Page 26 of Concerto of Crows and Cowards

Vassin’s guards took a protective stance as he came closer, and Max almost smiled at their confusion. They wanted him to be afraid, to know who was running the show, and Max wasn’t giving them the satisfaction.

Impressions were important to a man like Martin Vassin, and he knew exactly what they saw when they looked at him. They saw a man carelessly dressed in old jeans and a T-shirt with a baseball cap pulled low over his shaggy hair. It didn’t matter that Max could’ve bought and sold Martin Vassin a hundred times. Appearance mattered to him and it was part of his power trip to look more sophisticated, more powerful than his enemy. Max knew exactly how to play him.

“I don’t see a suitcase full of money,” Max called out as he stopped about fifteen feet away, drawing his line in the sand.

Vassin’s smile was sharp and cruel. “I was under the impression a man such as yourself didn’t need my money.” His gaze raked Max from head to toe. “Perhaps I was mistaken. Perhaps the rumors are true and you are no longer the one to control the Devlin fortune.”

“My fortune is fine. Much larger than yours the last time I checked. This is a business transaction. If you don’t have the money, then I don’t have the information. It’s simple enough.” Max turned his back to head back to the Jeep and he felt the movement behind him.

“Just a minute, Mr. Devlin. You don’t expect to leave here so easily, do you? I want that information. And I plan to get it.”

Hands grabbed the back of his shoulders, and he was spun around to face Vassin again. His men had spread out, and the two restraining him checked him over for weapons before taking a step back.

“He’s clean,” one of the guards called out.

Vassin’s brows rose in surprise. “You’re either very brave or very stupid, Mr. Devlin.”

“I’ve been called worse,” he said, shrugging.

Vassin chuckled, his eyes filled with curiosity. “This is what we’re going to do. You and I are going to get in the helicopter and go to my home. You’re going to give me the locations for the weapons convoy, and once you do and the information has been verified, you’ll be free to leave. Without my money.”

“And if I choose not to go with you?”

“Then I’m going to put a bullet in each of your knees and leave you lying here in the desert. You won’t die right away, but the buzzards will still feed off your flesh. I’ll come back again tomorrow and see if you’ve changed your mind about giving me the information.”

“Huh,” Max said, taking off his cap and running his fingers through his hair. “That’s pretty creative of you. But I think I have a better idea.”

Vassin’s smile grew bigger. “I can’t wait to be enlightened. You’re an entertaining man, Mr. Devlin.”

Max held up the hat in his hand seconds before a shot rang out and a bullet flew right through the center of it. Vassin’s men had their weapons up, pointing at Max, but Vassin was smart enough to wave them back.

“The next one is centered to go right through your forehead,” Max said. “Your toy soldiers might take me out, but not before you join me. Are we clear?”

Vassin nodded and waved a hand for his men to put their weapons away, and they all did as he asked.

“Now let me tell you what we’re going to do. I’m going to walk back to my Jeep and drive away. My price has just doubled again. I expect to see half of the money delivered to a place of my choosing within the next six hours. You’ll call me in exactly five hours and fifty minutes for the location. If it’s not in my hands in six hours, I’m going to get on a plane and fly to London, where I’m supposed to meet Jarron Sikes. He’s very interested in the information I have to offer. And he knows better than to try and screw me over.”

Vassin’s expression turned deadly at the mention of his closest competitor.

“Once you show your good faith with the first half of the payment, you and I will meet again at a time and place of my choosing, where you’ll give the second payment to my associate and I’ll relay the information you’ve purchased.”

Max wadded the ball cap in his hands and smiled at Vassin. “Six hours,” he repeated. And then he turned around and walked back to the Jeep just like he said he would. He didn’t let out the breath he’d been holding until he was back on the main road, speeding toward the city of sin.

Chapter Eleven

It took almost two hours to drive back into the city, and by then Max was starting to get a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He hadn’t liked the calculating look that had come into Vassin’s eyes just before he’d left, and he knew without a doubt Vassin would be thinking of a way he could double-cross Max. Again.

His phone vibrated against the passenger seat, and he picked it up, expecting to hear Jade’s voice on the other end of the line.

“I’ve got a confirmation from the SEAL team,” Atticus said. “The girl has been spotted at Vassin’s California residence, but we’re going to wait to coordinate the rescue with your next meeting. We don’t want to take the chance of them killing her.”

“He’s got less than four hours until the first delivery has to be made, but my gut isn’t feeling all that great about the transaction. He’s going to try to screw me over.”

“Have him make the first drop in a public place. The casino should work nicely for what you have in mind, and the rest of us can spread out to watch for any tricks. We’ll already be in place long before he contacts you.”

Max’s anxiety eased some after he hung up the phone. The ball was in his hands, and it was his show to run. He only wished that one small nagging piece of doubt wasn’t eating away at him.

Jade took the mountain pass instead of the desert road that Max had to take so she was back to the hotel long before he was. She changed out of her dusty clothes and got in the shower, scrubbing away the sweat and grime of the afternoon. That hadn’t been an easy shot to make, and the conditions up in the mountain where she’d set up had been less than ideal.

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