Page 71 of Leading Conviction

“Gee, thanks.” Wes chuckled with a shake of his head.

“Watch it,” Draco growled on Nora’s behalf.

“Well, since you’ve kindly asked why I look sotired…” Nora rolled her eyes before landing a glare on Phoenix. “It’s because while you people were able to get some beauty sleep, Wes and I were burning the midnight oil trying to put things together foryou, lazybones.”

Phoenix winced and held his hands up in surrender. “My bad.”

Hawk suppressed the urge to chuckle at their antics and decided to really start the meeting, but Nora cleared her throat dramatically and began instead.

“Apology accepted. As for the rest of you, Wes and I were saving this for everyone to be here, but… we think we found the General.”

A zing of excitement sparked through Hawk’s chest. “Seriously?” he asked along with the chorus of surprise sounds coming from the rest of his team.

“What?” Hannah squeaked as she plopped down into her chair.

“Thanks to you, actually. What you said, just now, helped support my theory.” Nora smiled kindly at Hannah before nodding toward the wall of computers where a map of the world dotted in red and blue flags stretched over the screens. “I was able to design a map that shows every property we know General Smithers owned in one way or another, whether through his actual name, pseudonyms, his different corporations, or through Hannah’s own recollection.”

“Damn, the man has mad money.” Phoenix whistled.

“Turns out human trafficking is lucrative, who’d have thought,” Callie muttered beside him as she crossed her arms tighter.

“He ownedallof those?” Hannah asked, her big brown eyes wide.

“He owned all the red flags, you see. Which, admittedly, is a lot of red flags for just one person, pun intended. All jokes aside, Wes and Naomi also noticed something about some of the locations.” Nora pointed to the blue flags. “These are warehouses, distribution centers, and locations where Charitable Technologies International has some sort of affiliation. Wherever you find a CTI building, you’ll find one of the General’s properties close by.”

“And they’re all near major trafficking cities.” Wes pointed at the map. “Miami, Atlanta, Orlando, Washington, DC.”

“It’s disgusting really. Like, are lawmakers not embarrassed?” Nora’s voice dripped with scorn. “One of the cities with the worst human trafficking statistics is where they do their damn job.”

The rest of the room agreed and broke into discussion as Hawk stepped closer to examine one location in particular that made his stomach churn.

“Is one of those blue flags in Yemen?” he asked, knowing good and well the answer he was about to receive was one he wouldn’t like.

“Yes, it’s a CTI distribution center,” Wes replied solemnly.

“Charitable Technologies International supplied developing countries with technology,” Nora added. “They have distribution centers everywhere.”

“Andthisone isn’t far from where we had our last mission,” Wes confirmed for Hawk.

The men in the room swore. Hawk tapped his lips with his finger calmly, but inside his blood vibrated with rage.

“Practically fucking walking distance,” Jason spat, absentmindedly scratching the scar over his ear. “That must’ve been where the victims were transferred through.”

“Yeah, I think it’s safe to assume that’s exactly what happened,” Wes replied with a defeated sigh.

The air in the room grew heavy and Hawk collapsed into his seat. He scrubbed his face with one hand allowing himself a moment to feel the weight of the General’s betrayal.

So many lives were lost, including one of their own, all for this sick bastard’s greed and perversions.

Beside him, sadness radiated from Hannah. She reached under the table and laid her hand on his thigh. He reached for it like a lifeline.

When he’d finally gained his composure, Hawk sat straighter and faced Nora and Wes.

“So you said you think you found the General?”

“Iknowwe found him,” Nora answered.

“Wethink. There are no absolutes with this job,” Wes corrected her with a furrowed brow.