Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 727 : There’s a Rat

*Elio*

The other side of the phone went dead silent for half a second, abrupt enough to make me check if the call was still connected or not. Apparently, it was, and I shrugged, letting her gather her thoughts.

“Well, is he okay or not?” Cat snapped out her impatience in a tone that was more than familiar to me.

I didn’t mind. I understood that she was still very anxious about whether this guy was good or if she had introduced a trap to her best friend. She’d been tricked once, and as angry as it made me, it had made her even warier.

Junior hadn’t just hurt her. He’d torn her trust in people to shreds.

Cat was protective of those she loved. I knew that. It was one of the things I loved the most about her, which was why I didn’t take her angry tone to heart.

“I looked into him, and as far as it looks on the outside, he’s clean,” I told her, flipping through the folder I’d received just a few minutes ago. “No criminal activity, no record at all actually. He’s a straight-A student with perfect attendance. Hell, he was even the valedictorian in his high school. We couldn’t dig up a single skeleton. On paper, he’s just a perfectly average Joe.”

And after looking at the guy’s report, I felt a lot better about where he stood with Cat.

I had nothing to worry about when it came to this Elijah guy, and I was glad.

“So, he’s okay then.” She breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yes, there is no need for me to get involved unless you want me to. I could still handle him if he’s bothering you,” I suggested playfully, only half serious.

If this guy had turned out to be enemy scum, I would’ve personally made sure he never showed up in front of her again. Necessity comes in unusual forms, and this one would’ve come with a bullet with his name on it.

But I was happy not to have to go to those extremes.

Cat ignored my joking. “I’m heading home then. Are you back yet?” she asked curiously.

“Afraid not. I’ve still got some more work to do, but I’ll be home in an hour or so,” I said regretfully. Unfortunately, our business was taking longer than usual late tonight, or I would have already been there holding her in my arms.

“Okay, I’ll see you when you get home then. I love you.” Those sweet little words against my ears felt like heaven, and I found myself smiling widely.

“I love you too.”

The call ended but I sighed, brushing my hair from my eyes as I looked up at the sky above. It was a clear night, stars shining brightly overhead, and maybe it was just how happy I felt hearing Cat’s voice, but all of it felt just a little more beautiful.

But that beauty didn’t last long.

“Elio!”

I heard the call from inside the propped-open security door, the warehouse lights overly bright as they drowned out the night sky. I crashed back down to reality like Icarus with burning wings, and my smile dropped off to a grimace as I shoved my phone back into my pocket.

The few guards standing outside the warehouse nodded at me as I brushed past the smoke from their cigarettes. Butts lined the ground, still half-burning as they crushed them beneath their heels, but I didn’t care.

Whatever they did was their own business.

I stepped inside, feeling the heat as we had cut costs on the warehouse buildings by excluding air conditioning. At least for this one, there was no need to have good ventilation. The product needed a dry environment, and desert heat was perfect for it.

I ignored the cheers and groans from the poker table the guys had set up on the first floor and I climbed the rickety metal staircase going to the overseer booth.

I spotted Leo standing by the window, glaring longingly at the poker table and when I entered, Franky was shuffling through the mountain of paperwork that sat on the only good table in this place.

I could see why Leo had gotten bored already.

It was less of a mountain and more like a volcano about the blow, piled high in ways that shouldn’t be possible. It seemed like one small sigh could send it toppling all over the floor.

“And we found some hits on the security thanks to our helpful asset in the LA police force, but it was minimal at best.”

“Jamie wins again.” Leo sighed as I walked in, interrupting Franky.

Franky sent him an irritated look but caught sight of me and straightened in his chair, pretending like he hadn’t just been fighting a losing battle with dead tree pulp.

“And why does Jamie win again?” I asked, crossing my arms, already irritated.

“Because he’s got that huge scar across his face. Lost his nerve damage due to that bullet, so nobody can tell when he’s bluffing. Look, he’s got two fives, two fours, and a queen, he should’ve been out rounds ago but he’s winning again cause nobody’s calling his bluffs! He should be banned from poker night, dammit—”

Leo was still ranting when he turned to me and then abruptly fell silent.

“I’ll be sure to tell Jamie that then,” I smirked.

“Please don’t,” Leo whimpered, wide-eyed. “He’ll kick my ass.”

“Then he’ll be doing me a favor,” Franky interjected, ignoring Leo’s glare.

