Chapter 25 Snaring

Beau

And to think she was cursing her gift a few years back. Now, she was thanking the man above.

She shouldn't be this nervous, surely, Dominic had done dangerous things before. He was the mafia king for God's sake. Her stomach lurched at the thought.

"This algorithm is accurate, right?" It was a good diversion as any. Dinara's piqued curiosity made Beau's anxiety vanished. For a time.

"Yes. As you can see, I've set up instructions and formulas that take an input, A, and provide an output, B, that changes the data involved if movements are detected. We got all 1 thousand square meters covered. I have also hacked NASA's satellite station. And look," She pointed out detailed surveillance of the target area. Movements of people inside the perimeter were seen milling about. Mostly men with guns. People inside their homes visible through thermal scans.

Blue-violet eyes widened with excitement and awe. "You really are a genius, sis," Dinara uttered.

She shrugged her shoulders at the compliment. "It is a child's play for me. I had this all figured out since I was a teenager. I'm glad it's of use now."

"And we can use this anywhere in the world?"

"Yes. Anywhere in the world." The genius accountant murmured back absentmindedly, occupied with the guerillas, Dominic's enemies. Her number one priority was to keep him safe. It doesn't matter if he had done this several times. He had to come home with not so much as a scratch.

"By the way, Beau. Are you hungry? Maman said to make sure you eat anything you want." Her family was really something. This unborn child will be smothered with love when he comes out.

"Yeah. I want a blueberry cheesecake. I don't want it baked. I hate the smell of the oven and order everything on the Chinese menu." Beau answered softly. She really adored her sister-in-law. And the feeling was mutual.

Dinara nodded and left the library silently. Happy to please. She watched Dominic's energetic sister go then went back to work.

Beau's eyes were glued to the screen. Any moment now, Dominic's battle-ready men will have the area surrounded,

On the ground, she saw movements inside the 10x10 bunker. Based on the thermal impression, it was going downward. It was an underground tunnel. Shit! She doesn't have to be a genius to know what was happening.

They were escaping. Someone must have tipped them off.

Dominic's party was in motion yet a few minutes away. ETA should be 10 minutes and the enemies would be long gone.

Dominic has to know. Opening their private comms...

"Detka,"

"They are escaping." She hissed. No time for niceties. "There's an underground tunnel at a bunker south of the property. And someone must have tipped him off. Be careful."

Dominic growled savagely and begun to give out orders to Alec. Breathe bated, she watched their every movement on the screen.

SUVs were accelerated and guns were being primed.

"We are almost at the property, Beau."

"Yes. I can see you. Take care. I will be your eyes and ears." Knowing what was about to happen made her frustrated. She had never felt so inadequate.

What else could she do? It was a sure bet those people will have their escape covered to a tee. Possibly even a plane waiting for them.

Triangulation analysis.

Yes! With her resources, she would be able to pinpoint their enemy's destination. Eyes locked on the screen, hands dancing on the keyboard, she began to type codes, rapidly accessing the world's advanced GPS.

Perfectly arched brows scrunched in concentration, she was mentally tracing measurement of a series network of triangles in order to determine the distances and relative positions of points spread over territory, especially southeast of the area. Measuring the length of one side of each triangle and deducing its angles and the length of the other two sides by observation from this baseline. And she hit enter.

Beau was right there was a private plane waiting at a private tarmac.

A clear picture of where they were headed shown on the screen.

Stunned speechless. Her whole body stilled.

San Francisco, CA

The enemies had one goal.

"Dominic, come home now."

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Alec

Fuck! No one could be trusted outside their circle. Someone from the Mexican Cartel must be a rat. How else could Antoine Lemonte know?

There was not much to do when they arrived at the scene. He volunteered to stay behind and sweep the area. Prisoners were taken and interviewed. Mostly locals. And mostly afraid. Not much came out of it. A fucking waste of time!

Dominic, the Mafia King was long gone. As soon as they realized the danger, he convinced his tzar to go back to his fiancee right away.

From distance, Alec saw the leader of the cartel addressing his men. Good.

He would never be effective if his men can't be trusted. The general knew for a fact he was right.

For some reason, Dominic and he actually trusted Rafael Montero. Even when they were young, the man had guts and he was honorable. True to his word. But he had to clean up his ranks or he will be dead before he reached thirty.

Alec's eyes narrowed, the cartel's second in command was walking towards him. Now, that man can't be trusted. His deep brown eyes had a hard glint and it held too many secrets.

"Alec," he murmured in a greeting.

"Arturo," If he wanted something he would have to try harder. Alec decided - and as per Dominic's instructions- to tell them no more than what was necessary.

The tzar announced he was leaving and their plan was compromised. That was it.

They were answerable to no one. Least of all to the man standing a few feet from Alec.

"Do you know who the rat might be?"

You

Face unreadable, Alec looked him directly in the eyes. "We will. Soon."

And left Arturo standing alone not giving him the chance to say anything more. Alec hated fools.

He needed to talk to Rafael. He just hoped he was not making a mistake by trusting the Mexican Cartel leader. For he will be joining them in San Francisco.

Tzar's orders.

"We need to talk, Rafael. Just us. Let's go to my car." The man nodded. Probably guessing what Alec was about to discuss was exactly what Dominic wanted to share.

Alec knew about the attack on Rafael's family. It was all over the underground buzz when he and Dominic were just training to take over. Not all the details though. But it had surely hardened the man before him.

Just like Dominic, this man was a born leader. With deeper scars. And much deeper pain.

As a sign of respect, he opened the door for his friend and followed him inside, securely locking the car doors so they won't be interrupted.

"I know we can't be trusted right now, Alec but I will never betray Dominic. I have too much respect for him."

"We know. Our friendship means something. That's why we need to talk." The tzar could have easily killed the Mexican gang integrated into their ranks but he didn't. Not yet if Rafael was loyal.

"What do you want to know?"

"You do know you have a traitor amongst your men, right?"

"Yes. And I will do something about it." By the tone in his voice, Alec didn't doubt him.

"Ok. We can live with that. So long as you take care of it." He paused. Trying to formulate the right words. "Dominic wants you to go back with me to San Francisco. Only you and your most trusted men."

"Antoine will be there." Rafael wouldn't be a leader if he was slow to deduce.

Alec remained silent. Waiting. Not affirming anything. He will let them speculate until they reach California.

"When?"

"Today."

"Ok. I will tell my men. I will use my private jet."

Alec nodded. So long as they get there.

He hoped Arturo Montero will tag along. He would love to get his hands on him as soon as they have enough evidence.

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