‘I just started searching, so it’ll be a little while before I come back to you with a location,’ Sean said. ‘But we know he’s near Detroit. How damaging is it if he gets away?’
‘He knows that men with guns broke into the Anders house and carted them all away, and he knows that Anders was buying labor from someone. But the cops know both of those things by now, without Drake’s help. Considering he killed someone this morning, he’s unlikely to go to the cops anyway. It’s more that he’s a loose end.’ And Ken did not like loose ends. ‘There isn’t anything damaging he can do to us. I just don’t like that he’s out there as a wild card.’
‘When I finish with O’Bannion, I can go after him,’ Demetrius offered.
Luckily he couldn’t see the rolling eyes of the other members of his team. Even Burton was shaking his head – and Reuben’s second-in-command had always welcomed Demetrius’s assistance in dealing with security threats. Demetrius had lost the respect of the team. Perhaps it was time to do away with the old guard and bring in a new team. Demetrius had gotten sloppy.
So had Reuben, wherever the hell he was. And Joel looked like he was about to have a heart attack any minute. Whatever snarl he’d found in the books was going to be bad indeed.
‘Just focus on O’Bannion,’ Ken said to Demetrius. ‘He’s the biggest threat.’
Alice folded her arms and gave Ken a pointed look. He knew what she was thinking – his biggest threat shouldn’t be trusted to someone who kept missing the mark. His girl was right, even though he didn’t want to hear it.
‘Where is Drake’s sister now, Decker?’ Ken asked. ‘If she can ID you, she’s a loose end.’
‘Already taken care of,’ Decker said. ‘I removed her from the house and snipped the loose end.’ He drew a quick line across his throat with his forefinger. ‘No blood in the house. I took care of her at the disposal site. She’s mixed in with the Anderses.’
Ken looked surprised. ‘Who told you to do that?’
‘I did,’ Burton said. ‘I’ve been busy going over Reuben’s car.’ His jaw tightened, his eyes flashing with bitter anger. ‘And taking care of his wife.’
Ken leaned back in his chair, very unhappy. ‘Next time, ask me first, Burton. And if your duties upset you that much, perhaps it’s time you resigned.’ Burton paled, and rightly so. No one resigned. They just stopped breathing. Ken looked Decker up and down. ‘You don’t seem to be any worse for the experience.’
Decker just shrugged. ‘I saw men exploded to bits when their Humvee hit an IED. Body parts strewn all over the goddamn place. I was on the cleanup crew. A woodchipper pointed into an open grave is a lot neater, actually.’
Alice looked horrified. ‘Oh my God, Decker. You picked up body parts?’
He didn’t blink, his face like hewn stone. ‘Somebody had to. We scooped them up, separated them out as best we could, then ID’d them and sent them home in full-size coffins. Waste of a coffin, but I guess it helped the family.’ He turned to Ken. ‘I didn’t mind, sir. Don’t blame Burton. I asked what I could do to help. I don’t have forensic experience, Burton does. It made sense to us.’
‘I decide what makes sense,’ Ken said. ‘Clear?’
Decker nodded. ‘Yes, sir.’
‘All right, then. What else do you have to report, Decker?’
Decker hesitated. ‘I went to the hospital to eliminate Tabitha Anders, but they have an armed security detail. I figured I needed to wait until we had a plan to get around the guard. For now the old lady isn’t saying a word. She’s unconscious and isn’t expected to live.’
Ken rubbed his forehead. ‘You were right to wait, Decker. Alice, you still have that nurse’s uniform?’
Alice nodded. ‘I’ll take care of Aunt Tabby. Not tonight, though. I’ll wait until the guards do their shift change in the morning.’
“Thanks. Sean? Have you gone through the computers seized from the Anders house?’
‘I have, and I’m glad we got there first. Chip Anders was an idiot who wrote down important and damaging things and thought he could hide the files by encrypting them. A five-year-old could’ve broken into his files. I have his bank account information and the locations of all his safe deposit boxes. And . . .’ Sean sighed, ‘a file listing us as his supplier. Specifically Demetrius and you, boss, by name.’
Ken sucked in breath. Sonofabitch Anders. I’m so glad I killed him, and even happier that Stephanie wanted that puny little prick to hurt.
Demetrius exploded over the speaker. ‘What? What the fuck did you just say?’
‘I said,’ Sean repeated clearly, ‘Chip listed you and Ken as his labor suppliers. If we’d been a little later, that file would be in the hands of the cops.’
‘He may have had hard-drive backups,’ Decker said. ‘We took several sets of keys from his house. One of those keys will hopefully fit the safe deposit box where he hid his backups. If they’re hidden in the house, the cops may have found them.’
‘Slimy little bastard,’ Ken muttered. ‘How much money did we get from his accounts?’
‘Less than three million,’ Sean said. ‘He may have offshore accounts. I’ll keep looking if you want.’
Ken shook his head. ‘I’d rather we concentrate on his safe deposit boxes. I want any backups accounted for and disposed of.’
‘I’ve already identified the backups he made from his operating system logs,’ Sean said. ‘I’ll focus on finding out where he stored them. He probably has an encrypted file on his computer listing the locations for the backups he made. He listed everything else.’
‘You may want an alternate story to feed the cops in case they find the backups before we do,’ Decker said quietly.
Ken raised his brows. ‘Say more.’
‘Well, if the cops do find it, you’ll claim it’s a dirty lie, of course. Then you could have an explanation of why Anders would want to implicate you, a reason he’d hate you that much or how he’d profit by implicating you. Maybe a business deal gone wrong, an affair with his wife, a snub at the country club . . .’
Ken looked at Alice. ‘Come up with something good, okay, honey?’
‘On it,’ Alice said, noting it on a pad of paper.
‘What else?’ Ken asked.
‘I need the trackers you recovered from the Anders house,’ Sean said. ‘I need to reset them and have them ready for the next shipment.’
Burton frowned. So did Decker. The two men looked at each other with narrowed eyes.
‘We gave them to Sean along with the computers,’ Decker said.
Sean went still. ‘I don’t have them.’
Ken’s gut did a slow twist and roll. Not good. Not good at all. ‘Where does the signal say they are?’
‘It doesn’t. The last place they show up on the tracking software is the Anders basement. They ran out of battery shortly after they were cut from the two women.’
‘I saw them in the van when we loaded the Anderses,’ Decker said.
Burton nodded. ‘So did I.’
‘I’m sure they’re still in the van,’ Decker said. ‘They have to be.’
Ken exhaled, unnerved. ‘Find them. One ankle tracker falling into the wrong hands was bad enough. Three trackers have the potential of giving away too much information to the police. Demetrius, when’s the next shipment due?’
‘The Brazilians,’ Demetrius said through the speaker phone. ‘They’re coming in through Miami. I’ll be transporting them. If Alice can ride shotgun, I’d appreciate it.’
‘Sure,’ Alice said with a shrug. ‘When are we going to do that?’
‘Friday,’ Demetrius answered. ‘We’re getting six, half of which are cherry.’
‘That’s good,’ Joel said, startling Ken, who’d nearly forgotten he was there. ‘They should bring a good price. We can use all the income we can get.’
The virgins always brought more. ‘Demetrius,’ Ken said, ‘I want you to set up an auction for the Anders girl. I want her out of here ASAP. She’s too much of a pain in the ass. We’ll get some photos and a list of her attributes.’
‘She does have nice attributes,’ Burton allowed.
‘And she’s fluent in French,’ Ken added.