Canada

POV: Adrian

Never have I been so pissed off in my entire life, I was fuming. She sat there in the club acting as if it were a normal conversation to ask three guys to be okay with her fucking around. Hell, no it’s not okay and I dare one of them to put their hands on her in front of me.

I started to get up, but she placed her hand on my knee asking me to hear her out. Her eyes were filled with concern and the need to be accepted. I had the choice to walk away, but something inside of me had me stay.

Cameron’s face looked too familiar and something about him seemed off. He wouldn’t look me in the eyes and refused to have a conversation with me. I had to protect her from whatever was going on.

I know a lot of people frequented this club, but after some digging, he was able to make last-minute reservations and bump the people from this booth. This club is booked solid for months in advance, so he had to have some sort of connection.

His mother was mixed up in money laundering and he was tailed headed into the docks where he lost his tail. I had a feeling that he was caught up in Cooper’s organization, but a jacket on him never crossed my desk and I couldn’t trace him back to anyone high profile.

He kept his hands clean so far. But in my line of work, I know that everyone slips up. And I will be there when he does.

I left the club without giving her my answer. I simply told her to let me think about it because if I stayed any longer, I would have caused a scene.

She had tried texting me over the last two weeks and I was short with her. I let her know that I was all in, but she needed to be okay with me constantly traveling for work. In the last two weeks, I had traveled to 3 different countries to oversee operations in our hotels because Mr. Cooper had taken a leave of absence.

Come to think of it, I had not seen him in over a month. That was odd since he was the head of the organization and was a hands-on boss. While he didn’t personally handle the dirty laundry, he made sure he was involved in each transaction in some form.

He was getting older and did look rough when he popped into my meeting. He had no family and needed to name a successor soon or his competition would be gunning to overthrow him. Only a few select employees knew of the inner workings of the criminal side, the side I was aiming to take over and take it down.

Monica had been in and out of my office acting as if she hadn’t been a part of drugging me. I hadn’t said anything to not raise her suspicions. She had taken all my hints that our sexual relationship was over.

She had been sick recently, so I let her take some time off to get herself together. I had never seen her so sick. I was honestly happy to give her time off because I couldn’t stand to work side by side with someone who was up to no good.

I had kept her under surveillance, but nothing out of the ordinary came back. She kept the same mundane schedule and didn’t appear to hold any secret meetings. If she had been in communication with someone, it would have been done using a burner phone.

I was pulled from my thoughts when Leah texted me, “Hey Adrian, I know we haven’t spoken much lately. I have a favor to ask.”.

I was still being short with her, but I could feel her worry coming from her message.

I replied, “What do you need?”.

“These three guys followed Jenny to our building, then she closed the elevator before they could get on. They kept following her as she ran to the door. I stepped back out to confront them, but they had already gotten on the elevator to leave. I checked through the window and watched them load up into a blacked-out SUV.”, she needn’t say more.

I knew something would slip and part of me knew they weren’t after Jenny. The human trafficking ring didn’t capture women in the broad daylight, so something else was going on.

“I will handle it.”, was all I replied.

Turning to Hendrix, I told him to book us the next flight to New York. I was going back to get Leah and crush anyone who got in my way… including Cameron.

Before I left, I traced Leah’s phone to a small airfield about an hour south of the city. Her trail ran cold, assuming she was in the air somewhere. Returning to the city didn’t take long, so by the time we landed I had Martin posted outside keeping an eye on Jenny.

I headed to her apartment to talk to Jenny and find out where she was. Hendrix headed for my apartment to pull the footage from the CCTV cameras surrounding her apartment. Martin was to keep a low profile, posting near the front door.

It was the only way in or out because the backdoors triggered an emergency alarm once opened. I parked out front in the fire lane and took the elevator up. It was too easy to gain access to this building.

I informed Martin to set up a video monitoring system outside of her apartment, by each elevator entrance, and near the stairs. I wanted it set up to be invisible to the naked eye but provide us with real-time alerts for people coming and going.

I knocked on the door and Jenny opened it, visibly shaken.

“Hi Adrian.”, she said as she opened the door for me to proceed in.

“Are you okay?”, I looked around checking all the access points of the apartment.

“Just shaken up a little.”, she shrugged.

“Don’t worry, I will have my security keep an eye on you.”, I checked to make sure each window was locked.

“Thanks.”, she walked over and hugged me.

“No one will be able to access this apartment, so rest easy. Don’t go anywhere except work and home until I give you the clear.”, I patted her back unsure of how to respond to her gesture.

“But… what about my parents?”, she let go and looked up at me.

“To keep them safe, stay away. Tell them you are staying here. My men will keep you safe, you have my word.”, I looked her in the eye and made a promise.

I don’t give my word unless I know I can follow through.

“I have to go now, just yell and one of my guys will be in here.”, I walked to her door.

“Hey, where did Leah go?”, I needed to get eyes on her.

“Cameron took her to Canada.”, that asshole.

“Thank you, Adrian. I know how much she means to you. Just give her time.”, she waved as I opened the door and walked out.

“I am going to find out who those scumbags were and make sure they never bother you again.”, that was a promise I didn’t need to make.

She gave me a half smile as I left. I wanted those cameras installed in the next hour, so I told Martin to call Jimmy.

Jimmy was king of hidden cameras, he suited me up each time I took a meeting with Mr. Cooper. His tech was so small and untraceable that it passed each bug check. I also had him bug an English Victorian Schooner Ship model that I gifted to Mr. Cooper.

It sat on his shelf in his main office, collecting data undetected. Nothing of major importance so far because he liked to keep his shady deals face to face. That man loved to collect expensive items just to flaunt his wealth.

I made it to my apartment in record time, fuck the parking ticket that I had received. I would make sure it was handled without anyone knowing where I was. Hendrix was already there and had pulled the footage I requested.

“Boss we got a hit on the plates.”, he got straight to business.

“Who’s is it?”, that bastard was going down.

“It is registered to a shell corps, but I combed through their records and found that it was founded a month ago.”, something didn’t sit right about that.

“What umbrella company is it under?”, I asked.

“Dreams for Disabilities Non-Profit, based out of Mexico.”, so this proved that Cameron was involved, or his mother was calling the shots.

“Did we get any facial scans?”, I wanted names on these bastards.

“No boss, they knew to look down and avoid cameras.”, they had to have been trained.

“Did we get connected back to Leah’s cell?”, I needed to know where in Canada she was.

“Yes boss, she landed in Thompson about four hours ago.”, he looked worried.

“Shit, that’s the worst part. What the fuck is she doing there?”, thinking out loud.

“We know a few thugs with places there, I can check them all.”, he offered a solution.

“Keep an alert set on her phone, as well as facial recognition on all CCTVs”, I wanted to know all her whereabouts.

“Yes, boss.”, he turned back around to the computer.

I don’t know what time I fell asleep on the couch, but I woke up to my phone going off and Hendrix shaking me.

“Boss we have a problem.”, that woke me up.

“What is it?”, I asked rubbing my eyes and getting up.

“I just got a hit on plates in Canada registered to the same non-profit as before.”, that sent me into a rage, and I ended up flipping the coffee table across the room.

“Also, check your phone.”, I pulled out my phone and missed a message from Leah.

Her text was simple, “Adrian, please come get me. It’s not safe here.”.

“Did you trace her phone?”, I glared at Hendrix.

“Yes. I got a location before it was cut off.”, he said as he handed me a plane ticket.

I didn’t even pack a bag, just grabbed my vest and my undercover service weapon before heading out the door. I wasn’t going to leave Canada without Leah.

-To be continued-