Page 67 of Graveyards & Greed

Sylvie had shut me out again, and Milo was at his wit’s end after she’d ditched him several times over the past week. I couldn’t blame him.

Staring blindly out of my office window at the skyline, I gazed at the hazy morning fog that would burn off later in the day. She’d been preoccupied and quiet this week, and I wanted to believe she was brooding about the attacks on their employees, but I knew it was more than that.

“Drakos.” Ivan's voice cut through the silence and my musings. I turned to find him leaning against the doorframe, his usual smirk absent. “There’s something you need to see. It was sent out maybe ten, fifteen minutes ago.” He jerked his head toward his office.

My adrenaline spiked, and I followed him. He motioned to a screen with a paused video—the image grainy and unrecognizable. He clicked play, and my mind couldn’t process what I was seeing for several long seconds. Then, it slowly sank in and what unfolded would give most people nightmares for the rest of their lives.

Ivan gave me time to wrap my brain around it. “I’ve been monitoring LeBaron's email, and I set up a program to tag any unusual activity. An email with this attached video came in from an anonymous account that has an IP address in Mongolia, of all fucking places.”

The image looked like a partially decomposed body in a plain casket. “What the fuck?” I whispered as the man moved, and I realized he was stillalive.

Ivan nodded. “It’s Carver, one of Eightball’s buddies. He’s been missing for a week.” The decay was advanced, his swollen, almost unrecognizable face contorted in agony. There was a tube coming out of his mouth attached to a funnel.

It took a few seconds, but then it clicked. Scaphism. An ancient torture method the Greeks—or maybe the Persians—had used. I hoped for this fucker’s sake he was dead by now.

“Holy God,” I whispered, feeling my gorge rise.

“Whoever did this wanted to send a brutal but targeted message.” His eyes were glued to the screen. “Vicious, creative, and effective. It has the House of Spades’ signature written all over it.”

“Can you find out who sent the video?”

Ivan leaned back. “I doubt it, but I’ll try. The IP address is literally in outer Mongolia. It was also emailed to Billy Grolier and a couple of other higher-ranking MC members. The only line on the email says, ‘Vengeance is mine, and I will repay’ in Latin. Those Spades don’t mess around.” He sounded almost impressed.

“I knew they’d retaliate, but that isfuckinginsane.” Adrenaline pumped through me, and I started pacing his office. “I need to find Sylvie and make sure she’s safe.”

“They’re baiting the president and trying to get the MC to take care of their own mess,” Ivan murmured. “But if LeBaron gets his hands on her…” He didn’t need to finish.

“Oh Lollipop, what the fuck have you done now?” Fury and fear surged through me. Milo didn’t answer my phone call and Sylvie didn’t answer her text, so I decided to hunt her down.

“Are you out for the rest of the day then?” Misty, the ex-stripper we’d hired as our receptionist, called after me.

“Yes. And if Sylvie calls or comes by, you contact me right away.” Her eyes went wide and then slid away.

I paused in front of her desk and stared her down. “Misty, she’s in danger. You’ll call me.”

She jerked at my sharp tone. “Okay, I’ll call you. It’s, uh, Wednesday.”

I stopped and turned around. “What are you trying to tell me?”

Misty chewed her lip, then blurted out,” They started taking pole dancing lessons on Wednesdays with Sasha. They’re probably at Euphoria.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t tell her I told you!” she yelled after me.

I dialed Roman as I strode to my vehicle. “Where’s Luna?”

He paused. “Hello to you too, and she’s at Euphoria with Sylvie. Where are you? I just saw you sitting in your office twenty minutes ago. Why do you want to know where Luna is?”

“The Spades kicked the hornet’s nest and then fucking stomped on it. I need to find Sylvienow.”

His voice went hard. “I’ll call the security guard at Euphoria and tell him to stay with them.”

“Thanks.”

“Let me know what’s going on when you find them.”

“Go see Ivan. I’m warning you, it’s bad.” I hung up and let out a long breath.

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