Page 17 of The Vigilant

“I dug deeper. Carson and Uzair were in the same MBA program.”

“So, he’s close with the Shazads,” Harm muttered.

“What if it’s more than that?”

Harm’s gaze flicked back to me. “What are you thinking?”

“I tell you, but I’m warning you now, I’ve got no proof.”

“Fair enough.”

I cleared my throat and tapped my finger on my desk like I was marking the starting point. “When this photo was taken, we know Shazad was trying to partner with Sinclair to expand his heroin distribution to North and South America.” Harm nodded, so I went on. “That obviously didn’t happen because Sinclair was taken out of the picture,butif Carson was there and heknewthe extent of what was going on through Uzair”—I jerked my chin at the photo of the two of them talking as if the image captured this exact conversation—“then he would know that with Sinclair gone, there was an opportunity for a new distributor, and for him to broker that deal.”

“Go on…”

“From here, I have two theories. Either Carson saw the openings in Belmont’s organization and realized GrowTech would be the perfect partner with their chemical labs and commercial distribution channels,orAmir Shazad knew of Sinclair’s prior association with GrowTech, realized they’d be the perfect organization to funnel his heroin trade through, and approached Carson to facilitate the deal. Either way…”

“Carson brings the offer to Belmont. Belmont sees a huge financial opportunity, and Carson gets installed at GrowTech to cement the arrangement,” he finished for me.

I grunted in agreement. “Now all I need is proof.”A mountain of it.

No matter what my gut was screaming, I couldn’t assume criminal dealings on the basis of a single photograph.

Harm leaned forward, resting his knuckles on the table and staring at the photograph. “Well, we’ve got an obvious link between Belmont and Carson, but if there’s a chance that connection is because of Shazad and he’s still trying to expand his operation here…”

“We have to stop him.”

“But the right way.” Harm exhaled with a low rumble. “We can’t risk…”

“I know.” We’d been after Belmont for so long for what he did to Rob and her parents; it was hard to believe this could finally be the lynchpin that sent him and his company crumbling.

Harm cleared his throat and spoke again. “There has to be something else tying Carson to Uzair besides friendship and an MBA.”

“I agree.” I stared at the photo. “And I have to wonder…”

My friend arched an eyebrow.

“If Carson’s specialty is procurement for the elite, what if he’s been the one providing Uzair with…women?”

The last time we’d entered the orbit of the Shazad’s, we’d learned how Uzair was well-known for his sadistic sexual preferences. The kind that necessitated unwilling victims.

Harm’s jaw pulsed. “If he is…”

“I’m going to keep looking.” For some reason, this was where my gut was leading me.

“I’ll talk to Rob. I’m assuming she saw the press conference. I’ll see if she has any info on Carson.” He started to reach for his phone.

“Harm,” I stopped him. “Do you think Remington is somehow involved in this?”

He stilled and slowly looked up at me.

If all of us—me, Harm, the guys, Rob, Carson, Shazad, and Belmont—were faces of opposing suits in a deck of cards, Damon Remington was the Joker. He played any suit or none of them. He helped. He hindered. He appeared and disappeared as though abiding by either no rules or a set of his own.

Remington was both a former FBI agent and currently number one on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. He was an operative turned traitor turned gentleman criminal. He lived in theshadows of the illegal underworld, and like Charon on the river Styx, he ferried the means, materials, and connections between various criminal enterprises, portraying himself like a criminal consultant.

He’d existed virtually unseen for over a decade. A ghost…until recently. Out of all the places, all the people, all the criminals, Remington repeatedly showed up here (figuratively never physically) to insert himself into our cases and hand us clues to take down the men involved in Belmont’s GrowTech cover-up.

The questionwhyloomed above us like a dark cloud.

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