Road to Redemption - Michelle Dalton Page 0,22
miles north of her farm, which for all intents and purposes posed a huge risk, and she still had to confront Raymond Le Roux.
She did not have time to manage her bad-tempered manager who’d set out on a path of self-destructive vigilantism, which had painted a bullseye on Redemption Farm. The papers were going to have a field day with this.
“Vok. No, Mina, I didn’t simply walk into the bar and look for kak. The man’s known in the underworld for his links with poachers. I saw him pestering Becky earlier. The fact he’s here in town, days after our break-in … He’s so hooked up, the cops won’t even touch him.” Ben placed both hands on his hips and straightened his back. His dark eyes were on fire.
“Great, so you picked a fight in town with the kind of crims the police don’t even want to mess with. I need you here, not stoking the hatred of the people in Tatensrope, or attracting more attention from the poachers.” Mina softened her tone as she sat.
“Sorry, boss. But I have a theory,” he huffed.
Mina knew he was sincere. He only ever called her boss when he was making a point of showing her his respect. “Do you think Becky’s involved?”
“Not sure. I spoke to her.”
“I saw.” Mina gave him a hard stare.
“Oh.” He glanced down at his feet again.
“What did she have to say?”
“He was trolling for ass,” Ben replied.
“Did you find anything out before you pummelled the poor bastard?” She waved for Ben to take a seat, but he refused. “Going to tell me who it was?”
Ben inhaled deeply as if to brace himself, sending a warning tremble down Mina’s spine. “Jubejube.”
“What the everlasting fuck!” Mina smacked both her flat hands on the table.
Jubejube was absolutely the kinda crim you did not mess around with. His rep preceded him—God, there was talk he had the province’s premier in his pocket.
“I just lost it when I saw him here. I know he’s involved.”
“Is that your theory? Do you have proof?”
“I told Abbe before she locked me up for the afternoon.” He wiped a hand over his freshly crew-cut head.
“And?”
“She said she’d look in to it. But boss, I’m telling you, be careful where you place your trust.” He paced the width of her office.
“Gonna explain your theory any time soon Ben?” it irritated her that the man wasn’t giving her a straight answer.
He stopped and leaned with both hands on the edge of her table, “This thing runs deep. There are big boys playing this game and they have too much to lose …” He returned to pacing, stopped, turned to say something, but then decided not to.
“You need to tell me everything or I can’t watch your back.” Mina demanded.
“Obviously this is an inside job.”
“Why?” Mina placed steepled hands beneath her chin. She wasn’t convinced it was one of her people, if it were, the repercussions for her Redemption program would be far reaching.
“Common Boss. You’d need someone who knows the comings and goings of everyone. The way the system was tampered with…don’t look at me like that Mina!”
“You do know your theory would include you as a suspect. Hell I fall under that umbrella too.” Mina said.
Ben sighed and massaged his creased forehead with his hand, “Ja, I do, but I also know it’s neither of us. I also don’t think it’s just one man feeding them info …” He gripped the back of the chair Mina had offered him a few moments earlier. His lips pulled tight and his cheeks paled as his dark eyes stared out the window. “It’s like a spider’s web, but with more than one spider weaving it. I …”
“What, Ben?” Mina was tired of half stories and fish hooks.
“Raymond Le Roux.”
His words sent her insides cascading over the edge of the tight rope they’d balanced on.
“What of him?” She gritted her teeth.
“You know he was involved with those pieces of shit …”
Mina stood, holding up her hand. “I’ve read his file. He had nothing to do with that.”
“How sure are you? You know it only takes some cash, and his family is loaded.”
“Enough. You have no place judging his family. As for him …” She swallowed hard. “… he’s not our man. Any other theories?”
“I’ll tell you when I have something more solid.” His phone buzzed and he abruptly pulled it from his breast pocket. “I’ve gotta go. Intombi Security are here to fix the mess down in warehouse five.”
“About bloody time