They watched it and afterward sent it to Huff so he could create a copy.
Our next step was to show it to Aisling’s mother and film her reaction.
At first, when we told her Aisling was being beaten, she didn’t believe us. Then we showed her the video, and she raged.
“We can stop anytime. All you have to do is call your father and tell him to stop the bombing and killing,” Drex said.
“He’ll never do that after this,” she spat.
“An eye for an eye then,” Drex countered.
“How can you do this to a child?”
“The same way your father can.”
“What do you mean?”
I laughed. “He’s willing to take out our families, which includes a one-year-old. That doesn’t bother you, does it? But it’s not okay for us to threaten your daughter.”
“He’d never do that to a child.”
“Clearly, you don’t know the depths of your father’s cruelty,” I answered.
“Let me call him.”
Drex handed her a burner he carried. Once he had Aiden’s number, he’d send the videos.
The time had come to see if this plan would work. We observed her as she tapped in the numbers. He answered, we’d had our doubts.
“Da, you need to help.” Pause.
“They’re hurting Aisling.”
“I don’t care. Do as they say. Stop all this nonsense.”
Pause.
“So what, he’s in prison. I just want them to free Aisling.”
Pause.
“It wasn’t my fault.”
We heard him shouting at her.
“I don’t give a damn. If they hurt her, I’ll find a way to kill you myself.”
She ended the call and handed the phone to Drex.
Drex grabbed the number and then sent the videos.
Sinead stared at us. “He doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about his granddaughter as much as he cares about revenge.”
“Then I guess it’s too bad for your daughter.”
We turned to leave.
“Wait! I can help.”
I walked up to the large cage where she was being held. “How? You just called your father, and he doesn’t give a damn.”
“I know things, things that can…”
“Can what?”
“I have information about his business,” she mumbled.
“What you’re saying is you’ll give up evidence on him in order for him to be captured?” Isla asked.
That was a huge shocker. None of us had expected this. If she did this, it would be a windfall for us.
“Yes, as long as my daughter is no longer harmed.”
“How do we know we can trust your information?” Drex wanted to know.
“You won’t. That is, until you investigate it. I know the location of every one of his hideouts. I know most of his business associates.”
“Why did he trust you with this information?” It was Drex again who asked this.
“He didn’t. He never trusted me with anything. To ensure the safety of Aisling, I hired someone to hack into his accounts so I had this information in case something ever happened to her. I guess it finally paid off.”
Something she said didn’t sit right with me. I’d discuss it with the others later, but as of now we had a plan, or at least it seemed we were at the start of another.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Raiden
“No, no, no! This won’t work. He didn’t bite on either of the videos. Not only that, I don’t trust her one bit. She’s holding something back,” Scottie said as everyone stared at her. Her anger hit every one of us like a bolt of lightning.
“Why are you saying this?” Isla asked.
“Intuition. Did you notice her eyes as she spoke? Her father must have put her up to this.”
Cruze, who had been absent for the exchange between Sinead and the rest of us, strolled into the room. “What’s going on?”
We brought him up to speed.
“Want me to feel her out for information?”
I scoffed. “Are you going to use your manly charms on her?”
He shrugged. “You never know.”
I nearly groaned. “Do what you want but don’t reveal any information to her. Clear? If anything leaks out, all this work is for nothing.”
“I won’t.”
He left and Drex questioned me. “Do you think that was wise?”
“I’m not sure about anything anymore. All I know is I want to return to normal.”
“Everyone, listen up,” Scottie began. “I know what I’m talking about. That woman is lying through her teeth.”
“What if she is?” Gemini asked. “What are our next steps? We sent the videos to Aiden. What if she’s bluffing?”
“She could lead us right into a trap.”
Scottie’s persistence had me swayed. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. What do you propose?”
“We go along with her but understand it’s a trap.”
Drex threw up his hands. “Are you crazy?”
“Maybe. But we’ll have enough men to cover us in case.”
“In case,”