CHAPTER SIXTEEN
- NOW -
NATHAN SMILED PLEASANTLY, inclining his head towards the bench seat across from him where Max was sitting. “Please, take a seat.”
Neither of us moved.
I was going to take a wild guess and conclude that it wasn’t a good thing that Nathan knew who we were. We’d never met before, and although he might have heard about Dad and the break-ins from Cameron, Max’s father and Dad’s friend, he shouldn’t have known what we looked like.
I took a step back, glancing at the exit door. Of all the rotten luck in the world. Getting Nathan on our side had been our only plan. Despair threatened to overwhelm me. Had Max known? One look at his face was enough to confirm that he hadn’t. He looked between all three of us uncertainly.
I eyed the flash drive in Nathan Reynolds’ hand. “We have another copy,” I told him. In fact, Phoenix had made a dozen copies.
“Good. “ Nathan nodded. “You should have made several copies and placed them in different locations.”
“You knew who we were on sight,” Kellan said, looking stoic. “You didn’t question anything Max said, or sound surprised by it. You’re thrilled to have that flash drive – I can see it in your eyes. Yet you don’t seem to care that we’ve made several copies of it.”
Nathan looked confused for a second, before his eyes cleared in understanding. “I have nothing to do with those sons of bitches.” He sneered, shaking his head in disgust. “They’re a complete disgrace to the force.”
“How did you learn about them?” Max wondered, looking at ease again. Kellan wasn’t as easily swayed and sent a quick glance my way. It was obvious that he was struggling with his desire to get me out of here or stay and learn what Nathan knew.
A waitress approached us. “Are you ready to order?” she asked.
“Four coffees,” Kellan said brusquely, taking a seat next to Max. The waitress nodded, leaving as quickly as she arrived.
Not wanting to sit next to Nathan, I nudged Kellan further along the bench so I could sit next to him. It seated three anyway.
Kellan’s hand clamped down on my leg under the table in an almost involuntary movement. It seemed he was more apprehensive than he was letting on.
“Did you know?” I asked for clarification.
“Yes, I was aware,” Nathan admitted readily.
We fell silent for a moment as the waitress reappeared. Kellan’s jaw ticked impatiently as she placed four cups onto the table and poured coffee into them.
Nathan turned towards us once we were alone again. “The truth is that we’ve been aware of the LSG for a few months now. We were alerted by Mario.”
“My... my dad?” I asked, tentative hope growing within me. Kellan’s hand had tightened on my leg to the point of being painful at Nathan’s words, but I was impervious. I leaned eagerly towards Nathan. Dad had gone to the cops about the LSG? This was exactly what I wanted to hear – what I’d been dying to hear.
Setting his cup down, Nathan sighed. “Mario contacted me through Cameron a few months ago.”
“Dad?” Max asked, sitting up straight.
“Yes.” Nathan nodded. “Up until that point, we’d been ignorant of what had been festering within our ranks.” He looked more than a little displeased by that fact.
“So Mario...?” Kellan prompted.
“He told us all he could… which was fairly limited. He’d never gone in that deep – not enough to know more about what went on in the LSG than his own role.”
“And what was his role?” Kellan asked, leaning forward.
I was hanging on every word, both eager, and yet, terrified to learn more.
“As I understand it, his job was to cash in checks from a bondsman that was also involved in the LSG. Mario got to keep a small percentage, but most of it was forwarded on to a key member of the LSG.”
“Money laundering,” I breathed, something uncomfortable settling in my stomach.
“After he came to us, we thought it could be more... valuable if he went deeper into the fold. That way, he’d have greater access to other LSG members.”
“And put himself at greater risk,” Kellan said, face tense.
Nathan took a delicate sip of his coffee, not looking at me. “It was his decision, and he did it,” he said, eyes on the flash drive. “Before, we’d have been lucky to arrest half of the men involved. Now, with the information Mario acquired, we can flush them all out.”
“Do you know where he is?” I asked, my voice wavering. “Do you know what happened to him?”
Nathan shook his head regretfully, finally meeting my eyes. “The last I heard from him, he was going to try and make a copy of the files on an LSG member’s computer. He said he’d be in touch once he had the information, but he didn’t get into contact with us again. It wasn’t until just last week that I learned that Mario had managed to get the information we’d needed before he disappeared.”
It was an immense relief to hear that he’d been aiding the police, but still extremely painful to know that he’d gotten involved with the LSG in the first place.
“You must have known about the break-in at Mario’s house,” Kellan said, his face intent
“We did.” Nathan nodded, carefully.
“And you didn’t intervene? You didn’t try and form some kind of protection for Mario’s daughter, knowing she was in danger because of the work he’d done for you?” Kellan’s eyes were fierce, his jaw tight.
“We didn’t learn about the flash drive until after the break-in,” Nathan snapped. “We didn’t know where Mario was or whether he’d left voluntarily. The LSG were waiting, they were watching. We couldn’t do anything overt, or they’d have realized we were onto them. We had no reason to believe she – or the house – would be targeted.”
“How did the LSG find out about the flash drive?” I asked quietly. “How do you even know that they’ve been searching for it?”
Nathan cleared his throat. “We have since found other sources of information,” he said vaguely.
