Page 37 of Vicious Deception
Finn nods. “So when Ludo is at the meeting, you can tell his men to do whatever—even say it’s a direct order from Holloway himself—and they’ll do it.”
“Correct.”
“What’re you thinking?” Elliot asks.
“The day of the meeting, we send King and Burbank proof that Holloway has been under-reporting their income. They’ll want their fair share, and odds are, they won’t let Ludo out of their sight until they have it. He’s a slimy bastard, and he’s already fooled them once.
“While Ludo is gone, Axel can order his men to get the guys together—Andrew and Benny, too. Just say there’s been a change of plans and that Ludo decided to move them.”
Slowly, Axel nods. “That’s simple enough. They know better than to question me, and if they do, I can tell them that this is need-to-know. It’s nothing I haven’t done before.”
“And what about Holloway?” Elliot asks. “Are we leaving King and Burbank to deal with him, or are we finding some way to capture him?”
Finn frowns. “Do you think Rhett will be okay if he’s not the one who gets to kill Holloway?”
Elliot and I exchange a glance, and my chest squeezes. Rhett’s apology from weeks ago echoes through my mind. He deserves to be the one to finally end Ludo’s life, but he wouldn’t sacrifice us for that chance.
Iwouldruin everything we’ve worked for,he told me.For you, for Ell, for O. And I’m sorry I couldn’t admit it to you.
“We’re his priority,” Elliot says. “All he cares about right now is us getting out safely.”
“We might still be able to do both,” Axel cuts in. He pauses for a moment, frowning, before his eyes light up. “We can use Holloway’s systems against him.”
“Go on,” Elliot says.
“Most of Ludo’s liquid cash is stored in offshore accounts, far out of reach of the government. But we’ve all witnessed how paranoid he is. He has multiple stashes all around the city in a variety of storage units. As far as I’m aware, I’m the only one who knows about them, other than Ludo himself. He only told me so I could help keep an eye on them, and it took him a while to be able to put that much trust in me.
“If King and Burbank demand Ludo gives them their payments immediately, which is what I’d do, Ludo won’t go for money in his accounts. He’ll go for what’s untraceable and easily accessible.”
“The money he has stashed,” Elliot says.
Axel nods. “Exactly.”
“How many storage units are there?” I ask.
“Six.”
“But we can’t keep an eye on that many at once,” I say. “There aren’t enough of us.”
Axel shakes his head. “We’ll only have to watch one. Before the meeting, the two of you can empty them out. I won’t be able to find an excuse to get away for long enough to do it myself.”
“Why not?” Finn asks suspiciously.
“Ludo keeps me busy,” Axel replies. “And I’ll need to keephimbusy so he doesn’t have a chance to hurt Oliver more.”
“Right,” Finn mutters.
“I know you don’t have any reason to trust me, but I want this as much as you do,” Axel says. “I have no desire to live the rest of my life under Ludo Holloway’s thumb.”
Finn doesn’t respond. His hand is still resting on his gun, and he doesn’t look any more relaxed than he did when we first entered the room.
At least he’s willing to go along with this.
“What do we do with King and Burbank?” Elliot asks.
Axel shrugs. “Kill them and leave their bodies behind.”
“But this doesn’t get you what you want,” Elliot says. “If Ludo is gone, sure, people will look for him, but they’ll also still look for you.”