Dino by Jaime Lewis
Chapter Twenty-FOUR
Demitri used his arm to wipe the sweat rolling down his forehead, but his eyes never left his opponent on the far side of the ring. He took a few deep breaths waiting for the opportune time to strike. Every now and then, he enjoyed jumping in the boxing ring and beating on some poor young soul who thought, just because they were ten to twenty years younger than him, that it would be a walk in the park. In his prime, when he used to fight, there was big money involved. Now, he did it to let off steam.
The last few weeks had been hectic and stressful. However, he couldn’t bitch too much, considering he had secured two new clients, who together were guaranteed to deliver him a hefty payday. What was annoying was that his lawyers had instructed him to lay low for a few more weeks until the investigation involving the incident with Petro back in December had concluded. He knew the Feds were still trying to pin the attack on him, but they had nothing to back up their claims.
His opponent charged at him from across the ring. Demitri held his ground and ducked when the guy swung. He then spun around and drilled him in the throat. The guy dropped to the ground and didn’t move. He shook his head in disgust—Amateur, he thought to himself.
He looked at one of his men standing near the ring. “Get him out of here, and next time find an opponent who will actually challenge me.” The guy stepped up into the ring and rolled Demitri’s opponent under the bottom rope and off the mat. He hit the ground with a thud.
Demitri climbed down off the ropes and found Carmine waiting for him. Carmine handed him a towel, and he wiped his face off before he pulled his gloves off.
“I take it Tristan wasn’t what you were hoping for?”
Demitri shook his head and gave Carmine a dirty look. “No. I told Joran to find me a real opponent next time. I want one that will last more than two rounds.”
“Well, I came to inform you that your request has been posted.”
Demitri grinned. “That is outstanding news.”
Carmine nodded his head. “We already have several hits.”
“You’re joking?”
“No. No joke. It seems that Ms. Humphrey has many followers.”
Demitri couldn’t help to feel a little giddy. Anna Humphrey had been a hard woman to track down. Every lead they got, they would hit a brick wall and had to start over. He was growing impatient, so he decided to step up his game. He turned to the dark web to ask for help in locating her. All it took was to offer an incentive, and people talked.
Demitri loved the dark web for many reasons. One is because a few of his businesses were run on many sites in there. Because of the high level of encryption, websites weren’t able to track the users' IP addresses, which meant users couldn’t gain information about the host. Since the communication between the dark web users is highly encrypted, users can blog, share files, and talk confidentially.
“I’m starting to think she knows, and she’s playing a game of hide and seek,” Demitri said, grabbing his water bottle and taking a drink.
“If she is, then kudos to her because she is very good.”
“Or she had good help hiding,” Demitri replied, looking at Carmine.
“The reports did state that she retired and was taking time for herself.”
“And that sounded like a complete line of standard public relations bullshit. I think she’s scared. But the question is, who is protecting her?”
“Enzo?”
Demitri shook his head. “No. He’s been out and about, traveling all over.”
“Exactly. When he travels he often has multiple stops on his trips, which makes it difficult to track his movements. Maybe he stashed her somewhere, and that is his cover in checking up on her.”
Demitri thought about it. Enzo is a conniving and sneaky bastard who had always made it known he wanted Anna for himself. Who wouldn’t, though? The woman was a money-making machine. Throw on any piece of lingerie, and bam! It becomes the next big seller.
Demitri gave Carmine the nod. “Put someone on him, and let’s find out. I’m guessing there hasn’t been any word on what happened to that agent of hers. What was his name?”
Carmine rolled his eyes. “Miles. The cocaine addict. Actually, that guy would take anything he could get his hands on. I don’t know how in the hell she ended up with him as her agent. He’s still in the wind as well. Though Marcel from S.L.S. Magazine said he spotted him the other day downtown. Said he looked messed up.”
Demitri grabbed his gear and started walking toward the showers. “He may not know where she is, but I bet you he could provide some information that could lead us to her.”
“I can have Joran and Connor look for him.”
“Do that. I’d be interested in hearing what he has to say.”
“You got it. I’m going to do that now. Do you need anything else?”
“No. I think I’m going to go for a walk on the beach.”
“Very well. I’ll call you should I hear anything about your girl.”
Demitri grinned and walked toward the showers. Anna Humphreys will most definitely become his girl. He inhaled, remembering how sweet her perfume smelled as he kissed her neck. He was growing hard, just imagining how great of a lover she will be once he has her in his bed. His mind was going crazy with all of the possibilities the future held for them. He smirked as he stripped out of his clothes and moved under the hot water. She wouldn’t be able to hide from him for long.
