I also came up with a list of requests that Gabe was more than happy to fulfill.
Before the other agents were dismissed, they were given a list of things to buy separately as to not tip anyone who might be feeding the cartel information.
I spent a month undercover, trying to work my way into the cartel to get to Sotnas using whatever means I could, including bartering drugs and stolen goods. None of it proved to be lucrative. There was nothing substantial about the man himself-- not even his real name.
Sotnas was so elusive, I never even met him.
As far as I can tell, he had a revolving door of associates who did the dirty work for him.
He was never in the same place at the same time with any exchange that took place. He kept his hands clean of any actual selling and exchanging of illegal goods, which is why this whole thing is so suspicious.
Why target my wife when they could have gotten to me at any point during that month? And why would they want her alive but me dead?
If they were onto me then why didn’t they take me out when they found me out? They certainly had every opportunity to do so.
Why target Ria when I was the one who was working the case? What good would that do?
Somehow, I feel like Ria is the key to this whole thing, which terrifies the fuck out of me.
What does Sotnas want with her?
I have yet to broach the subject with Gabe after we both spent the week trying to avoid another altercation. I still have the urge to kick his ass but I can acknowledge the fact that he kept my wife and son safe.
They’re here and they’re safe, away from anyone who would do them harm.
I intend to keep it that way.
I press my thumbprint into the pad just outside the basement door. I had Walker install it to keep track of the ins and outs of our base of operation.
And to prevent Ria from accidentally walking in and seeing anything.
I want to keep as much of this shit from her as possible.
My wife is a walking, breathing, ticking time bomb. Her fear is written all over her face.
It won’t take much to push her over the edge of total panic.
It will take me years to undo what they did to her and I’m not about to add to it.
The green light just above the door handle indicates I’m permitted to open it and with one last nod to Mina, I walk in and shut the door behind me.
There are eight monitors propped on the wall on the left side of the room, where I head first. I scan and check every single one for signs of anything or anyone out of the ordinary.
“You did a periphery check?”
Gabe grunts behind me, his face buried under a pile of manila folders on the long table in the center of the room where he has set two years’ worth of files on Sotnas and his cartel.
“Yeah, just got back five minutes ago.”
“Walker?” I turn to Ben, who is behind another set of monitors on the other side of the room.
There are three in front of him. Ben Walker is the IT expert in our team while Mina To is our weapons expert.
Currently, he’s running financial reports and checking all known data on the cartel, including their associates, to try and track anything that would indicate an opportunity for us to get to Sotnas himself.
He also goes over all the information being sent to us by our undercover agents who are keeping an eye out on the Cartel including surveillance footage on exchanges happening.
It’s Ben’s job to go through it every night and keep a log.