Chapter Four
Asli's eyes scoured the floor, her mind racing with one goal; to find a shred of evidence to bring down Ahmet. The police weren't an option, not yet. She had to take matters into her own hands, for her own sake and her father's. Her ego hadn't freed her yet.
"Boss Asli," a voice cut through her thoughts. She straightened, her gaze locking onto Simpson, his words dripping with a false sense of confidence. "We've searched every inch, but he's covered his tracks. He's good." A smirk played on her lips as she sized him up. Was he trying to manipulate her or simply naive?
'This man could be a spy for her father or Ahmet, but one thing is certain - he is a foolish underdog who underestimates me at every turn.' She thought to herself. How did she not see that she had a spy among the men she had placed a tag on as loyal? She didn't have time for this, she would deal with him later.
"Get back to work, all of you!" Asli's voice cracked through the air, her eyes blazing with a fierce intensity. "I want something, and I want it now. Forget that you can't find anything major, it is clear someone has come to clean up. Get me something! Failure will be met with a bullet wound to the calf. Don't think I won't do it." The men scrambled to obey, their fear rushing through their feet as they dispersed to resume their search.
Asli's mind raced with questions. What was she searching for exactly? Ahmet must have been out of bullets when she left but who could have helped him?
If the men her father was furious about were just any ordinary men, he wouldn't have called her and yelled at the top of his voice. He sounded scared. She had heard it for a second before he concealed it but it was in his tone. Why was her father shaken by it for a second? The men he cared about the most were his brother's sons.
Something wasn't adding up. She could sense it. One of her men had conducted a roll call and was awaiting the list of men alive. Something was eating her up. If anything happened here after she left, only Ahmet knew.
Were any of their men helping Ahmet? Why ? The more she thought about it, the more she needed clues.
A thought suddenly struck her as she hurried to where Ahmet had hidden during the shootout. Maybe he'd left a clue behind.
She spotted bloodstains and frowned.
Just like she thought, Ahmet wouldn't be stupid enough to stay there while being attacked. She doubted it. 'There isn't too much bloodstain here so it means he left this hiding place probably immediately after I had left.' She solved it for herself. 'Where did he get the gun to shoot back? If they were shooting at him, he must've gone back to hiding. But there wasn't anywhere on the ground that indicated he stood there for long.' As she thought to herself, her mind went to the path behind her. Unless he had someone come to his rescue.
Who? She had heard that he only trusted his cousin. So it could be he had called him but why would Ahmet's cousin who wanted him dead, come to his rescue? This was a perfect opportunity to have him die without getting involved.
"James, get over here!" She called the forensic expert. "Get samples of the blood in all the locations." She was determined to get to the bottom of this.
Asli's gaze swept around, her eyes settling on a man who caught her attention. He was squatting a few feet away, his hands fidgeting with the weeds on the ground. He looked like he didn't care.
Asli's expression darkened. She strode towards him. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked, her voice low and menacing.
The man started, his eyes darting up to meet hers. "N-nothing, boss. Just... just looking for clues." He got up immediately.
Her eyes narrowed. "You call that looking for clues? You were playing with the sand!"
The man shook his head, "N-no..."
Asli hated not being taken seriously. She walked behind him, her hand emerging from her jacket with her pistol. The man's head turned to her immediately and she saw how his eyes went wide with fear, but she didn't flinch. She raised the weapon, her hand steady, and fired.
Asli hissed, her eyes blazing with a little satisfaction as the man screamed. "Now, get back to work. All of you!"
"Yes, boss." They all sang.
Later, Asli's name echoed through the silence, and she responded, "What have you got?" The men who had found something stepped forward. "I found a torn fabric," one said. "The pattern is new. We usually wear black leather clothes." She nodded, and the forensics team added the fabric to the blood samples.
"I noticed the holes the bullets left. Even though someone removed them all and the shell casings, I can tell by the dimensions, we had more than three different guns," another man mentioned, his voice low and shaky.
Asli's expression darkened. "Different guns?" she snarled. "By what dimension did you measure the holes?"
"With this." The man held up a nail, and her expression turned thoughtful. She had taught her team to use such makeshift tools in her training sessions.
If there were more than three gun types…
Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She answered curtly, "Speak."
"Boss, we've finished the roll call. Everyone Is accounted for," the caller reported.
Asli's eyes searched around as if to figure out if everyone heard what she had done. "What? That's impossible."
The caller's voice remained steady. "Yes, boss. No one's missing. And no one's been treated for any gunshot wounds or cuts in the past two nights."
Asli's mind raced with questions. Why had her adopted father panicked if all his men were alive? Where were the bodies he had seen? She felt like she was grasping at shadows.