“And you’ve done nothing?” Kellan said disbelievingly. “You haven’t acted on that information.”
It wasn’t a question.
“Even after my dad’s disappearance – knowing that they’re most likely involved – you’re just going to side-step that that small bump and carry on with your master plan?” My voice was thick with emotion.
“If they are involved, there will be justice for Mario,” Nathan said passionately. “However, we have no evidence to support that theory.”
“Theory?” I repeated.
Nathan glanced away, looking almost uncomfortable. “He was looking at a large sentence for his previous involvement with the gang. I was able to offer him a good deal in return for information, but some jail time was inevitable.”
“So you’re saying that you think he ran. You think he left himself,” I said, incredulous. “He wouldn’t do that! He had the flash drive. He retrieved the information you wanted.”
“But he didn’t hand it in,” Nathan said softly.
“He didn’t get the chance!” I exclaimed, growing angrier by the second. How fucking dare he? He didn’t know Dad. He had no idea. Dad wouldn’t run. He wouldn’t leave me.
“The LSG broke into the Mansten’s home to retrieve the flash drive. They knew he had it. They knew he was working against them. It’s reasonable to assume that they’re the ones behind his disappearance,” Kellan pointed out, and I could tell that he was seething. It was there in the hard flash of his eyes, the tightening of his jaw.
“You don’t have to defend him to me,” Nathan said, with a wave of his hand. “He was a good bloke. I don’t believe he’d just disappear to save himself – not when he’d gone to such lengths to do the right thing. But the FBI are looking at other possibilities, and they’re exploring all avenues.”
“So the FBI are involved?” Max said.
“What are they doing?” Kellan asked. “What’s next?”
Nathan held the flash drive up. “Now that this is in the right hands, it can be put to use. It’s exactly the kind of information we’ve been trying to retrieve. It’s exactly what we need.” He turned to us, shifting in his seat like he was ready to wrap things up and head out of here. “You’ve been smart so far. Continue to lay low, don’t go back to your homes, and this should all be over with by the end of the month.”
“A Month?” I asked, disbelievingly. “What do you suggest we do until then?” And what about Dad?
“Nothing,” Nathan said simply. Nothing?
“Why will it take so long to make the arrests?” Kellan asked him. “You have the information now, so what’s stopping you? Why not shut this operation down now, or tomorrow?”
Nathan looked as though he was sucking on a lemon. He didn’t like to be questioned, that much was obvious. “When we go in, we want to be sure that we’re taking out as much of the LSG as we can. We want to make sure that we’ve weeded out every single officer who betrayed their oath. If we raided some of the warehouses, the others would be cleared out before we could blink. If we carried out a drug bust, the others would soon be rescheduled. We need to finish everything in one go, and to do that, we need certain key pieces of evidence.”
“Like what?” Kellan asked.
“Nothing to concern yourselves, but we’re working on it every moment of the day,” Nathan said, and I realized that he had no intention of telling us anything about the operation. Not that I had been under any illusion that he would confide in me. But Kellan was a working adult, a bounty hunter. We handed him the flash drive, surely that had to count for something?
“But... what about my dad?” I asked, indignant. “We can’t wait another month.”
It had already been weeks since he’d disappeared, and the longer he remained missing, the worse our odds were of finding him alive.
Hope in him, in the man I’d known, the man who always did the right thing, created a renewed vigor and sense of urgency within me.
“You think Mario’s dead?” Max asked his uncle, glancing apologetically at me.
I hated how they all seemed to turn to me, as though I’d break before their very eyes at the mere mention of such a possibility. It wasn’t as though I hadn’t braced myself for that possibility. It’d been weeks since I’d last seen him. I was prepared for the worst.
At least I thought I was.
Nathan looked sympathetic. “We’ll get answers. No one will get away with their involvement in this. They will pay for their crimes.” He didn’t answer Max directly, but it was clear that he thought that there was no reason to hurry. He didn’t think Dad was alive.
It had been over three weeks since he’d disappeared. I’d tried, in vain, to come up with a logical explanation for the crime ring to have kept him alive. I tried every night before I went to sleep, every morning when I awoke, and all the time in between. No scenario came to mind. Still, I had hoped.
I couldn’t help but feel a little disillusioned now.
Kellan’s arm moved, brushing my neck, as he rested it on the back of the booth over my shoulder. A silent invitation. I took it, leaning a little closer to him.
Kellan looked at Nathan, a hard glint in his eyes. “You should also know, if you don’t already, that Luke Warner, the Chief of Police, is involved in this.”
Nathan nodded, his mouth tightening in the corners. “We are aware. But being Chief of Police doesn’t make someone all-powerful.” Nathan stood, pocketing the flash drive. “I trust that you will be keeping what I’ve revealed here today to yourselves?”
I wanted to protest. He hadn’t even said anything of importance. But I kept quiet.
Kellan nodded curtly, standing up himself.
Nathan took a small card out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Kellan. “Here’s my card. Call if you need anything. Maximilian?” He looked at his nephew.
“See you around, man.” Max got up, slapping Kellan on the back. He turned to me, winking. “And I sure hope I see you again, sweetheart.”
I managed a weak smile that fell away as soon as they left.
“I can’t wait a month,” I repeated softly.