Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49259 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 246(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49259 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 246(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
As long as they have me in their pocket, they will have access to my clientele and connections. They will use blackmail to get me to do their bidding, and with my name and company at their disposal, they’ll then have access to everything I know, including the owners of some of the biggest tech companies in the world.
What they don’t know is that I’ve been onto them since the beginning. So, while they’ve been trying to play me, I’ve been trying to figure out who was backing them. It’s not TV; these things don’t happen within an hour or half an hour, these things take time, and the enemy isn’t dumb enough to leave their ass hanging out.
It's a delicate balance, and my wife is threatening all the work we’ve done in the last two years. Actually, I can’t blame her. Jack wasn’t supposed to be here this long, but the pandemic had thrown off his timetable. Jessica was supposed to be part of the game long before now, but since I’ve not been an easy mark, things have been prolonged.
Now I’m in a race to find their backers before my wife gets her ass in trouble.
CHAPTER 11
“Who are you?”
“Russo! Special delivery from Cierra!”
“Oh, okay.” I looked up to thank him after taking the package and he was gone. I looked all around my front lawn from above, and he was nowhere to be seen. I imagine he was the one in the plane that flew overhead minutes later. I didn’t even hear it land.
How did he know about the balcony? And, more importantly, how the hell did he get up there? I looked around my bedroom as if there were eyes on me. Ever since my conversation with Cierra, I’ve felt like I was in a Bond movie. Speaking of which, what did that child look like just now?
I rushed to my office and closed the door behind me, though the staff doesn’t usually interrupt me without reason. My hands trembled as I opened the package. It was a phone and another little gadget that I didn’t recognize.
As soon as I turned on the phone it rang in my hand and almost scared me half to death. “Hello!”
“It’s me; this line is secure for now, but be careful what you say. In the box you have, there’s a sheet of paper with code words for you to use. Once you’ve learned them, burn it, don’t let your husband get his hands on it ever.”
“Oh, okay!”
“Don’t say anything you don’t want him to know. I’m sure he’ll know about the delivery soon, just keep the phone hidden, the other one is a decoy, show him that one. Do not speak inside the house or your car. You can use this phone to text if you’re not in a secure location.”
“I don’t understand, you mean he can see me all the time?”
“No, but he can hear you all the time, and he always knows where you are. They draw the line at imposing on our privacy when it comes to visuals, but that’s not always the case. Just know that they can hear you whenever they need to.”
“Oh, my word, I’m so….”
“Don’t say anything. We’re working on the names you gave me; I should have something for you soon.”
“This is all so confusing.”
“It gets even better. Here’s the deal. They pretend that they don’t know that we know, and we pretend that we don’t know that we know that they know.”
“Huh?”
“You’ll get it eventually; don’t worry about it for now. Just know that what these men deal with has nothing to do with something as simple and minute as a shakedown for money. It’s about trafficking.”
“About what?”
“The trafficking of human beings. Children mostly, but men and women are their victims as well.”
“I don’t…. What’re you talking about?”
“All you need to know for now is that our men are the good guys. Learn the codes; I’ll give you two days.” She hung up.
What the hell? No wonder Mark didn’t want me involved. Trafficking? Like sex trafficking? No, she said kids…oh hell. And Mark is involved? How? When? I tried to wrap my mind around it but it was a lot to take in. Now, all those international trips he took had a different spin.
It can’t be. Surely, I would’ve known something. But look how easily he’d flipped from one personality to the next. He’s been hiding who he is from me all our lives. But why? I know he loves me; there’s no doubt about that. But how could he keep his true self so well hidden all these years?
The sex thing is one thing. But the man I sent off to work this morning is not the man I have known for almost twenty years. It’s like walking into a room and catching Batman changing out of his uniform or something.