I’m trying to figure out who’s killing these people and if they’re linked to the ring. If I can take down both at the same time, then this all goes away.”

He sucked in a rattling breath. He was on the verge of tears.

“How did you meet Julie?”

“She bumped into me at a bar after a fundraising event. I was drunk. I wasn’t thinking. Fuck.” He rubbed his face as if that would rub his sins clean off. “But, well, hold on. I do remember a name being said. Gio! That’s it! Someone asked for Gio on the call, asking me for money.”

“Gio Lamott?”

“Maybe, maybe. I… it has to be. I didn’t think this was linked at all, but I used to have an intern. Her name was Marielle Rodriguez. She died a few years ago, but I remember her telling me she was looking into something like this. She had stumbled on something, some blackmail thing. She wanted me to set up a meeting with her and the police commissioner so she could discuss it. I did, but she died a few days before the meeting. Suicide.”

It felt like a bucket of ice had been dumped over my head. Marielle. The name from the poem. This had to be linked.

And now I had a full name. Someone to tracedown.

“I need everything you have on Marielle. Background checks, photos, LinkedIn profile, resume. Whatever you’ve got, please send it to me.”

“Yes, of course. Do you think that whatever she had could maybe take these guys down?”

“Possibly,” I said. “And I need you to remain calm. You’re also crucial to figuring this out.”

“Jesus. I can’t believe I did that. I’ve always been a good man. I’ve never cheated. Never.”

I believed him, but I wasn’t here to console him. Cheating wasn’t exactly high on my list of actions to excuse, anyway. But it wasn’t my place to hate the guy. That was for his wife to do, if she ever found out.

“Could the killer be coming after me? Do I have to up my security detail? That’s going to raise red flags.”

“I don’t believe so. The targets all seem to be people involved in the actual blackmailing, not the victims.”

“But… shit. Why?”

“That’s exactly what I’m trying to figure out.”

“Please, get to the bottom of it.”

“I’m trying to.”

A knock on the door made us both jerk up. “Sir, your twelve o’clock is here.”

Ashton did the best job he could at composing himself. Which honestly wasn’t great. He still looked rattled as fuck. I could do nothing to reassure him except promise that I was working on figuring things out.

And, honestly, I felt like I was. I was getting close.

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