Internet Access

ZANE

Conner had been at it for an hour, digging up every bit of dirt he could find on this Mark guy.

Meanwhile, Noah and I were overseeing operations at the warehouse, making sure my crew was on point.

We were about to head out to fetch the special items on Mark’s list, stored in another warehouse about a half-hour drive away.

“Conner, let’s roll. You can keep digging on the road. We need to get moving so I can be back in time to take Shay out for dinner tonight.”

The three of us piled into an SUV, with a couple of my trusted guys following in two other cars. I didn’t let just anyone in on the locations of my warehouses.

The main warehouse was where we kept the bread-and-butter stuff—guns, ammo, specialty tools, and other items our regular customers needed.

But this other warehouse, it was for the high-end stuff. The kind of gear you don’t sell to just anyone.

Cars with altered identification numbers, souped-up engines for outrunning anyone who might be on your tail, assassination gear, and a whole lot of explosives.

As I tried to figure out how Mark knew about these high-end items, Conner broke my train of thought by placing his laptop on the console between us.

“Boss, I think I found something fishy about this guy. He’s squeaky clean—look at his record. Never been arrested, not even a parking ticket in the last fifteen years.

“And here’s the kicker: His social security number was terminated five years ago and then reactivated just three months ago.”

I squinted at the laptop screen.

“Look up death certificates for that number around that time. Let’s see what we can find. This guy might be an undercover cop using a fake ID, and now he’s after us.

“His background is too clean for someone interested in this kind of gear.”

Conner pulled his laptop back, then a few minutes later, he propped it back onto the console.

“Got it. Mark Knox, seventy-five years old, died of a massive heart attack. He was from Gresham, Oregon. Buried on May fifth, 2013. The number popped back into the system shortly after.”

“Noah, turn the car around. This is a setup. It’s an undercover sting to try and take us down.

“Call Max. Tell him to get Perry and take him to the safe house in the mountains. If he’s working with Mark, he won’t know anything about the main house or be anywhere near us if this goes south.”

Noah rolled down the window and signaled to my guys to turn around. Then we all headed back toward the house.

I called the warehouse and told my crew not to fill Mark’s order.

“What are we going to do with the money he gave us?” Noah asked, glancing at me.

“First, I’m going to make sure there’s no tracking device on the briefcase or in the money. Then we’ll return it to him with a note saying we won’t be doing business with him.

“Print out the page you found, Conner. We’ll stick it in the briefcase so he knows we’re onto him and that he’s damn lucky I don’t plant a bomb near him.

“I pay them off to look the other way, but this guy must not be your average cop. I’m thinking FBI or secret service. They’ve been after us for years but never found anything.

“We need to talk to our contacts there and see what’s up. I don’t want us getting heat over this.”

I turned around to see Conner already on the phone with our FBI contact. A few minutes later, he hung up and leaned forward.

“He’s one of theirs. Brandon’s been trying to keep him off our case, but he’s a new hire from out west and he’s trying to make a name for himself.

“Brandon will meet me in an hour to take the money back to the office. He’ll say he found a briefcase with a tracker in a dumpster.”

I couldn’t help but smile, thinking how lucky I was to have friends in high places.

“Give Brandon something extra for keeping Mark off our case. I’m glad he’s helping keep our operations under wraps.”

He nodded and pulled out a wad of cash, counting out what he’d give Brandon. Once we got back, I handed Conner the briefcase with the extra money Mark had given us to take out Perry.

Conner grabbed it, hopped into his car, and sped off down the driveway. The rest of the guys went back to their jobs as soon as we got back, no questions asked.

I locked up my office and hopped into the golf cart with Noah. We headed back to the house so I could find Shay for dinner. I was so happy to have her back and wanted to treat her to the best dinner around.

“Noah, have my plane ready in thirty minutes. I’m taking Shay somewhere special for dinner.”

He made the call while I called the restaurant where I was taking her. They immediately reserved my usual table, and then I headed into the house to find the woman who had stolen my heart.