Wicked Hues | 21+

Chapter Nine.

|| NOT EDITED ||

Adrian leaned against the glass table, his arms supporting his body as he looked at the plethora of pictures and files lying around.

There was a map at the side of the files with several locations pinned on it. 

At the center of the map was a red pin showing the building where the auction would take place. Adrian took the map and laid it flat on top of the pictures that were already there. His eyes narrowed a little.

"What is the plan?" 

Adrian took a deep breath as a small smile lit on his face. "This building is where these kinds of auctions have been taking place for years now. It's inaccessible to cops, but not to us."

"I will go there as a buyer. They scan everyone for trackers and such, but they let us use our phones once for transactions, at the end of the auction. A stupid move, really, but it is a bonus point for us. I will activate the tracker right when the auction ends. Evan's men will intercept their network right before the auction starts-"

"Evan Sinclair?" Adrian lifted his eyes from the map and looked at Juan, annoyance flashing through his green eyes.

"Yes, I called him in the morning. He needs some excitement in his life, hence he agreed."

"How will Evan's men be able to intercept the network at the start of the auction?"

"Evan is an elite member of the Coterie. He is one of those few trusted members who can carry their phones with leisure."

"Then why is he helping you with this?" Adrian could hear the doubt in Juan's words and, as much as Adrian wanted to deny it, he could not help but feel curious. Evan said he missed having fun, but Adrian knew there was more than Evan let on. 

Ultimately, it did not matter. As long as Evan helped, everything would go according to the plan.

And if he did not...well, Adrian had other plans ready. 

"Who knows, Juan?"

Juan grunted. 

"You lot are weird."

Adrian shrugged but did not deny Juan's words. "Anyway, as I was saying, his men will intercept their network and create a gateway for Shawn. Shawn will handle the censors and the drones that patrol the building. I want to talk with Caleb and Alex. They will lead two teams of fifty. One team will be with me and the other will sabotage Daniel and his men."

Shawn was Adrian's trusted hacker. Shawn started hacking to gain his father's attention, stealing money, and sabotaging projects, but nothing helped him with his goal. When Adrian took over, he stumbled across Shawn, and while Adrain doesn't like to admit it, they bonded over their mutual traumas and daddy issues. One thing led to another, and Adrian proposed that Shawn join him. The rest was history. 

Caleb and Alex were Adrian's assassins and close members of the Mafia. They had grown up together, and now they both individually ruled different parts of the city, but today, he needed them both to carry out this plan. 

Adrian stopped talking and looked at the map again. The building was in the middle of a desert. A few small sand hills were covering the radius around the building, which would give his men cover. The drones flying around the perimeter only covered one portion of the sand hill, the side that faced the building, giving his men ample time to surround the area.

"Caleb and his men will surround the parameter," Adrian spoke after a few seconds as he closely watched the map. Some would call him old-fashioned, but he liked pinning details onto a physical map rather than a digitalized version. After all, a person could burn a paper and make it cease to exist, but nothing on the internet could ever truly erase something.