Page 59 of Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad World

“So, Abasi,” Noah said into the heavy silence, “you reckon there’s a lot more money kicking around in Eddie’s and the gang’s accounts?”

“Definitely.”

Katrina put her unfinished sandwich back down on her plate. “Money made from human trafficking, drugs, and arms dealing. That’s what we’re talking about here, isn’t it?” Her comment was directed at Abasi, and it wasn’t friendly.

“That’s how you make the big bucks.” He appeared unaffected by the judgment in her tone.

“Was the James Family involved in human trafficking?” Katrina asked, her focus on Abasi.

He stopped eating to stare straight at her. “No. Marcus and I shut that shit down. We ran some brothels, though. I’d be happy to supply numbers.”

The tension in the room had become so thick that no one was eating anymore.

Noah cleared his throat and tried to steer the conversation into less personal territory. “Human trafficking’s a huge problem here. Houston’s a hub. Would be good if we could take that particular income stream away from the Demons.”

Evan glanced nervously between Katrina and Abasi before answering. “I don’t think we should be too fussy. I say we take away all their money from all their income streams.”

“You reckon you’re any closer to doing that?” Noah sipped his coffee.

Again, Evan shot Abasi a nervous glance. “With Abasi’s help, yeah.”

“And what will you do with their money once you take it away?” Katrina asked softly. “Do we keep it, like Abasi chose to do with the James Family’s money? Or do we hand it over to the cops?”

Another strange, unspoken communication zapped between Katrina and Abasi, making the hair on the back of Noah’s neck stand on end.

“I say we let Katrina decide what to do with it,” Abasi said in a low, even tone. “She’s the one with a vested interest in how they made their fortune.”

Katrina paled but held his gaze as she raised her chin. “Then we donate it to charities working with victims of human trafficking.” It was a challenge.

“Fine with me,” Abasi said.

Rochelle frowned at them both. “I don’t think that choice is one either of you gets to make. Let’s find the money first before deciding where we move it. How much longer do you need, Evan?”

“I don’t have a clue,” he said cheerily. “It isn’t an exact science, but I’m working as fast as I can. Would be good to get some more help. Is it okay if I ask Elle in the London office to lend a hand?”

Noah kept his attention on his food, not wanting his expression to give anything away. He suspected Elle was already up to her ears in research for Abasi and wouldn’t have time to help Evan.

“Sure, give her a call,” Rochelle said before turning her attention to Noah. “Where do things stand on building security?”

“We’re as secure as we’ll ever be. The boys,” he said, gesturing to the triplets, “still have to run some cables for thenew cameras—the fire took out the last lot—but that’s about it. The main thing is that the sprinkler system is now secure. Wish we’d thought of that before last night’s attack.” He shook his head. “Can honestly say it never occurred to me that it was possible to shut it off from outside the building. Hard lesson to learn.”

“For all of us,” Rochelle said. “Violet, what about weapons?”

“I’ve restocked the armory cabinets on each floor and bought more ammo.”

Rochelle nodded. “Evan, is our video still backing up to the cloud?”

“Yep. I’m picking up a new satellite link later, just in case things go boom around here again. We don’t want anyone interfering with the feed that goes to the secure server. Once there, nobody can mess with the recordings. Although the fire did a good job of taking out the ground-floor cameras. Hadn’t figured that into my planning. I was anticipating a more sophisticated attack. Guess the Demons are more brawn than brain.”

“And not to be underestimated.” Rochelle looked back at Noah. “You still okay with being primary protection?”

“Yes!” Annabelle turned a delightful shade of pink. “He is. Aren’t you?” Wide eyes pleaded with him to agree.

“I’m good,” he told Rochelle, feeling amused.

“Any other business?” she asked the group.

“I have a question.” Violet frowned. “Are we required to physically comfort clients now?”