THE BROTHERHOOD by Steve Jovanoski Page B

you should have secured your server, make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen. I told you to find someone reliable,’ the man said with contempt.
    ‘With Aazim in my hands Ilias kept his mouth shut. I had both under control. His friend kept an eye on him, but I admit I neglected to track his progress.’
    ‘What about the other two you hired?’
    ‘The first technician was a Brotherhood member sent to us from abroad. Unfortunately Western culture corrupted him and proved too much of a temptation for someone of such weak character. His perverted appetites led him to places forbidden to Muslims and his constant boasting endangered our work. Kareem was seconded by the partners to fill in and I needed a replacement while we trained someone loyal.’
    ‘It was a risk trying to fix that investigation; your own surveillance tapes caught your men shoving him in a van. My men had to confiscate the tape and make up bullshit that it couldn’t be used as evidence due to its poor quality. You’re lucky I was the only one who saw it. My involvement alone could cause suspicions.’
    ‘Aazim was to be Kareem’s replacement. He’s bright and his skills are valuable. With his father out of the way and under my control, Aazim and I could’ve expanded our operation,’ Sam explained.
    ‘Franchising the business, how much does this cause of yours cost?’
    ‘It’s not monetary gain I’m interested in, but I don’t expect you to understand that.’
    ‘I don’t care what you do as long as we stick to our arrangement. You do remember our arrangement, don’t you?’
    ‘Don’t lecture me,’ Sam snapped. ‘Let’s just get this over with. I have things to do.’
    ‘You might get questioned if their families file a missing persons report. We managed to cover the first one but these two can cause a lot of damage if some overzealous constable tries to prove himself. My men can’t do much if they’re not assigned to the case.’
    ‘I understand.’
    The conversation was over and Sam left first. He disliked dealing with the insider and he didn’t trust him. He was an immoral man driven by an insatiable lust for money and Sam hated depending on him in these situations, but he had no choice: the inside knowledge he possessed was invaluable. The police had picked up on the disappearance of Sam’s first employee, but the insider had ensured that attention was kept off the company. Kareem’s disappearance had been a lot harder to cover up and had taken some effort. The man was well paid for it too, asking for ridiculous amounts of kickback, insisting it was to bribe investigators. But Sam knew he kept most of it.
    There was no way Aazim’s disappearance would be overlooked. Three employees from the same company missing without a trace was hardly a coincidence. Sam considered creating a diversion that would neutralise the problem for good. The situation called for a change of tactics in order to avoid any unnecessary attention on Aust Global Fund from the authorities. Their operation was far too advanced and interruptions would be unacceptable at this point. The sooner the mess was cleaned up the sooner he could proceed with plans as normal.
    Efficiency and control empowered Sam, and he made sure he was aware of everything that went on around him at all times. He was a ruthless competitor when the job had to be done and The Brotherhood knew they could rely on him, despite not approving of his methods. Eliminating his competition meant making them disappear – for good – as threats to the organisation could not be allowed to take root. Such decisions were made in Germany, where Sam ran a tight operation. He had once suspected that a Brotherhood member in his cell had become compromised so he had ordered his men to have him watched. They had photographed him meeting with German government agents before having him eliminated on Sam’s orders. By the time the German authorities had busted their headquarters Sam and any evidence