By the time my hand went numb, he was a bloody pulp of a mess. And I knew I was going too far, but I couldn't tamp back that fury, that rage.
You have to. You're angry and frustrated because the woman you love, isn't here. As for this asshole, leave him standing. Because you have a moral center. Most people don't. He'll get what's coming to him in the end. Use your best resources and burn him.
I could burn him, but I only had one burn, and I wasn't wasting it on him. But there were other ways.
Make sure you're doing this for the right reason, not because you can't take out your anger on Nyla.
I was doing this for the right reasons. Nyla had distracted me from all the other things I had going on. But no more. I was back on track. And I was going to be just fine without her.
Nyla
As it turned out, once Amelia made up her mind, there was no changing it.
We were going to see Bram Van Linsted if it was the last thing in the world we did.
His father, Marcus, and several of his friends and acquaintances had been arrested for human trafficking.
Bram, while seemingly innocent on the human trafficking charges, was arrested for fraud, corruption, and embezzlement. He’d claimed a priceless piece of jewelry was missing. However, authentication showed that his family had only ever owned replicas. He’d covered that up and tried to collect on the insurance.
His own mother had been the one to give him up. She had also outlined an extensive set of financial schemes, all designed to cheat the family company and line his personal coffers.
Nice family.
He was absolutely the last person on earth I wanted to see. Even though I hadn't been able to pin him on the human trafficking, I kept thinking that surely, I had missed something. Somewhere.
Something told me I better get used to that kind of disappointment.
Like now. I wasn’t into making deals with arseholes. But I wasn’t in charge. This wasn’t my show.
To put it bluntly, I was there as backup. I had no badge, and I wasn’t willing to compromise myself to get mine back, so second fiddle it was.
What does that say about you?
Amelia led the way to her car. And I could tell that she was unsure if she should let me drive or not. Normally, she drove. Would it be different now? It was a new feeling having no place.
But I was glad she still did. Amelia was more than capable. She was exceptional, really. I had put her up for promotion to lead her own team three times in the last year and a half. But somehow budget cuts never seemed to let that happen. Amelia paused at the driver's side door of the Shelby. "This is weird, isn't it?"
"I'm so glad you said that because it's very strange."
"Look, I'm sorry it has turned out this way. Are you sure you won’t come back?" she asked in a pleading tone.
"Not now. But look, I’m happy for you. Just because my father, Denning, and I don't see eye to eye doesn’t mean I don’t have respect for Interpol. I just can’t be there right now. But you are going to be amazing."
"Thanks love, but I don't want it to be because of you losing everything. The way Denning has acted is so bullshit. And you recognize that anyone in the building who has ever maybe witnessed Denning being a complete dick to you has been reassigned.”
"What?"
"Oh yeah, remember the Toolsit mission? When he called you a dizzy flake in front of the whole team and screamed at you for nearly twenty minutes about how you'd entered the wrong coordinates?"
"Jesus Christ, how could I forget?" It was later discovered that I’d given the right coordinates and his special two-man team overlooked something, so we lost our lead. Afterward, there had been no apology, nothing. Just a brief acknowledgement from my father that I hadn’t in fact fucked up, then nothing.
“All those agents are on different teams now.”
I shook my head. “I will never understand it. Of all the things I miss, Denning Sinclair isn’t one of them.”
“He’s a proper twat.”
"Well, I appreciate you saying it."
"It's the truth, and I mean every word of it. Now, let's go talk to Bram Van Linsted." Amelia hesitated. "Look, I know you're not enthused to talk to him, but it’s a solid lead."
"This is your team. I follow you now. That's what’s important."
"Thanks, it's nice to have your support."
"Of course. Regardless of what else is going on, you kick arse. Now, let's go."
Amelia gave me a nod, her eyes glassing over and shimmering slightly with unshed tears. "All right, let's go."
Nearly an hour later, we were pulling into Belmarsh Correctional Facility in Thamesmead. There was a whole series of badge identification checkpoints and checking of all weapons as well, keeping them in lockboxes, the whole nine. Then we were led down the hall to the right and into an interrogation room.
We took the two seats on one side of the bare table and waited for Bram Van Linsted to show up. I hadn't seen him since his preliminary hearing. He hadn't been able to bail out since his family assets were frozen.
When he entered the room, his lawyer was also present, and she glowered at us. "To what do we owe this honor? I'm irritated that you did not present the matter to me directly before coming to see my client."
I thought Amelia would be rattled, but she wasn't. Not in the least. She was handling it like a total boss. "Mr. Van Linsted, you are well?"
"Well, it's not the bloody Four Seasons."
She lifted a brow. "No, I suppose it's not. But then, few things are." She leaned forward and hit record on her phone. She rattled off the date and the time before continuing. "Upon your arrest some time ago, you claimed that you have information
