“How did Micah get to him?”
“Your guess is as good as mine, but it happened at their home. My brother’s property is like mine. You would be shot dead before you could think to come on to our land. But Micah made it though. Made it inside the house where he shot my brother and set the house on fire killing his wife and almost killing my niece.”
“How did she get out?”
“She didn’t, her mother placed her in a safe room and locked her in. It’s fireproof. I found her in the morning when I went there. Her mother was dead by the door guarding her child.” He dips his head and presses his lips together. “I took her in after and she became mine.”
“I’m sorry Alejandro.”
“Thank you. I believe, Micah is after the ownership of the company. I’ve found evidence to suggest he’s rubbing shoulders with certain governors in Brazil. I’m guessing they would have told him about the venture my brother and I obtained in the company. So if he kills me and my niece they’ll find a way for him to get our shares. Of course there’s going to be something Micah must have offered them for their assistance. I sure he only hasn’t succeeded because of the ties I have with the government. But if he kills me it’s game over,” he pulls in a haggard breath. “That is what is happening in Brazil, Eric Markov. And, the fact that Micah has found his way into my shipping port means even more. Somebody is clearly feeding him information and giving him free reign over my assets and facilities when my back is turned.”
“Having control over the oil industry in one country is even more money,” I surmise and think deeper into the situation which seems clearer with that explanation. “I think he’s collecting money and assets for something. Something big.”
Alejandro straightens up. “You think so?”
“It looks that way. There’s the situation in Brazil that will ultimately stand to make him a god because if you die he can infiltrate more than just the oil company, then there’s the flesh trade and the device. That looks like he’s collecting and my ex-best friend is right beside him helping him along.” That’s how it looks to me.
“So if this is part of a bigger plan the incident in Monaco with Summer Reeves was just one thing.”
“It seems so. Now we just need to know why he’s collecting and where he’s going to be next.”
“Do you think it’s going to be possible to track them? I know you’re already doing your best.”
“I have to go back to the drawing board.” And race against time.
“I’m going to be in L.A. for a while as it’s looking like things are gravitating here. The D’Agostinos have finished helping me secure my affairs in Brazil, so I will be available when you need me.”
“That’s good. What about your niece?”
The worry on his face looks more like a father, not an uncle. “I have two people who I can class as loyal to me watching her at all times. She’s in a safe house only I have the location to. I also have guards, watching the area but they don’t know what or who they’re guarding. I know you know the sting of betrayal more than anybody, so you’ll understand my need to overprotect her.”
“I do.”
His niece is almost seven months old. I can’t imagine having a baby to look after, much less having one that wasn’t mine. I’d do the same if I were him though. I don’t have a fatherly bone in my body but I’ll always be there for my niece or nephew
when he or she comes along.
“My niece deserves that justice,” he adds.
“She does,” I reply.
“More than anything, she’s an innocent in this and she deserves a chance to live. If I don’t help her, no one will. She doesn’t have anybody left who cares enough about her to make sure she’s safe. If I don’t find a way to keep her safe then I’m just another monster walking around in the darkness.”
I stare at him and I really listen to what he’s saying to me because he makes me think of Summer. She’s the next innocent in this mess and if I don’t help her, no one else will.
I just didn’t start off with the intention to help her in that way—to protect her. I’m man enough to admit my intentions were purely selfish.
While I intend to make sure she doesn’t die, the streets will run with blood before I allow anybody to hurt her, I need to find a way to resist the temptation I feel when I’m with her. I need to make my way back over that line I crossed to where I should be.
Far away from her, because I’m the opposite of everything she stands for.
She’s life and living, and I am death.