"Okay, let me know if anything comes up." She hung up and immediately called her tech expert, her voice urgent. "Did you make a copy of the footage before deleting it?"
The tech expert's voice was apologetic. "No, boss. You ordered me to delete it without watching it."
Asli cursed under her breath. Her ego had gotten the better of her, and now she was left with more questions than answers.
Her mind raced with questions she had never asked herself before. Why would her father lie about their men being killed? He didn't just inform her that she got their men killed, he sounded scared. She heard it! Her adoptive father never got scared. Did he have secrets she knew nothing about?
Then a sudden thought struck her.
Did he have unregistered men, hidden from their system? She herself had a few loyal men who didn't exist on paper, men her father or anyone else didn't know about. A nagging doubt crept in.
Why would her father hide men from her? And why did she have secrets of her own? Her thoughts were gambling.
Just as she thought she had found a moment's peace, her phone rang again. Without bothering to check the caller ID, she snatched it up, assuming it was one of her team members calling to report development from the mansion.
"What now?" she barked into the receiver, her frustration boiling over.
But instead of the expected update, a smooth, but unfamiliar voice replied, "Ah, I can tell by your tone that you're having a rough day. That's music to my ears." Ahmet's smug satisfaction dripped from every word.
Jolted, she jerked the phone away from her ear and glared at the screen. It was a number she hadn't saved.
"Don't think about hanging up on me unless you want me to call your father!" She heard him yell through her phone speaker. Immediately, she recognized the voice. Asli raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Ahmet's audacity.
She wondered what leverage Ahmet thought he had, threatening to involve her father if she didn't listen. Did he have information that could harm her or help her?
"I know you are scheming behind your father." He spat and she laughed over the phone.
Was he joking? But his silence alarmed her.
Why would she need to hide from her father when she had the power to do as she pleased? Almost everything she pleased. She was as powerful as any mafia lord existing.
"Go ahead, tell him." She dared, her voice dripping with confidence. But Ahmet's next words caught her attention.
"The men who shot at me after you left, had a different tattoo. It was your organization's sign yet it had one more thing to it." Her interest piqued, and she leaned in.
She had almost forgotten he had the information she needed. He saw what happened after she left and his words sparked a flurry of thoughts. "And you think… Are you crazy? What makes you think they are my men?" She questioned, forgetting she didn't owe him an explanation.
Maybe, just maybe, her men had arrived at the warehouse and when they saw him there, decided to shoot him. He was an enemy after all. She thought to herself.
But the different tattoo he mentioned, threw her into caution- all her loyal soldiers bore the same mark, and none had reported being present during the shootout. 'They wouldn't dare lie to me. Would they?' She briefly asked herself.
"Stop pretending. You think you are good at this. I think so too. But don't you think lying is what us Mafias hate the most?" He almost teased and she rolled her eyes. He could have something to say that she wanted to hear. She was desperately looking for answers; things he had witnessed but must she listen to his jokes as well?
"You know what? Let me humor you. Tell me what you know." She said, pretending she didn't care what he wanted to say.
Ahmet didn't hesitate. "I will go straight to the point. You have men your father doesn't know. He will kill you if he finds out about that. Why would you keep unregistered men by your side if not to overthrow him?" Ahmet spat and now a cold chill ran through her spine.
"What do you mean?" she whispered, glancing around nervously. The men had left, but she felt exposed. How did he find out?
Ahmet's response was curt. "Meet me at the Grand Riverview Suites. We'll discuss the details." She bristled at the suggestion.
"Is it one of your hotels? Do you think I'm foolish enough to walk into a trap? What would my father say if he found out I was meeting you or anybody there?" She accused him. Was he trying to set her up? Did he think she was foolish enough to risk everything for just some piece of gossip?
"I picked that hotel for a reason and it isn't mine!" He snapped back. "Meet me in the next thirty minutes. I'll send you the directions and make sure to wear my little gift." The line went dead, leaving Asli seething under her breath. The mere revelation that she had secret men could be enough to sow seeds of distrust in her father's mind. She wasn't ready to strike just yet. She had no reason to.
'No! I won't take anybody's fall,' she murmured to herself. She knew someone was playing a game but who was it? Was it Ahmet's? Or his cousin's. Perhaps, was it her father's game? Whose game was this?
Even though her men weren't involved in the attack Ahmet claimed, her father's wrath would be unforgiving if he discovered she had unregistered men and Ahmet wouldn't confidently call her if he had no proof of it. Asli's anxiety spiked at the thought. She totally forgot about the 'little gift' he mentioned.