Earthbound : A gripping crime thriller full of twists and supernatural suspense by Fynn Perry (popular romance novels TXT) 📗

this is an FBI operation. We appreciate you cooperating, but we’ll only update, not share strategy.” This was delivered slightly less arrogantly, in a more conciliatory tone.

The captain sat back in his chair. “Go on,” he muttered.

“We got administrative access to the website where the hit was contracted. One of our guys masqueraded online as the assassin and intercepted communications with the buyer. The buyer logged in for the last time earlier today and changed the terms of the hit, wanting to have Lazlo bound and shot, but alive so he could finish him off. We accepted the terms, set up a trap, and caught him,”

The captain gave a sigh of relief.

“With El Gordito in Rikers now, awaiting arraignment,” Chapman continued, “we figured one of his men would show up, but instead it was someone we’ve never seen before. This guy’s a real hard nose, disciplined, quiet—has the look of a stone-cold killer. By the way, he took a bullet to the shoulder. I would say he’s no stranger to pain or interrogation. He’s in Interview Room 1 now, and I’m about to question him.”

“Got a name?” the captain interjected.

“That’s just it, he’s not coming up in any databases. Like he doesn’t exist. We’re now going through other channels. He’s definitely ex-military. He could be a private contractor involved in black ops, which is why we’re having trouble finding his identity. That might make him very well connected at the government level.”

He paused as if allowing the captain to digest all that he had just heard. “Don’t worry, Lazlo’s safe and the actual hit on him was called off,” he added.

The captain nodded. “Good. What could this guy’s connection be with El Gor…” He stopped himself. “I don’t want to know. It’s all yours, Chapman. This is too rich for my blood. I’m just glad I took Lazlo off the case when I did.”

“You’re welcome to sit in. It’s your precinct, after all.” Chapman smiled. “Just don’t ask him anything. That’s my department.”

The captain declined and remained seated.

John got up and followed the agent out of the room.

One of Chapman’s subordinates approached him just before he entered Interview Room 1, handing him some documents. There was a brief, excited exchange between them, and then Chapman eagerly entered the room. Seconds later, John entered the adjacent observation room.

John immediately noticed that the detained black-ops man was possessed, and it suddenly occurred to him that, this time, it really could be Santiago’s spirit doing the possessing. Maybe he had just been wrong about thinking that El Gordito had been Santiago’s host, but he had not been wrong about the narrative. The sheer scale and impact of the Spider’s Bite production was so massive it had to be part of The Game. And this guy, who clearly from appearance and attitude would not fit in as one of El Gordito’s all-Mexican henchmen, was nevertheless involved in the drug lord’s operation and possibly at a high level. He felt his heartbeat quickening and the instinct to run came on hard and fast. Even if it meant putting his own existence at risk, he had to stay and find out if his plan of taking down El Gordito’s drug business had done anything to disqualify Santiago’s presence in The Game—if the spirit of the evil drug baron might now be closer to being banned from the Earth forever.

The detained man’s mind was buzzing. There had been no reprieve, no covert operation to extract him from the hands of the FBI. Not even a lawyer sent. Vargas had assured him that Lazlo wouldn’t become a problem, but he now was. A serious problem. A problem that threatened the existence of the biggest narcotics empire that the world had ever seen. His need for revenge against a cop who didn’t know his place, and who dared to threaten his business, had somehow got the better of him. The voice in his head, the one that had made his anger build to the point of wanting to go and kill Lazlo by his own hand, was now quiet. But it was still there inside him, humming with energy––just like those damn robots in the fulfillment center he had financed as a cover for the world-changing, drug-making business.

Chapman started the questioning, reading from a piece of paper. “You were a hard man to identify, Mr. Quinn.”

Quinn was shocked that they now had his name, but he said nothing.

“And it’s been even harder to pull any records on you. In fact, they appear to have been deleted.”

Quinn’s mouth twitched in a half-smile.

“But don’t think we won’t get them eventually.” Chapman paused, as if deep in thought for a moment. “Let’s forget the past for now. I’m more interested in the present. Why did you sanction a hit on Detective Lazlo?”

No response.

“Lazlo was obsessed with Miguel Vargas’s operation in New York and was working to pin anything he could on the Mexican. Therefore, anyone who would want Lazlo dead, is most likely going to be connected to Vargas. Follow my train of thought?”

“Seems like you have an overactive imagination, Special Agent,” Quinn said, placing a sarcastic emphasis on the word ‘special.’

“What’s your relationship with Miguel Vargas?”

No response.

“We have Vargas, a.k.a. El Gordito, and his men in custody while we prepare charges against them for drug trafficking and multiple counts of murder. Most of what we need is in here.” Chapman pulled out the two ledgers from the pile of documents he had been given before entering. “Vargas’s accountant, Pablo Barrera, known simply as ‘The Accountant,’ did all his books for him. I really do mean that literally. No computers. Real books. I have them here.”

Quinn maintained his stoic expression.

“We might not have full access to your records online but if you have any business connection to Vargas it will be in here. Of course, we were never meant to see these ledgers,” Chapman said with a smile. “Just as we were never supposed to find the drug manufacturing