Burnt Lies

Exception

Cameron

"What?" Alara's voice had returned to that shaky version the confidence breaking away from it, "You can't be serious."

"Fuck, this is so much bigger than I thought it would be," the paper between my fingers began to crumple at the edges where I was gripping it too tightly. 

"The Italian Mafia, this stupid Blood Diamond is making my life hell," I could tell that she didn't expect the reach of the power of the diamond to transcend international borders. 

My blood began to boil at the fact that there were so many people after my Alara, that she wasn't even safe if she left the country. My mind thought back to the advice that Owen had given to me about going somewhere with Alara to protect her but now I knew that even leaving the country couldn't protect her. 

I hated to admit it, but my father was right with his reach and power he would be the best suited to protect her, but the question was at what cost. 

She was quiet for a prolonged moment and I could tell her mind was whirring trying to think of a solution. I watched as she pulled her lower lip into her mouth biting down on it with nervous energy. 

Her brows creased as she spoke, "You don't happen to know anyone that is a part of the Italian Mafia, I know this sounds stupid but maybe we could just, talk to them,"

"Talk? To the Mafia, I'm not sure that will go down well sweetheart, " I countered and she slumped back on the sofa. 

"This is madness, utter madness, " she threw her hands up, "And there's nothing I can do,"

"I do know someone in the Italian Mafia," I spoke to try and draw her attention away from helplessness.

She bolted up her eyes zeroing in on me trying to gage if I was being serious, "Really?"

"Yeah, he's an old friend but we haven't spoken in years, I have no idea if he will even help us," I admitted, my thoughts going back to the friendship I had forged on my year in Italy. 

"There's no harm in trying though is there?"

"True, I'll see if Echo can track him down find a number that I could use to ask about how serious the Mafia is on trying to get you, and as much as I think it won't work, there are some more level headed people in the Mafia who might be open to a discussion,"

"Sounds good, but what about this Il Venditore? He's the one who's been hired," she made a good point. 

"If we go to the source, then we could bypass ever having to talk to the black-market seller," she nodded in agreement and then began walking to the door, when she saw I wasn't following she gestured for me to get up. 

"Where are you going?" I asked pointedly to which she just smiled softly. 

"We're not doing this on our own, I know how much Leo and Mel hate when you leave them out of the loop and it will be better to talk to Echo in person so we're heading to the base," she reached over to the hook by the door and pulled off my keys, "And I think I'll drive today, it's not fair that you have the better car and I want to take it for a swing,"

"No," my voice was firm but then she batted her eyelashes making her eyes wide with innocence and I couldn't say no to that face. "Ok," I grumbled to which she did a little victory dance jumping a little and waving her hands.

She was out the door in a flash and when she wasn't looking I smiled softly to myself glad that she was out of her rut of sadness, she seemed more herself now than she had been a couple of hours ago and I couldn't not admit that it made me feel a sense of contentment to see her back to her happy self. 

I followed after her and got into the passenger seat and wondered how long ago had I not been in the drivers seat. I was one who liked to be in control of the vehicle they were travelling in, it was an odd sensation not to be in control but knowing that Alara was the one in control made me settle a bit more. I knew I could trust her even though I never ever let anyone else drive my car, she was the exception, she was always the exception and I wouldn't have it any other way.  

We arrived at the base not long after, and once we got out she tossed the keys to me and I effortlessly caught them, swinging the keychain around my finger as I did so. 

"You can drive on the way back I saw how much it killed you not to be in control," she flashed me a toothy grin before sprinting towards the door. 

She clasped the shining silver handle pulling the door open and basking in the warmth of the base, she knew exactly where to go as though she had been here a thousand times rather than just a couple, she walked as though she owned the place and when she was my wife she well and truly would. 

Her first destination was Echo who was hunched over his keyboard, his fingers flying across the keys and a look of abject concentration stretched across his features. He was consumed by his work and barely noticed Alara's presence until she tapped him on the shoulder. 

"Hey Echo," he spun around on his black swivel chair, meeting Alara's friendly gaze. 

"Oh hey Alara, what's up," he seemed far less agitated than he had when he thought he had lost Alara his usual look of contentment making its way back on his features. 

"Well, me and Cam need to find this person, he's kind of part of the Italian Mafia," she said it so casually that Echo was unsure of what he had actually heard. 

"I'm sorry did you say the Italian Mafia?" he leaned back in his chair looking utterly confused, she took a seat next to him and stretched her arms out.

"Yes, the Italian Mafia," she confirmed still wearing a pleasing smile to make the request easier to swallow. 

"You're insane you know that." he sounded exasperated but I knew that Echo was as loyal as they came, that if we asked sincerely he would deliver. 

I spoke next, "Yes Echo, I think you weren't here when I went to Italy but I met someone called Alonso Torres, I was wondering if you could find a contact."

Echo looked relived at the statement, "And here I was thinking that you wanted me to hack into the Italian Mafia,"

He must have seen the puzzled look on my face as I had genuinely thought that that would be the only way to located Torres. 

"Well, finding a person is much easier than hacking you don't need to hack into a system to find someone anyone can do it really, all you need is a name and one specific detail that can separate them from others with the same name. 

"So his name Is Alonso Torres, is there anything other than that that you know about him that could narrow down the search algorithm,"

"Well, he has a cat called Bucky," at the statement Alara looked up at me and bit her lip to stop herself from devolving into giggles. 

"I can't imagine a macho mafia man to have a cat called Bucky," giggles softly fell from her lips as she said the words.

Echo though had began to type, he pulled out a web crawling algorithm and began to type in the information he was looking for. The crawler whirled past many different pages, social media profiles articles, numbers, lookalikes, everything and anything, it was really quite an impressive algorithm. 

"It should only take a few hours," Echo affirmed, still typing away. 

It turned to Alara, "I guess we have some time to kill darling," reaching my hand out and grabbing hers. 

"Let's go kill some time then."