Page 84 of Convict's Game

Tyler drummed his fingers on the desk. “Not directly. On the surface, he’s a finance guy, so it’s possible he lent or borrowed money from the wrong people. I’m checking any gang affiliation, but my gut feel is it’s to do with his more secretive trade in the flesh market. Which puts him squarely on my radar, especially if he’s caused problems. If there’s upheaval among the established traffickers, that’s an opportunity I won’t overlook.”

Mila’s eyes rounded. “Wait. How did we get from the auctions he ran to people trafficking?”

“Hard to imagine that once he’d made money from willing victims, he’d ignore the cash from the darkest side of the marketplace, particularly when coupled with everything we’ve found out about him since.”

She shivered, and I slipped an arm around her, picking up on the same thoughts I guessed she was having. She’d walked into that arena and skirted a potentially devastating situation.

“I hate the fact I was closing in on him but couldn’t find anything out, but at the same point horrified at how close I cameto disappearing into that hell he’s involved with. But what could he possibly be doing with my grandmother?” she wondered.

Tyler’s eyes darkened, but Mila’s mind was clearly racing ahead.

She exhaled an unhappy laugh. “I’m working it out. We have ships. Established routes in and out of the country. My grandfather did trade throughout Europe, the Americas, and even further afield. Is that what Jacobs is after? A shipping route he can use for trafficking now my grandfather isn’t there to protect the business? But then why abandon it and run scared?”

“We’ll know more when we find him. But there’s something else we need to talk about. Something that happened closer to home.”

Her gaze had distanced, and she shook her head, appearing lost in her thoughts. “It must be to do with Salter. Perhaps he’s a middleman in this.”

Tyler’s focus came to me. “Regarding Salter, did you read my message from earlier?”

I drew my eyebrows in and fished out my phone. A message waited, informing me that he’d made a job offer to an interesting individual.

I curled my lip. “Odd choice, but you said you needed boots on the ground.”

“Exactly. He has the skills and is available to hire. But if it will cause you any problems, I’ll back out.”

I shrugged. “No problems here. Do what you need.”

Tyler wrote out a quick message. Almost immediately, a knock came at the door, and Tyler called out for the person to enter.

Kane strolled into the room.

Mila’s attention snapped up, and she stared at her brother. “What are you doing here?”

His serious expression didn’t shift. “Never left.”

“You… They kept you here?” At his nod, she whirled around to me. “Did you know about this?”

“Of course. He’s an unknown quantity. We were hardly going to let him walk out the door.”

Outrage crossed her features. Mila snatched her hand from mine, an expression of betrayal replacing her shock. She stifled it and regarded Kane. “Did they hurt you?”

“No. I accepted their need to manage a threat and I was treated fine.”

“But locked up?”

His jaw flexed. “I said I’m fine. If I wasn’t, I’d never have agreed to a temporary contract with your crew.”

She scoffed. “My crew. You’re in voluntarily? They aren’t making you?”

Kane shook his head once. “I don’t do anything I don’t want to. Hunting down those who captured me will be a piece of cake.”

“You’re going after Salter?” Mila confirmed.

Kane agreed. “There’s something else you need to know.”

She swallowed whatever retort she wanted to give. And she wouldn’t meet my eye. She was angry at me. I didn’t get it, but worry tightened my gut.

Tyler took over. “The woman who arranged your access to the auction was found dead this evening.”