Page 2 of The Vigilant

Our servers were always running—always scanning for new information on powerful men who masked their villainy in a veneer of professionalism. A wealthy businessman who used his connections to smuggle guns and drugs into the country. A powerful politician who facilitated the sex trade. A crooked banker who helped criminals launder and funnel the gains from their illegal dealings. Everyone thought evil hid in the shadows, but the worst of itjust masqueraded in the light.

I clicked to open my daily report. I had a slew of data nets combing the media and the web for any new information on the masqueraded criminals I’d programmed it to find. Most were set to track and collate because we didn’t have enough information yet to target them, but there were some set to do this—to trigger a high alert notification when I logged in. The high alerts were villains that were at the top of the Vigilante chopping block, so to speak.

I clicked and instantly opened the livestream of the local San Francisco news that had triggered the alert, keeping the sound off and scanning the closed captions.

GrowTech.That was what triggered the alert.

Out of all our targets, GrowTech was the biggest. The strongest. The most well protected. It was the biochemical Goliath to our vigilante David.

GrowTech was the largest biochemical conglomerate in the States involved in pesticide production and genetically modified food creation. It was also the company responsible for Rob’s parents’ deaths. Not the whole company, but a handful of its top executives, including the CEO, Bernard Belmont.

“After the devastating loss to his corporate team a few short months ago, Bernard Belmont, the CEO of GrowTech, has announced the new COO for the company.”

I ran my hand along my jaw. A few short months ago, in the process of saving Athena’s life, we’d become responsible for the deaths of Lloyd Wenner, the previous COO of GrowTech, and Ray Ivans, the former Chief Medical Adviser for their pesticide branch. Two decades ago, Ivans falsified the medical records for Rob’s parents, assuring them that their symptoms weren’t being caused by the new chemical GrowTech was testing, even though it was what killed them.

Out of the ring of criminal conspirators involved in the death of Rob’s parents and the ensuing cover-up, only Belmont was left. His criminal house of cards was starting to topple, and he knew it. And when dangerous men got desperate…

My jaw muscle popped under my fingertips when Belmont appeared, the clip from the company’s press conference.

“While I mourn the loss of my longtime friend and colleague, Lloyd Wenner, he’d want his vision—our vision for GrowTech—to continue to forge forward through this difficult time, and I’m happy to announce the man who will help me captain the next chapter of GrowTech’s future. It is with great excitement, pride, and determination that I welcome Mr. Brock Carson to GrowTech as its new Chief Operating Officer.”

“Fuck.”

There was a knock on my door, and I stilled, wiping any emotion from my expression just as Dare opened the door and tipped his head inside.

“You need anything?”

“Nope.” I kept my eyes focused on the news playing out on my screen. I knew Dare wanted to get out of here—get home to Athena, and I wasn’t going to stand in his way. Not with this news.

Learning that Brock Carson, a businessman long-suspected by the upper echelons of the intelligence world to have deep connections to the sex trafficking trade, was Belmont’s new COO was the kind of thing that promised a shit weekend.It was the kind of knowledge I’d bear the burden of alone until Monday.

“All right. Have a good weekend.”

I released my breath when the door closed behind him, but by then, the press clip ended, and the reporter had moved on.

“Fucking Carson.” I opened a new browser window, entering his name into a search that would scour the depths of references to him in news media, social media, and law enforcement databases and organize the information.

But that was all that could be done for now. Reconnaissance. I shut off the screen, letting the program work in the background. The initial pass would take at least two days. After that, new updates would ping immediately. I grabbed my phone and keys off the desk and stood. That salmon was calling?—

I stopped short, my attention snagging on the wall where monitors displayed the various angles from the shop’s security cameras. There was a car parked out front—one that didn’t belong to any of us.

I strode to the screen and swiped for another angle. There was a mousy-looking man in a suit standing at the door to the garage talking to Dare. He looked like a man who had power but no authority. A police officer or detective. The kind that wasn’t very good at their job and relied on a title rather than character to command deference.

Shit.

Another tap in the corner unmuted the feed so I could hear their conversation.

“Who are you?”Dare asked.

The mouse man puffed his chest and reached in his jacket for a card. When he did, his head turned over his shoulder and back to his car.

Immediately, I flipped back to the angle of his vehicle and zoomed in.There was someone in the back seat.I pinched and zoomed, and then squinted because fuck me, but I swore the person in the back seat looked just like…

No.

I tore through the garage like there was a live grenade rolling behind my heels.Why was she here? She shouldn’t be here.

“Is Mr. Bates here or not? I need to speak with him.”

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