Page 78 of Rebel

Chapter Eighteen

Rio

I stood in the dingy back room of the clubhouse, sweat beading at my temples despite the chill from the air conditioner.Shade hunched over his keyboard, his fingers moving with practiced precision across the keys.The blue glow from the bank of monitors cast harsh shadows across his face.I shifted my weight, the floorboard creaking beneath my boots, but Shade didn’t look up -- too lost in his digital world to notice anything as mundane as another human being.

“How long?”I asked, my voice sounding rough even to my own ears.

Shade held up a finger, asking for silence without bothering to speak.Five screens surrounded him, each displaying different information -- maps, code windows, spreadsheets filled with numbers that meant nothing to me.The constant hum of cooling fans provided a mechanical backdrop to our mission.With everything going on, Charming had insisted he move everything the clubhouse.And since Shade didn’t want half the club at his house, he’d readily agreed.

I moved closer, gripping the edge of the table beside his workstation.My knuckles went white with tension.Three days had passed since I’d exacted justice, and we were running out of time.By some miracle, the assholes hadn’t been missed yet.

“Almost there,” Shade muttered, pushing his glasses higher on his nose.Despite being in his sixties, his fingers moved with the agility of someone half his age.I knew he’d been working on this issue off and on since I got back to the compound after dealing with Ellis and Denton.“Digital breadcrumbs.That’s the key.”

“In English, Shade.”

He finally turned to face me, the screens reflecting in his hazel eyes.“We need to make it look like they left of their own accord.Ticket purchases.Hotel bookings.ATM withdrawals in strategic locations.”He pointed to one screen showing a global map with red dots scattered across several countries.“Non-extradition countries where our targets supposedly fled.”

The clubhouse walls seemed to close in around me.Somewhere in the main room, music played and people laughed, but back here, in Shade’s digital cave, the world narrowed to just us and the problem we needed to solve.

“Show me again,” I said, pulling up a chair.

Shade nodded and clicked on one of his spreadsheets.“These are the targets.Your two Army assholes.Ellis and Denton.If they show up dead, you’re going to be at the top of the list of suspects.You have a connection with them, a rotten history, and you have military training.I don’t think even the best lawyer in the country could get you out of this one.”

I leaned closer, studying the name.“What’s the timeline?”

“I’ve already started laying the groundwork.”Shade clicked to another screen showing airline booking confirmations.“Twenty-four hours ago, Ellis supposedly bought a ticket to Venezuela.Used his own credit card too.”He smirked, the closest thing to emotion I’d seen from him today.“But, there’s a chance people will be watching for him.So I’m going to do a bit more work.We need them to think Denton paid someone under the table to use a private jet to leave the country.Anyone searching may assume Ellis went with him.”

“Can they trace it back to you?Or what about security footage wherever this plane is supposedly located?”

Shade gave me a look that made me feel stupid for asking.“I’ve been doing this for decades, kid.Trust me, they’ll find exactly what I want them to find.As for cameras, it’s such a shame they won’t be operational the day of the supposed flight.”

I nodded, not entirely convinced but knowing I had no choice.“What about the bodies from the warehouse that first time we went up against the Morettis?Did you do something similar?”

His fingers flew across the keyboard, bringing up more booking confirmations.“Two to Thailand.One to Belize.Two to Morocco.And another to Montenegro.”He pointed to the center screen.“Different departure times, different airlines.Some took connecting flights.Makes it harder to track.And by the time anyone goes looking, I’ll have scrubbed any airport footage.And to answer your other question, I do this type of thing more often than you probably think.”

“And these countries wouldn’t send them back?”

“No.”Shade paused his typing to take a sip from a mug of coffee that had probably been sitting there since morning.“But they won’t need to, because these seven men aren’t actually in those countries.We just need the law to believe they are.”

I tightened my grip on the table edge.“And the evidence?”

Shade’s eyes gleamed with something like pride.“I’m fabricating digital trails as we speak.Hotel check-ins.Restaurant charges.Even social media activity that looks like it’s coming from those locations.”He pulled up a program I didn’t recognize.“This little beauty spoofs IP addresses.To anyone checking, it’ll look like our guys are posting from Internet cafes in Caracas or Bangkok.”

“What about CCTV?Airport cameras?How are you handling those?You said you’d scrub the footage, but I don’t know what that means.”

He gestured to a screen running what looked like facial recognition software.“I’ve got programs searching for people who look similar enough.They won’t hold up to serious scrutiny, but it should be enough to create reasonable doubt.And where I can’t find any, I’ll just make sure the footage is damaged during those times.”

The weight of what we were doing pressed down on me.“What if there are real criminals there?”

“I’m also checking for that while scanning faces.If anyone pops up who’s on a wanted list somewhere, I’ll know about it.Then I’ll figure out something else.”

“And what about…”

He held up a hand to stop me.“Go.I need to concentrate.”

I stood to leave but hesitated.The thought of fabricating evidence made my stomach turn.But I also knew it was necessary.The men who’d died were all evil bastards.We had nothing to feel guilty about.Right?

“One more thing,” he said before I could leave.“I’ve planted a few mistakes.Small ones.Intentional.”

---