Page 24 of Digital Desire

Will clenched his jaw in silence knowing that his friends and family—including his mother—may have seen it. Worse, his father might have.

“What about Camila Perez?” he asked instead, trying to get a read if she was part of this or not.

“Who? I have not heard of such a woman. Who was she?”

“Pierre Aubin’s girlfriend,” he responded.

The smug officer gave a dismissive sound as he pursed his lips and shrugged his shoulder. “Mr Aubin did not have a girlfriend as far as our enquiries show, but he did have some high connections with the cartel, and I understand they are pretty keen to meet you since you murdered their best accountant.”

“Accountant? Pierre worked for the embassy.”

“And what better cover than working for the British Embassy. Pierre Aubin was the top accountant for Santiago Rojas, and now he is dead by your hand, they want you to fill his shoes.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound like a dedicated officer of the law,” Will sneered.

“Maybe not but the rules are different here, and we do what we must.”

“Including setting up innocent people?” Will asked knowing that he would never see the inside of a courtroom—this was a ruse to get him to do the cartel’s bidding.

“You are no innocent, Mr Granger, your time in prison proves that.”

“And how do you know about that?” Will asked carefully, knowing those records were sealed tight, and the only way anyone could have found out was they either hacked them, which meant that they were good, or that they knew to look for them. He’d made no secret amongst his friends about what he had done, but it wasn’t public knowledge anymore. He didn’t want his past to effect Fortis or Eidolon.

“We all have our contacts, Mr Granger, and our enemies,” he added slyly.

So, Will had an enemy he didn’t know about? Not surprising really but one that would go to these lengths for revenge? That was more unusual.

“So it seems. How did you know I was in Miss Herbert’s room?” he asked the question that had been niggling him.

“As I said before, we all have our contacts, Mr Granger and some of them are better behind a keyboard than even you,” he said with a sneer which Will ignored.

“So, I’m being taken to the cartel?” he said changing tactic.

“Yes, but not until much later tonight. For now, you will remain here while your little team scrabbles to find you.” He laughed as he stood to leave.

“They will find me and when they do, they will kill you,” Will said. He held eye contact with the man who walked towards him slowly, his confidence and swagger at odds with his beer belly.

“I do not fear the likes of you and your team. You are dealing with men that have no hesitation in killing just because they can. That is power, and that is what you will never understand.”

“You are wrong. I understand power and influence and the seductive power it has, but I have something more. I have a family, and I have loyalty.”

“My men are loyal,” he blustered, his face going red.

“Are they though?” Will asked calmly.

“Do not question my men or my authority,” he bellowed, and Will saw the blow coming as he was punched repeatedly in the face. He didn’t murmur or make a sound but simply spat out the blood from his mouth as he glared at the bent copper who was breathing hard.

He had hit his mark, and he knew this man would be watching those around him more carefully for the remainder of the day. That would give him some peace, he hoped, to figure out which of the two men he could identify as his enemy had set him up. His cellmate from juvie or his father.

Chapter 12

They were halfway to Cali East when they got a call from Alex to say they had info from the embassy. Jack put the call on speaker phone, so she could hear, and Aubrey was pleased this would not be one long battle as her nerves were already frayed.

“Go ahead, Alex, I have you on speaker,” Jack said as he drove.

“I just heard back from Blake, and he says the call came from Pierre Aubin’s office. Drew also managed to get in and download all the files on Aubin’s computer. He’s bringing them back here to go through them now, but it seems Pierre Aubin was working for the Rojas Cartel. I’ve asked Drew to tear Aubin’s life apart, and Lucy is helping on that front from the UK. Oh, and FYI Zack is on the warpath because you never told him, and that he, and I quote, ‘had to find out through fucking YouTube’.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll call him,” said Jack with a roll of his eyes. “What else?”