“Oh yeah, those were a bit strange,” Tux commented.

  “Do you know anything about them specifically?”

  “What’s it worth to you?” Tux asked.

  Always the businessman, Tuxedo. He never missed an opportunity to make money.

  “Call it a friendly chat,” I answered back.

  “You called me over for a friendly chat?”

  “I bought something, so I think I qualify for a friendly chat. Besides, I was at one of them, so you probably have nothing new to sell me.”

  Tux looked me up and down real quick.

  “Fine, I know a guy over in one of the suburbs, small time vig, part time I think. He saw something and called in his contact as well. They were moving heavy too, thirty henchmen with three shifters. He said he scored twenty large off it.”

  “Got footage?” I asked.

  “Got money?” He replied.

  I stared silently till he relented. With a frown, he sent over a video file through blackline, and I let it play.

  My suit had various soundproofing abilities, mainly due to the nature of my sound-based attacks. But that was designed to keep noise out, not to keep it in. But Mochi was also watching the video at the same time as I was. So I didn't risk talking to her, and honestly, I didn't need to. She could practically read my intentions at this point and verified my ideas through the call.

  “Yup, that’s some expensive tech. The payout should have been way more than twenty thousand.”

  I nodded.

  “Care to share with the class?” Tux asked.

  His suit changed colors, his lower body turning black and blending in with the shadows and his upper half being a contrasting white.

  “No,” I sighed. “It’s private.”

  “Awe come on-”

  “It’s a big deal, Tux. If I say anything, I might get in trouble.”

  “That’s just bad business right there, man!”

  I shrugged, turned around, and unfolded my wings.

  “And after all that guy did to sell me this information, he wasn’t supposed to talk about it, too.”

  My wings tucked back into my side.

  “Elaborate.”

  “Do we have a deal?” He said with a smile.

  “Maybe.”

  That was the problem with Tux. He was greedy, like a mischievous cat who stole food from your plate. He normally knew when to stop, but this time, it was a bit different. He had no clue how big it was, and I certainly wasn’t going to tell him. At least I wouldn’t tell him about the Wolf. Someone was bound to have worked out the truth of the situation already, and it would be spreading soon so I could explain that much, but I wouldn't say a word about the Wolf.

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  And I was hoping the random vig hadn’t said anything, either.

  “This guy,” the thief quipped. “Fine, he said he got a long list of questions about the whole thing from the Union over blackline.”

  Only over backline? If he had met the Wolf, he probably wouldn't have said even that much. He would've just scurried off and said nothing.

  “And the footage, they allowed him to sell it?”

  “There were a whole bunch of people there,” Tux shrugged. “The local hero and the neighborhood watch had already seen it as well. Someone had already posted it, and nothing big ever came of it.”

  My mind started racing.

  “What about all the other hits? Has the footage from those incidents been released?”

  “Most yeah, but only privately. And a lot of people got a list of questions over blackline, specifically about the villains of the area and if they were involved in any human-trafficking affairs.”

  Uh-oh.

  “You have their footage?”

  “Yes, but I’ll need something out of it or-”

  “Yeah, sure. Send them over along with the payout amounts per person per incident.”

  Tux immediately sent over the information, along with a custom spreadsheet.

  I passed that over to Mochi while I thought.

  Tux waited eagerly to the left.

  “Well?”

  I sighed.

  “Hey!” Tux snapped.

  “They were distractions, all of them.”

  “What?”

  “Every single call that night was a distraction. That’s why the payouts were small. We make money from the legal reselling of illegally acquired assets, but they weren’t moving illegal products. It was all an act to gather attention.”

  “Maybe they were moving EJ?” Tux countered. “If they were moving contraband that can’t be resold, then it would make sense that the payout would be relatively small.”

  “It would, but every call that night? All twelve of them? They were all moving contraband out in the open, practically begging to get caught?”

  Tux nodded at my response.

  “But wouldn’t that be expensive?” Tux muttered.

  “It would cost millions.”

  “Millions?”

  “Millions,” I repeated. “This isn’t just moving product, this is a distraction, and it was one that the Heroes Union was already on the lookout for. If they’re renting warehouses and hiring goons to fake criminal actions, they can’t do it half assed. They would have to gain access to the location months ahead of time to make it look legitimate. I’m just guessing here, but it looks like some of the houses and warehouses were rented out months in advance, and others gained access to them only a week before. That was the case with my building. Some of them screamed distractions, and others looked like a planned out operation, but they were all fake.”

  “That still doesn’t sound like millions,” Tux muttered.

  “The henchmen, the wishers, the equipment, the transport, and then the fees and the actual cost of movement would be millions.”

  “What fees?”

  “Our payout probably came from some violation fee. Hiring criminals, illegal storing of goods, and unauthorized hiring of a wisher. Even if the payout is small, the Union takes their cut, the heroes get paid, and we get paid.”

  Tux nodded, but he still didn’t really buy it, and I could see why.

  I left out the part about the Wolf. He was what sold it for me. If the Wolf was involved and looking into this, then it was of the highest priority. More than that, the Wolf had talked to me, in person. He had reached out to me, and that meant something.

  That meant that my call was different from the rest of them. He was looking into Cobra because something had been there. Not at that warehouse, but within the area.

  They had been there. They had been there, and they used me like a puppet.

  “Wait, what’s the cost of movement?” Tux added.

  “What has the Union been asking about?” I asked.

  “Human trafficking?”

  I nodded.

  “But that doesn’t make sense. Who would do all that just to move people? There’s a lot of hookers in the red light districts. Going through all that trouble doesn’t make sense.”

  “They’re not hookers, Tux.”

  “Then what else-- oh.”

  I gave him a grim nod.

  “Somebody’s smuggling wishers.”