Page 26 of Keep

I set my palms on the desk and leaned forward. “Then what the fuck do you want?”

The man wasn’t intimidated. He took his time withdrawing a tin of mints from his pocket and popped two in his mouth. He chewed loudly and stared at me. I stared back.

“I’m here about your brother,” he said when he was done crunching his mints. “It seems he left a few things undone.”

My uneasiness grew, especially when I recalled the courtesy warning Cami had received from her colleague. I still didn’t believe any of it was true. It couldn’t be. Hale had his faults but he wouldn’t have gotten wrapped up in something truly heinous.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” I said.

The creep chuckled again. “He used to brag about you, his big league golden boy little brother.” His smile fell away and his gaze hardened. “But to me you seem like just another privileged prick without a fucking clue.”

I was losing patience. “Look, I don’t know what you’re after but you’re wasting my time. Now get out and I don’t expect to see you creeping around here again.”

He chewed another mint.. When he leaned back into his chair his eyes were even colder. “Do you think I work alone, Dalton?”

“I really don’t give a shit if you work alone or with sixty five hundred friends.”

He nodded. “I don’t work alone.”

“And I still don’t give a shit.”

John Jones sighed. It didn’t sound like a real sigh. More like a theatrical effect. “My colleagues will be disappointed. They were under the impression you’d be more cooperative when you found out about our predicament.”

“What predicament is that?”

“Hale left a balance due.”

“Money,” I said, starting to understand. “You’re under the mistaken impression you can shake me down for some money, right?”

He grinned. “Only what’s owed.”

“For what?”

“Repayment of a debt,” John Jones said. His eyes had narrowed and there was no mistaking the menace within them. “Because your brother was a fucking thief.”

“Bullshit,” I spat without thinking twice.

The man shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if you choose to believe it or not. Like I said, there’s a balance due.”

I crossed my arms and glared. “Let’s pretend I believe your garbage, which I don’t. You didn’t mention what kind of business you’re in.”

“The hospitality industry.”

“What does that entail?”

“A lot of skin.”

“What does that mean?”

“What do you think it means?”

“I don’t know.” I thought of Cami’s words and took a guess. “Maybe you own a few tanning salons with a side business of sex trafficking.”

Something flickered in his eyes and then dimmed almost as quickly. “Your brother was a goddamn fool in more ways than one.”

My hands tightened into fists. I straightened up and glowered down at John Jones or whoever the hell he really was. “It’s time for you to leave now before I really get pissed off.”

He was no longer amused. “Forty thousand.”

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