Chapter 313

My heart was breaking. He still hadn’t come back. What if Victor couldn’t forgive me for not telling him about the passages? I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

“Daisy, you didn’t lose Victor,” Diana said. “He and Adam went for a run to clear his head. Can’t you feel it? He’s on his way back, feeling much calmer.”

“Thank you,” Diana,” I said. “You’re always there for me when I need you.”

“And I always will be,” she assured me. “Ooh, I can feel Adam coming closer. They are almost here. Just be honest with Victor and help him through this trying time. Everything will be fine between the two of you.”

I heard footsteps outside the door and knew Diana was right.

Victor walked into the living room and straight to me. He pulled me to my feet and held me in his arms for a moment while kissing my forehead.

“I understand why you didn’t tell me, sweetheart,” he said. “And keeping it from me was the right thing to do at the time. Stopping the faction is our first priority.”

After a brief kiss, he led me to the couch. We sat together across from Alex and Cassidy. It was time to calmly discuss how we would fight the faction.

“I decided to use their spying on me to our advantage,” Victor said. “I will feed them false information. It will either keep them going in circles or tell us the identities of the traitors.”

“That’s an excellent idea,” Alex said. “You should also discreetly examine each Association employee more closely. Even trusted, longtime employees could be corrupted by a large bribe.”

“The faction has a great deal of money,” Cassidy added. “The authorities in Virople told us they can’t get close to the luxury estate on the sea that John Cameron and his men use as a base because of the many well-paid guards.”

“They come and go from the estate via speedboats, helicopters, and a superyacht,” Alex revealed. “They also travel in and out of Virople in private jets.”

“John Cameron and Kirk Sanders together don’t have that kind of money,” Victor pondered aloud. “How are they being financed?”

“Whatever the faction is doing to make money, I bet it’s illegal,” I said.

“The boxes in the Seventh Passageway bother me,” Cassidy said. “What if they are stealing antiquities and selling them?”

A typical historian, Cassidy was concerned about preserving the past. I agreed it was important, but I doubted the faction would earn enough to fund their operations from these items.

Besides, I saw no damage to the ancient tombs when I was there.

“I don’t think so,” I said and pulled my phone from my pocket. After scrolling through the photos I took in the room of the ancient warrior’s tombs, I showed the others the images of the lemon boxes.

“The boxes are taped shut and look brand new. I think they had recently arrived from Virople and hadn’t been opened yet.”

Next, I scrolled to the photo of the gravestones. “And look, none of the graves have been opened or tampered with.”

“Daisy is right,” Alex said. “Plus, if anyone stole anything from the tombs, they would have a difficult time fencing the items. We would have heard about it.”

“But how are they making so much money?” I asked. “And what do lemons have to do with it?”

“They could be smuggling something into this country with the lemons,” Cassidy suggested. “Nobody would think anything of boxes of lemons being shipped from Virople, but something expensive that people would buy, like jewels, could be hidden inside the boxes.”

“Jewels are a possibility. Diamonds and rubies are mined in Virople,” Victor agreed. “But guessing isn’t doing us much good. Why don’t we go to the tombs and look inside the boxes?”

“Because we don’t know where they are. Daisy isn’t sure where the entrance to the Seventh Passage is located,”

Cassidy replied. “She found it by accident. And I couldn’t find the trapdoor she used to escape from the tombs.”

Guilt stabbed at me because I didn't know where to look for the boxes. What was inside them could tell us a lot.

“Could you send a team to look for the Seventh Passage?” I asked. If only everything didn’t look the same in those tunnels.

Victor shook his head. “We don’t want the faction to know we are on to them. The element of surprise is our greatest weapon. Besides, it’s likely they moved the boxes by now.”

“Victor is right,” Alex agreed. “Cassidy and Daisy, you must stay away from the passages until every faction member is in custody. Besides the chance of giving away our element of surprise, if they catch you in the passages, they will hurt you.”

“He’s right,” Cassidy told me. “We saw them execute two locals on the street one day in Virople. They pulled a couple from their car, forced them to their knees, and shot them in the back of their heads. The authorities feared them and did nothing about it!”

“How horrible!” I shivered, remembering the times I was in the passages and faction members were nearby. Cassidy and I were fortunate they didn’t discover and kill us.

“What else can be done to stop them?” I asked. These killers can’t be allowed to take over The Association.

“All the council members need to be watched for signs they have been approached by the faction or corrupted,” Alex said. “You can’t let any more council members join them.”

“I’ll use a friend’s private detective agency for that task,” Victor said. “Jayden cannot be bribed. He will be able to keep the computer systems safe, too.”

I thought of the other night when Victor had to stay up and redo the financial reports because of a computer hack, and I was glad Victor thought of a way to prevent any more incidents like that one.

“I’m going to put my contacts to work on revealing the source of the faction’s wealth,” Alex said. “Without money, their operations will quickly come to a halt.”

“It has something to do with the boxes,” Victor insisted. “They are smuggling something valuable into this country.”

“What else of value does Virople produce?” I asked. I didn’t know much about the country. I would remedy that as soon as possible.

“It could be something from another country,” Cassidy suggested. “They are probably using Virople as a base of operations because of its anti-extradition laws and corrupt police.”

“We must watch the known members of the faction. Kirk Sanders must be under constant surveillance,” Alex said. “We must know where he is, who he is with, and who he is in contact with at all times.”

“What about John Cameron,” I said. “We know he’s involved, if not the leader of the faction. Someone should watch his home in case he goes back. The police could easily recapture him there. They badly want him back in prison.”

“He hasn’t been seen in weeks,” Alex said. “The Virople authorities don’t think he’s in their country anymore, and he wasn’t seen reentering our country either.”

“Watch his family, especially his son,” I suggested. “He’s been in contact with him. I’m sure Josh Cameron didn’t think of harassing Amy and trying to ruin the shelter opening by himself.”

“Daisy is right. I’ll tell Jayden to have somebody watch Josh,” Victor said. “He could lead us to John.” He stood and paced the room. “I have another idea, but it may be too dangerous.”

“Tell us, and we’ll talk about it,” Alex said. “We will need to take some risks. The faction must not win.”

“I hate to ask it of anyone, but we would know more if we had our own spy inside the faction,” Victor said. “They could find out what they are doing and who at The Association is involved.”

“That’s an excellent idea,” Alex agreed. “But it needs to be someone you are positive you can trust. They must be unbribable and able to blend in with the faction members.”

“And they must be calm and fearless to infiltrate that nest of killers,” Cassidy added.

“Do you have anyone who meets this criteria?” Alex asked.

Victor looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Daisy, what do you think of my idea?”

I shook my head, not sure what to say. It was dangerous, but it was also our best chance of getting the information we needed about the faction members.

“I don’t like it,” I admitted. “But I don’t think we have any other choice but to send in our own spy.”

“I know just the person for the job,” Victor said.