CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

"You want me to what?" frowned Krauss.

"You're going to beg sweet Yulia to come to your mansion," smirked Ghost. "You'll tell her that you're furious about something, desperately need to meet with her and figure some things out. Simple."

"She won't come. She's paranoid and won't leave that damn island."

"She will if she thinks she's going to lose you and your support," said Ghost. They watched Krauss squirm, and they knew that he was feeling the heat. Tailor slapped the back of his head.

"Do it, boy. Or I'll have to use computer generated technology." Krauss stared at him as if in awe. "What's the matter? Didn't think an old country boy like me knew about AI?"

"What do you want me to say?"

Ian sat across from the man with his tablet on a mounted stand. On a separate stand was the message they wanted him to send her. It took several tries before he got going, but once he did and they were satisfied with his performance, they saved the video and waited.

"What now?" he asked the men.

"We wait," said Nine. "We're patient men, Krauss. We're not in a rush. We've got all the time in the world."

"Even if she comes, even if you turn us over to the authorities, we'll get out. We always do."

"You won't this time," said Ian. "We won't be calling the authorities when we're done. We'll be ensuring that you and your crazy as fuck ex-wife don't ever get near another human being again."

"Someone will be there to take our place," he said, suddenly feeling cocky. He smirked at the men, crossing his legs casually. "There is always someone willing to take our place. Do you know how many business associates we have around the world? Men and women ready to buy whatever we have to sell?"

"We're well aware," said Max casually. "That's why we exist." Krauss frowned at the men as if contemplating the statement.

"You know, as sick as you are, I get that there's always someone twisted enough to sell children, sell flesh, but why the sudden interest in stocks?" asked Dex.

"Money. Power. Control," said Krauss. "If we own the majority of the shares for power companies, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, we will own the world. We can send out the messages that we want, we can track the public's phone calls, internet searches, all of it."

"You plan to hold the entire world hostage," said Ian.

"It's a lofty goal," he smirked. "Even I admit that. Trafficking here in North America is less than in previous years. People like you have made it more difficult for us. But I don't worry about that. Are you aware of the poverty levels in third-world countries? The thousands and thousands of children born every year to parents who cannot afford them.

"They have no access to birth control. No access to fancy adoption agencies. So, they put their children in orphanages, or better, for me anyway, they place them on the streets and walk away from it all. Tragic, truly, but not everyone has the luxury of wealth."

"Yet you do, and this is what you choose to do with it," said Gaspar. "I'm curious why you and Broomzilla didn't have children."

"Don't speak of her that way. She can't help the way she is."

"Do I detect the voice of a man who still loves his wife?" grinned Nine.

"She couldn't help the way she was. Her father made her that way. Torturing her every night, making her fearful of every sound she heard, every person. He did this to her. Bastard deserved to die in that prison. Didn't matter how many times we sent someone to kill him, he survived."

"The worst always seem to," said Ian. "But you didn't answer my friend's question. Why didn't the two of you have children?"

"We did. It wasn't meant to be."

"Little man, if you tell me you sold your own child, I'm gonna rip your limbs from your body," said Tailor.

"No. We didn't sell our own child."

He said nothing else, just staring at the men. Nine nodded to Ghost, grabbing the small device that Victoria had instructed them to place behind his ear. She said that it would ensure they could track him if he ran.

"Any word from Code and Ace?" asked Ian. Dex shook his head. "Sounds like they're getting close. Once they're ready, we'll send the video and hopefully, his lovely bride will come calling."

"How many did you get planted?" asked Code.

"All of them. Even if this doesn't work, we'll have full view of what's happening here." The two men walked down the big staircase, acting as if they were checking connections and circuits. When they were met by Richard at the bottom of the steps, they stopped.

"Are you done?" he snapped.

"Yeah. Everything should be up and working fine now," said Code.

The bodyguard looked down at his phone, realizing that there were a number of messages rolling in. None that were critical, but at least it was working. The power was fully restored, and all of the computers were working as well.

Code stepped to the front of the house, tapping on the keypad that controlled everything.

"Heat and air are working. Security gate is functioning, as well as the security cameras at the gate. Feeds in the house are working. Everything should be good."

"Let's go," he said, pointing toward the back of the property. "Time to leave."

"Richard! Richard!" came the scream of the woman. The man rolled his eyes, biting his lip.

"Don't fucking move."

Grateful that the lights were back on, Yulia kept checking her phone and e-mail to see if there were any messages. As other things started to come back online, she heard the beeps and hums of the familiar machines in the house. Then she received a message she didn't expect.

"What now?" she said sharply. She opened the e-mail and gasped.

"Yulia, I need you to come to the mansion as soon as possible. I've had an issue with our two friends from Louisiana. I need you here to help me with this. I know it's a lot to ask, but just bring Richard with you. We can figure this out together."

"Richard! Richard!"