Page 110 of Creed

Vito hikes his brow. “Making problems go away is my specialty. Just point me in the direction I need to go.”

Army’s jaw clenches. “This problem we can’t make disappear. She’s CIA—”

“RetiredCIA,” Bane interrupts.

“And a friend,” Army adds. “I met Len when I was deployed years ago, and we exchange favors to help each other out.”

Massimo frowns, crossing his arms. “So, what’s the problem?”

“She called to ask me point-blank if we were involved in taking Sophie in San Diego.”

I stiffen. “Why would a retired CIA agent be asking that?”

“She wasn’t exactly forthcoming—not that Len ever is.” Army sighs roughly. “Len knows about Digits’ program—the one that blocks or deletes images of the MC's Council from CCTV systems we have backdoor access to. Since we have the sister chapter in San Diego, Len correctly deduced that's one of the systems we’re tapped into. I’m guessing she accessed the footage and noticed the subtle signs that indicated something had been blocked or deleted. But why she’d be looking into Sophie’s disappearance in the first place? I have no fucking idea.”

“Is she in San Diego?” Vito asks, snapping his right hand and making his wrist crack.

“Digits tried to track where she was, but that was useless. From my conversation with her last week, she was somewhere in Asia, but I don’t know if she’s still there.”

“She could access the campus and CCTV feeds on her own, or would she need help from someone?” Massimo asks.

“Accessing them herself would be child’s play for Len,” Army says.

We’re silent as we contemplate this development and its meaning. Why is Len getting involved? That’s the biggest question. I think back to the revelation that Pastor Salome is ass-deep into human trafficking.

“Was Len involved in human trafficking ring takedowns with the CIA?” I ask Army, my stomach clenching and roiling, thinking that this might be what we saved Sophie from.

“Len was involved in all sorts of shit. I don’t know the details, but I’ve deduced some things over the years. Political stabilizing, politicaldestabilizing, finding out intel; she was a deadly hitwoman as well. But, yeah, anything to do with sexual exploitation seemed personal to her.”

“You said she was retired, but does anyone really get to retire from the CIA?” Massimo asks. “Could her inquiry to you be CIA-directed?”

That’s worrying on multiple levels.

“No. She’s done with them,” Army insists. “She worked her ass off in the takedown and putting away those two US senators who were involved and led that human trafficking ring and behavior-controlling drug development that happened in Boston about seven months ago. After that, Len told her CIA director to get fucked and walked out, never looking back. I suspect she has leverage over someone high-ranking if they let one of their best agents walk.”

“So, she’s maybe doing contract work?” Vito asks. “Putting her skills up for sale, and someone hired her for this?”

“It’s a possibility,” Army says. "But Len would be fighting for the good side. She has the biggest conscience of anyone I know, which makes her being a CIA agent one of the world’s biggestcontradictions, in my opinion. But she’s ruthless and steadfast, trying to protect innocents.”

“Which, we all can agree, Sophie is as innocent as they fucking come,” Bane rumbles.

“Which leads us back to why the hell a retired CIA agent is looking into Sophie when the authorities haven’t even gotten involved yet to consider her a missing person?” Vito drums his fingers on his thigh.

“Does Ollie have any connection with Len?” I ask. “Maybe something tipped her off, and she’s worried about Sophie and involved her.”

“I can get Daniele on it,” Massimo says.

“We may have identified the possible connection already.” Ash glances at me. “Through the trafficking and drug ring takedown that happened in Boston seven months ago.”

Army holds up his hand to me as I go rigid as a fucking board at the implication that the threat against Sophie could be connected to thatheinousring.

“Explain, Army,”Papárasps.

Army relaxes when he sees I’m not about to go nuclear. “Sophie’s cousin Antonio. He's friends with May Antel, who is the daughter of one of the US senators involved in that trafficking ring.”

Vito frowns. “I’m struggling to connect the dots here. Is Len a known associate of Antonio’s?”

“Not that we’ve been able to find,” Bane pipes in. “The only connection here is that Len was involved in the CIA assisting the authorities that took down that ring, and Antonio knows one of the involved senator’s daughters.”

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