Chapter 6: Glasgow: That afternoon: Closing in

CHAPTER 6

MIKI

GLASGOW – THAT AFTERNOON – CLOSING IN

A few hours after returning home for our meeting with Simpson, Vlad and I were headed to Glasgow, with Marko in tow.

Sitting in the back of the SUV while Vlad drove as usual, Marko and I looked over the blueprints to the building which housed Mathieson's Law Office and discussed the plan for the night ahead.

As expected, the moment I provided Marko with Aiden Mathieson's name, he had got to work and within minutes we discovered Mathieson was an old-school friend of Simpson's wife. That was their connection, yet we still hadn't found the connection between Mathieson, Glowacki, and us. Marko had wanted a few more days to delve into Mathieson further and find out. However, I was sick of waiting.

It was strange because usually I took my time with everything. I liked to dot all the I's and cross all the t's and thoroughly plan for every eventuality before going ahead with anything. However, something compelled me to just go for it today. It felt like someone was tugging on an invisible rope wrapped around my mind, pulling all my thoughts towards Mathieson and that building.

The idea was ridiculous, yet I found myself unable to shake it off.

For years, this guy had been hiding behind the scenes, messing with us, no doubt laughing at us. The unknown puppet master pulling the strings of our enemies and playing us all for fools. But he wasn't unknown anymore, and I wouldn't allow his interference in my Brotherhood or Glowacki's any longer without consequence. We'd played by his rules long enough. It was time to change them.

Besides, we were due to meet with a contact in Glasgow in a couple of days anyway, so heading up a bit earlier felt like the right thing to do.

My fists clenched as I scowled at the picture of Mathieson that Marko had sent to my phone.

The smug expression on the guy's face made me seethe with fury.

On top of everything he had done, this fucking bastard had ordered my sister's death. I wanted to know why. What his problem was with us and if he was working with anyone else? And then he needed to pay. Him and that little weasel, Simpson.

Marko raised his eyebrows at me when I emitted a growl under my breath. I shook my head at his questioning gaze. He tilted his own head enough to see my screen and his wry smile told me he knew exactly what I was thinking. A pained look flashed across his face, and I knew he was picturing the last time we all saw our beautiful sister.

"We'll make him pay. We'll make them all pay," he reassured me, nodding.

Oh, they would definitely pay dearly for their sins. I still wasn't sure exactly how yet, but I longed to take at least one of them to the C, and Aiden Mathieson seemed the most likely candidate for a one-way ticket to the place.

When we were in the C, we were totally in control of everything.

Everyone entering was unconscious and properly restrained.

Clothes and personal items were removed, and forensic suits donned, before going into the kill room.

We never went in there alone but always with another person for safety.

After we were finished, we cleansed everything thoroughly and disposed of the bodies through cremation.

The C was our special place and the rules my dad had created, and we rigidly implemented, allowed us to literally get away with murder.

Dad was an amazing planner and strategist, and I tried to be like him as best I could.

That was why I didn't kill Simpson the minute I discovered his identity, even though I longed to rip out the bastard's throat. That was also why, although we were headed up to Scotland, I had no plans to confront Mathieson yet.

Not until I discovered everything I could about the guy and ensured there were no other unknown enemies lurking in the shadows. Sadly, the way things had been lately, I really couldn't discount that possibility. Time would tell.

"I'll give Jim MacArthur a call and see what he knows," I told Marko as he continued to dig into Mathieson's background.

"Miki. Good to hear from you," Jim answered in his gruff Scottish brogue.

Jim MacArthur was the head of the MacArthur gang from the south side of Glasgow, and one of the few people I was considering for offloading part of our drugs route to.

"Don't tell me you've called to rearrange our meeting?"

"Not at all. Actually, I was looking for a bit of information," I replied.

"Whatever you need," he said.

After filling him in on the situation, Jim confirmed Mathieson was the defence lawyer on the payroll of a rival gang. The Thomas gang were based in Glasgow's east end and were notorious throughout Scotland. They ruled their small territory through fear and violence and were, in the words of Jim, ‘scummy bastards'. If Mathieson was involved with them, he was the lowest of the low.

However, that still didn't explain his obsession with hurting us or Glowacki. Neither of us had ever had any dealings with the Thomas gang. So, either Mathieson was working alone, and he was the one who had the issue with us, or there was indeed another player yet to be discovered.

Sighing heavily, I rubbed at the tension in my forehead, which was causing me a headache. It was frustrating that the answers still eluded us, but at least we were closing in on a key player.

Tonight, with the help of Marko, I would break into Mathieson's office and hopefully, that would provide me with many of the answers I so desperately needed.

Hiding behind the bins, out of sight of the security cameras, I waited.

The stink was disgusting. I guessed an office must have had a working lunch as leftover Indian takeaway and pizza boxes overflowed the bin, pushing the lid open enough to allow the stench of rotten food to permeate the air.

Taking quick, shallow breaths, I tried hard to avoid inhaling too deeply for fear that I might end up vomiting. I'd never live it down if Marko heard me spewing my guts up over a bit of leftover food.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait for long and the lights in the building flickered off and then on again.

"Go!" his voice hissed through my earpiece. The alarm was off.

Relief flooded me as I escaped the offending smells and hurried over to the door, grabbed the handle, and pulled it open enough to slip inside.

Closing it over gently behind me, I smiled as I made my way in through the basement.

Marko had hacked the system and taken over the security feed a short while ago, recording footage that would now be shown on a loop by the cameras to hide my actions.

As the staff had already left for the night, there were no lights on the floors, but the stairs were lit enough light for me to see while I bolted up the five flights of stairs to take me to the fourth floor and Mathieson's Law Office.

Feeling exhilarated, and panting hard, I gasped out, "I'm here!" and a few seconds later, the office door unlocked. Fantastic!

My heart raced with the effort of the run and the thrill of the situation.

Slipping inside, I made my way over to Mathieson's private office and opened the door.

There were no lights on inside his office either, but I utilised the torch on my phone to help me see as I fired up his computer. Once it was on, I quickly linked it up to the gadget Marko had provided so he could hack into it and download the hard drive.

While that was happening, I hid several tiny cameras around the room. The feed from them would go directly to Marko's laptop and my phone. It didn't take long to do. This wasn't our first rodeo. We had done this sort of thing before.

Getting the hard drive information took the longest, and it was just completed when Marko hissed again, "Someone's coming!"

"The guard?" I asked.

"No, someone else appears to be breaking in!" he stated. "Hide!"

Shit! What? Who?

With just a few seconds to spare, I snatched Marko's gadget and shut down the computer.

After ducking into the small bathroom, I left the door just open enough so that whomever it was could see that it was a bathroom and hopefully ignore it while still leaving me hidden from view.

Tuning into the video feed from our cameras on my phone, I watched in silence, knowing the bit of light it produced could not be seen from within the office.

The office door opened, and I held my breath as I watched. A smallish figure dressed in black entered. Peering closer, I studied the approaching figure. It appeared to be female.

"Is that a woman?" Marko's question broke the silence, and I almost cursed, thinking I was about to be discovered before I remembered the earpiece lodged in my ear.

"Looks like it," I whispered.

A woman was breaking into Mathieson's office! Why?