Page 22 of Six
Chapter Ten
Six staredat the image on her monitor. The night before, she’d uncovered a file that documented four trips to Indonesia that Jeremy had made since the first one in January. She had an inkling of what he’d been doing, although so far, she hadn’t found any real evidence to support her theory. Hacking into his phone or credit card records was on her agenda, but right now, she was staring at a satellite image of the property Jeremy held the deed to. The property Heather had confirmed earlier that she knew nothing about.
The forty-two acres were heavily wooded, and it was hard to see much more than a green canopy of leaves. As she continued to look at it, the more strongly Six felt that this remote parcel of land was the piece that didn’t quite fit in with Jeremy’s other files. And because of that, it was interesting.
Joe had texted earlier and they’d all agreed to meet that night to discuss some updates on the white SUV and the two men inside. Glancing at the clock, Six decided she had time to drive over and check the property out. It was only ninety minutes away, and she wasn’t due for dinner at Cyn’s with the club until half past five.
Without another thought, she shut her computer down, changed into a pair of jeans and Stan Smiths, and headed out the door. Once she had the map and directions up on her display, she headed out to discover, hopefully, just what Jeremy was doing with such a big piece of land two hours from his home.
The two-lane country roads wound west through beautiful forests and fields. Still, their loveliness didn’t distract Six from noticing a certain SUV occasionally showing up in her rearview mirror. That Gavin was following her didn’t bother her as much as it would have a few days ago. She still thought it was a colossal waste of his time and talent, but who was she to decide how the British Army deployed their resources?
Ignoring the sporadic glimpses of his car, she focused on the road and let her mind wander. There was no doubt that Jeremy had been trying to help the women in the pictures. If Six were a betting woman, which she was, she’d bet that he’d met one or two of them on his first trip to Indonesia in January. Somehow, he must have gained their trust enough for them to tell him what was going on. His subsequent trips were likely more fact-finding missions. His goal? Well, Six hadn’t found any paperwork yet, but she’d bet he’d been planning to file an alien tort claim against Shanti Joy in order to bring to light its behavior and hypocrisy.
The infrequently used, and old, law—the Alien Tort Claims Act—was originally drafted to allow non-US citizens to file a civil claim in US federal courts for violations of international law committed by US citizens. But since the 1980s, it had been used to facilitate claims by non-US citizens brought against US corporations for human rights violations, including rape, torture, child labor, kidnapping, and murder.
If Shanti Joy knew about the abuses happening to the women in Indonesia—which, given they were perpetrated by several senior-level executives and a board member, was highly likely—then going after the company was exactly something Jeremy would do.
Six mulled this over as she continued her drive. She prosecuted criminal cases and knew very little about the act other than what she had dredged up from law school memories and the brief research she’d done that morning. Maybe that was something she could have Gavin look into. She smiled at that…she was pretty sure his idea of helping her wasn’t acting as her paralegal.
Six glanced at her dashboard screen as she turned onto an even more rural road. According to the map, Jeremy’s parcel fronted the road she was on, and the property line started about a mile from the turn. The lot was long and deep, and the frontage was limited, which should, she hoped, make it easy to find the driveway. Not that she intended to use the driveway. No, she’d scoped out the area, and there was a nature preserve a mile up the road that bordered the property. She planned to park there and walk in.
Coming up on where she thought the property line started, Six slowed her car. Sure enough, about a hundred yards past the line, she spotted an overgrown driveway and, tucked back from the road, a gate. She didn’t stop, but her speed allowed her to see that some of the overgrown grass was trampled in a way as to indicate a car had been through recently.
Continuing on, she pulled into the parking lot of the preserve and found a spot two over from a Subaru. She gathered her gear, including a small gun she tucked into an ankle holster and a knife she slipped into her back pocket. Being well acquainted with the bug and insect population in the New England forests, she also pulled on a lightweight jacket that would at least protect her arms from being eaten alive.
She was just exiting her car when she paused. Last January, Cyn had gone running off on her own and come back with a knife wound. It wasn’t so much that she’d gone on her own that had been the problem, but the fact that none of them, not even Franklin, had known what she’d planned to do. If anything more serious had happened, it would have taken them precious hours to figure out where to even start looking for her.
Pulling out her phone, she sent a group text to her friends letting them know where she was and what she was doing. They’d be at her side as fast as their cars could get them there if they weren’t all working that afternoon. Still, that didn’t stop first Cyn, then Devil and Nora, from admonishing her for going on her own.
There was some truth to their comments. It might not be the smartest thing to go traipsing onto private land on her own. But she’d been in worse, far worse, situations. And if something went down, it wasn’t as though she wasn’t prepared. But again, she didn’t often have the luxury of working with a team, and if she’d talked to her friends before she’d left, this could have been one of those times.
“Text Gavin,” Cyn’s second message appeared on Six’s screen. He wasn’t exactly theteamshe’d been thinking of. But even though his car hadn’t driven past the preserve parking lot, she knew he would be nearby.
A chorus of agreements came from Nora and Devil. And now she’d sound petulant if she didn’t. She sighed, then typed in the number he’d given her that she hadn’t yet saved in her phone.
“Hello, Violetta,” his voice rumbled over the line. With only the tiniest bit of gloating in his voice.
“I’m headed to a piece of property Jeremy bought in February. I know you’re here. My friends seem to think it would be good to have some backup.”
“Your friends, of which I count myself one, agree.”
She let out a huff. “Where are you?”
“Look up and into the trail at your three o’clock.”
She glanced to her right and found the trail. When her eyes adjusted to looking into the dim, filtered light of the forest, she saw him standing near a large maple.
Ending the call, she sent a quick text to her friends letting them know she had backup. She also promised to call them as soon as she was on her way home. Then sliding the phone into her jacket pocket, she exited her car and walked to the trail.
Dressed as he was that morning, in jeans and a T-shirt, he stood with his arms crossed and his phone dangling from his fingers. He wore a smile that had her bracing for some arrogant comment about it not taking her very long to need him. To her surprise, though, he gestured to the trail with his head, then turned and started walking.
Once they were deep in the forest, he spoke. “I received Jeremy’s file last night,” he said over his shoulder. “The financial transaction for this land was in it, which is how I knew. Did you receive the same?”
She shook her head, then realized he’d turned back around. “No, his sister gave me access to their cloud storage account. I found a copy of the deed hidden in his files.”
“We should compare files when we get back,” he said. She wasn’t looking forward to spending that time with him, but he was right, and she’d do it for Jeremy.
“I agree. Where did you park?”
