Page 39 of Cartel Rose (Jorge)

“I know. It’s not like the idea hasn’t crossed my mind a few times, but I don’t want to ask that fucker for shit. He’ll think I owe him something.”

“But if it helps.”

“I know.”

“This woman—Anneliese, right—must be special. Would you cut off your nose to spite your face?”

Fucking hell that no one can have a private thought in the family. We know each other too well. The occupational hazards of mixing family with business and pleasure. Normally, I appreciate being nearly inseparable from my family—especially my brothers—but right now, I’d like to keep some things to myself.

“I won’t. But I’m nervous to let anyone else in this in case we underestimate who’s involved. It could be the O’Rourkes getting back at us for potentially hiring Gunter. Maybe they warned him away from us since they’ve done business with Clyde. If that’s the case, I don’t want to give them any information. Period.”

“Just keep it in the back of your mind. The Schlossbergs have some other interesting clients.”

“Such as?”

“A couple Eastern European oligarchs.”

“With ties to any particular governments?”

“No. Mostly private industries and corporate monopolies. But it wouldn’t surprise me if I found some dubious connections as I dig deeper.”

“Are these current or past clients?”

“Both.”

I consider what else to ask. “Does any CCTV show Gunter’s activities today?”

“Yes. His car appears on the highway near his home. I watched it arrive in the city center, where he parked in the office building’s underground lot. I got into the building’s security system, and I can see where it logged his keycard swipes. Their internal cameras showed him arriving at his office suite a little after nine. It’s the floor above Anneliese’s. He went to the restroom at eleven-o-seven. He left the building on foot ten minutes later after briefly returning to his office. The street CCTV showed him turning right and going three blocks down. There’s a gap in the coverage. He never passed the next camera. He disappeared somewhere in that dead zone.”

“Do you think his abductors knew that would be the spot to grab him?”

“Grab him if he doesn’t know them. He might have gone willingly if he knew them.”

“True. Any bank or credit card transactions?”

“No. Once I get the phone records, I’ll know if there were any inbound or outbound calls or texts. Are you sure you want me to hold off on those?”

I scrub my hand over my face as I stare at the door. I can hear the women. Their voices are raised, but they aren’t yelling. They’re definitely not chatting. I need to get back out there.

“Get them. What did the office cameras show when the delivery person dropped off the box?”

“Anneliese left for lunch before Gunter. She went to?—”

“Skip that part. I already know.”

“Because you’ve been parked outside her office building every day since you returned to Frankfurt.”

“How about you pass judgement on me after I find who dropped off a hand?”

“They were in a hooded sweatshirt. They had it up, covering their hair. It looked like a woman, but I can’t be sure. Whoever they are, they knew where the cameras are in that building. I saw them arrive on the footage. They stood out because of their casual clothes along with the box. Anneliese’s assistant came back after the delivery but before Anneliese.”

“Is there anything else?”

I don’t like it when anyone in my family pauses before answering a question. It’s not that they’re thinking of an answer. They’re deciding how best to present it.

“I haven’t found specifics yet, but you need to speak to Anneliese. She’s got questionable connections too.”

“You can’t drop that bomb without more specifics. What does that mean?”