“Instead of watching poker, do your job, Leo,” I said firmly, taking my seat at the table. I turned to Franky. “Continue what you were talking about. Something about the LAPD.”

Franky looked relieved actually as he stopped fiddling with the paperwork, turning in his chair to face me. “We took your suggestion and went to our mole in the LAPD. He got us the security footage from the streets. We didn’t find anything we didn’t know about Teo’s route. There were no cameras in that area, or when there were, they just didn’t work. But we did find an unregistered van that was flagged leaving the area.”

“Connected?” I frowned.

“It was bought second-hand from a private dealer. Besides being currently unregistered, its license plate is expired. We ran it and a name came up—James Hammond.” Franky smirked. “Nothing suspicious. He’s a lawyer, good guy, except our mole dug around and found his missing person’s report from ten years ago. It was dropped, but Mr. Hammond has never been seen since.”

“You’re thinking he was connected to Antonio, dealt with and they’re reusing the license plate?” I frowned. “That’s smart.”

“Fits with your theory that Junior isn’t running the shots anymore. He’s got help,” Leo frowned. “But why would anybody that smart choose to go against us and Alessandro? We’ve got ties to almost every crime family in Europe now. Declare war and they’re finished.”

“No idea, but lucky for us, that’s not all,” Franky grinned, looking happier than I had ever seen them. “These guys were careless. Ran a red light and our friend got us the snapshot. We got a picture of the driver.”

“Shit,” Leo grinned. “Score one for the good guys.” 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Franky pulled out his phone, unlocking it with his thumbprint before pulling up the photo. It was grainy but the face was perfectly captured the person’s image—a man, in his thirties with a scar under his eye and a very menacing look.

My mouth went dry.

“I know him. He was one of the ones who escaped when Cat’s mom was kidnapped,” I said.

His ugly mug was one I wouldn’t forget. I knew I should’ve put a bullet in his back when the coward ran, but I had been too slow.

Now, it was coming back to bite me once again.

“Part of Junior’s crew,” Franky explained. “Rick Cassin, thirty-five, a very long and detailed rap sheet. Been in and out of prison for minor theft until the idiot got picked up by Junior. He’s off the grid now, so we’ve got nothing on him, but we know for a fact who’s behind this now.”

“Junior and whoever he’s working with,” I scowled. I sighed, confirming my worst fears. “This was a hit.”

“They only picked Teo ’cause it was convenient,” Leo said, shaking his head with a disgusted look. “He was still fresh here, only getting settled, so they found his routine, stalked him out until he was alone, and then grabbed him. But how did they know he was working for us, or where to find him?”

“They’re starting with the lowest-ranked members and working to the highest,” I said, as the realization hit me. “That means they know who’s working for us.”

Franky nodded, seeming to have already come to the same conclusion.

“And that means we have a mole,” he said roughly.

“Any idea who?” Leo frowned.

“Not in the slightest,” Franky sighed.

They both turned to me, and I struggled to keep my face neutral, but the idea of us having a mole had cemented itself into my mind.

I knew it might happen. Alessandro had warned me about the flow of information and how much I should trust the individual men, but....

It infuriated me to think someone had betrayed us, had gotten Teo killed and thrown everyone around me into danger.

For what... money, spite? Just for the hell of it?

I shut my eyes for a moment, breathing out through my nose as I remained calm. Once I was sure I had a stranglehold on my temper, I glanced at Franky and Leo coldly.

“Make sure all of your guys are grouped by the threes at least, preferably more. Nobody goes anywhere alone, and make sure all of our moles and spies are aware. Everyone keeps their eyes peeled but makes sure not to let the idea of a mole spread out. We don’t want to make anybody nervous just yet.”

Franky nodded and I turned to Leo.

“Gather up the records for everyone we employ, even to the smallest person. Alessandro’s sending another group of men from his side in a couple days. They aren’t involved in this, so have them flag anyone even the slightest bit suspicious and tail them. Rotate the surveillance so nobody finds out what’s going on. If there are any questions, direct them to me.”

“And what do you define as suspicious?” Leo raised an eyebrow.

“As of this moment, everyone is suspicious,” I said firmly.

I got to my feet, pacing over to the window as I stared down at the enthusiastic game of poker the men were playing. To think one of them had sold us out....

“Teo was just the beginning,” I said grimly. “There’s going to be another hit, so if there’s a rat, we’re going to find him... at any cost.”