Page 6 of Dangerous Command
I grabbed Uncle Ray’s hand and shot him in the palm. He howled in pain.
“Take care of your fucking men,” I said.
I headed back to the car, and they went back to work. My security sat in the car with me, more security tailing behind us.
After we had gotten rid of the Midnight Miles Corporation, we were able to start picking up the pieces and focusing on our growth. Everything was smooth, except for one thing.
Maddie had disappeared after the night we had destroyed the Midnight Miles Headquarters. Ghosted me completely. At first, she didn’t answer my calls. Then, it went straight to voicemail, like she had blocked my number. I wasn’t going to beg, but I couldn’t get my mind off of her; the kind of ass that rippled when you slammed into it, cherry candy hair, and eyes were like liquid shimmering in a green glass bottle. But it wasn’t just her looks—it washer. Maddie was a hard worker; I respected that. She had worked three or four jobs at once before working for us; I was more than happy to give her a salary so that she only had to focus on cleaning our homes. And still, she had that easy smile that never left her face, like she was always in the middle of something. Her posture spoke that she was listening, ready for the next step. Eager to do what needed to be done. No matter the cost.
Then she disappeared out of the blue. I could take the hint.
But now, I needed her help.
I dialed her again and got her voicemail. For the first time in months, I left a message.
“Mads,” I said. “Listen. I get it. You don’t want to hear from us.”From me,I thought. “But give me a call. It’s important.”
I clicked off, then dialed our researcher in Las Vegas.
“Yo, asshole,” Kiley said. It was her consistent greeting for everyone. “What do you want this time?”
“I need you to look up Maddie Vela,” I said. “I need her current phone number. All I’ve got is a disconnected line.”
“Maddie Vela?” she asked. “Is that short for Madison or Madeline? Or, do you not know?” she huffed. “Honestly, that wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Madeline,” I said. The keyboard clicked on her end.
“I’ve got a number.”
I wrote it down, then said, “That was fast.”
“What can I say? I’m a master at looking up the yellow pages,” she snarked. I held back a scowl. It wasn’t as easy as that. “You know that’s a fake name though, right?”
My chest tightened. “What?”
“Madeline Vela. It’s a fake name. No records and then suddenly, there she is. A phone number a few years ago, and a new one now.” She let out a sigh. “What’s her deal anyway? Who is she?”
She was using a fake name? What did that mean?
“No one,” I said, failing to hide the frustration in my tone. “Can you get her actual identity?”
“Icould, but it sounds like you need to work out some bedroom problems.”
I hadn’t gotten that far with Maddie, and yet she had already betrayed me. I clenched my fist. I needed to change the subject before I lost my shit.
“Next, look up Miles Muro,” I said. “I need anything you can pull on him—”
“Miles Muro?” Kiley laughed. “Are you serious?TheMiles Muro? Of Midnight Miles Corporation?”
“Are there any other Muros?”
“You know you asked me to do that a while ago. Do you remember my answer?”
“Yes, but—”
“The answer is still the same. Ha, ha, ha. No. If he catches wind of anyone looking him up, they wind up dead. You know that, right? And I’m not about to be another statistic.”
As much as I hated being told ‘no,’ Kiley was one of our contractors. She was of better use to us alive than dead.
