Blood for my Rose |• Crimson Rose series✔️

Chapter 13

Switzerland
Zurich

Standing over the fidgeting guy was Rocco as he watched the young technician briskly move around the computer in front of him. The guy, known to be a hacker, was tracking the IP address of the system that opened their file, and they'd been on it for more than twenty minutes.

"Get the fucking imbecile," Rocco snapped, eyes scanning the screen and every move the computer guy made. "Those were top secrets," he said, spinning around a circle as he held his nose bridge—something he was prone to doing whenever anxiety killed him.

"I'm on it boss," the guy said as he began to watch something load on the screen. "It seems like the system is protected."

Rocco stopped pacing and halted in front of him again. "What does that even mean?" he yelled. "I want answers. Not some computer language." His tone suggested impatience.

Mauricio stood up and tramped down to the young hacker and then looked over to his father. "Calm down, father. These types of things take time," he said matter-of-factly. "Hey, you?" Turning to the hacker, he called. "How long do we have?"

Mauricio wasn't entirely bothered, but he needed to be on his father's side this one time that it felt like they'd been hacked. If really it was true, then he could equally be in trouble. The entire mafia could be in huge problems if the documents had fallen into the wrong hands.

"Whose mistake was it that it was sent to an unauthorized system in the first place?" Mauricio asked no one in particular. "Or did he not say the file was set to destroy, thirty seconds after opening?"

Groaning, Rocco yelled through gritted teeth at Mauricio's unnecessary questions, "I don't give a rat's ass about all that. Now this guy needs to track down the son of a gun that has seen those records.

The hacker finally clicked something and then an unknown person's Internet Protocol address dropped on the screen. "There's the city, and the person's zip code," he said as he was gesturing at the screen.

Eyes reading the address on the screen, Mauricio asked, "Is that what we're looking for and all we need?"

The hacker shook his head. "This is a start. This gains me access to the computer of this person."

"And after that?" Mauricio probed further, removing the coat around his shoulder.

"Maybe an email will tell us where he lives." The hacker continued working.

It was pretty easy for him to find emails on the the person's system with his old address, new address and work address, because his profession made him deal a lot with mails.

Once they found a receipt to a new house purchase in a recent mail, the hacker screamed, "Bingo!"

Rocco's eyes flickered to the screen, holding a glint of satisfaction, and his cheeks were immediately laced with a devilsh smile. "Gotcha," he said with pleasure. It felt so good to finally be looking at what he wanted boldly on the screen. An address in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. "Get that motherfucker!" His delight was clearly visible as he barked again. "Son, get Blanco on the line."

Mauricio nodded and grabbed his phone. Then he walked to a corner. "Blanco, father found an address linking us to this person," he voiced out with a slight nod. "We found three locations, but one is more likely to be it. So find whoever it is."

"It's an address in the US," Rocco cut in from a distance.

"I'll text you the address now," Mauricio continued. He walked to get a look at the computer again and then read the name out loud, "Riley Greyson."

"Get one of your soldiers in the area to do it. It happens tonight." Rocco then included, "We can't afford to waste more time."

Mauricio frowned and shot his father a sinister look. "What happens tonight?" He clearly was confused.

And ignored.

Rocco snatched the phone from him in a malicious manner, put some distance between them again, and spoke into it. "Blanco. Locate the address, find the person, and take care of 'em." His voice was almost hushed as he instructed.

There was a charged pause, Mauricio was watching his father with disgust. Then, he had the courage to voice his thoughts, "You're not just going to kill a random person because they opened a top secret file of the mafia, are you?"

Adjusting his position on the chair, Rocco ended the call and outstretched his hand for Mauricio to come get his phone. "Top secret file, you said. Not public knowledge. So yes, the collector's book is not information for just anybody."

Mauricio opened his mouth to speak again, but his father snapped his fingers and urged the hacker to pack up, "Thanks for your services." Then he pointed the door. "Come back in a bit to get your check."

When it was just father and son again, Rocco looked at his son and said, "fear not shed of blood, because that's exactly what keeps the business running. He could be working for the CIA, who knows?" He shrugged.

"What if we find out before we kill him?"

"Come. On. Son," he said in tone that surprised his Mauricio. It was subtly calm.

Rocco brought out his lighter and started to ignite it, though he wasn't with a cigar to burn. "How many people do you think we can drill? Plus, how many truthful humans are left out there?"

Mauricio sighed and walked defeatedly to his chair. But he didn't sit just yet. He stared out the window of the city his father had conquered and managed to taint with his terror. He didn't want to be feared like him. He didn't want to be like his father. "What if he really doesn't have any thing reasonable to do with the information?"

The old man rolled his eyes with a faint smirk. "Then he'd carry a cross that wasn't meant for him. But he must carry it."

Thereafter, Mauricio sat down and leaned on his seat, taking out his collar button.

"Send the information to Blanco immediately, tell him not to call me unless he's done it." Rocco stood up and stomped out of the office, slamming the door hard enough to make Mauricio jump in his seat.