RIPTIDE (Shadows book 1.1)

A PAST SO DARK

Love yourself before you love someone else. ~Aurora Zaffar.

Hope took in a deep breath as she opened the door to the meeting room. Today her story was going to be out . She was giving people information that can be held against her. She was going to be vulnerable to them. She hoped that she wasn't making the wrong choice by trusting her brothers and cousins with such sensitive information.

She stepped into the room with her held high. Her brothers smiled at her as she sat down beside her father. 

"Rory called." She announced.

"Rory was supposed to be in Spain." Nora groaned as she pulled out her laptop. "We have about 279 possibilities as to where she is holding Silver captive. I have no leads on Scar."

"So, I was right." Hope mumbled to herself. "Erin will be here in a few days. Rico it's your choice." Hope said softly looking at Jericho. He nodded in response.

"How'd you get a lead on Silver?" Alek asked.

Hope smiled a little. "Actually, I should thank Sterling for that. The coordinates all had one thing in common."

The room fell silent, everyone trying to figure out what connection the pictures held. Natalya's eyes lit up with recognition as all the pieces started to make sense.

"No way. No bloody way." She exclaimed as she stood up ant started pacing.

"She did." Hope muttered darkly.

Natalya continued to pace around the room, occasionally mumbling some numbers under her breath.

"Can you tell us what is going on here? Not all of us are as quick as you." Jason grumbled. Natalya sighed loudly.

"The coordinates belong to the old warehouses used by the American mafia. The ones that aren't in use anymore. Sadly, Alexa has access to them." Hope answered as she pulled out her own laptop. "Devi, I'm hacking into your mafia network." She announced as she started typing.

Devon's eyes widened. "Can you do that?" He asked incredulously. The Italian Mafia prided on having one of most secure networking systems. 

"She can screw up your entire bank balance in a matter of minutes. So shut up and let her concentrate." Nora chided him with a glare.

 Devon shrunk back into his seat. Something about the women in the American Mafia was different. When most of the women in the Underworld were treated badly, the women in the American Mafia stood up for themselves and the men treated them with respect. Their rank didn't matter, here every woman was respected as long as she deserved it. 

"Now we only have 200 possibilities." Hope breathed out. "The other 79 are under the use of various parts of the Underworld."

"It'll take us months to figure it out even if we have the best working on it." Nora muttered dejectedly. Dimitri drew circles on her palm with his thumb though his gaze was set on Hope. 

"Leave that to Rhys. You continue working on finding Lettie." Hope ordered. Nora nodded her head in acceptance.

"Nora is the best we have. Why not have her working on Silver?" Zaiden questioned. Hope gave him a soft smile.