Page 82 of Strictly Forbidden

His laugh almost sounded bitter. “You heard right. I tried to stick with the old man since he’d just lost his son but after a couple of years, I couldn’t take it any longer.”

“What are you doing now?”

“This and that. Some mercenary work when I can get it. What do you need?”

“Payback.”

“You sure you want to do that? You’ll violate your parole.”

The woman upstairs lying naked in the same warm bed I wanted to be in had given me a hell of a lot to think about. “I don’t plan on killing the bastards, Dan. I want them to kill each other.”

That was unless the fuckers continued to hassle me. But the idea was a good one. What Noel had said sparked something entirely different in my mind. What if I could clear my name? It would be tough but maybe doable.

“What do you have in mind?”

“Good old-fashioned mind games. If I can get them to turn on each other, maybe I won’t need to fill the streets with blood.”

His chuckle was almost as dark as mine had been. “I always said you were the real conniving one in the group, but what you’re thinking about will be tough.”

“I get it but what do I have to lose? Besides, I refuse to live my life looking over my shoulder when a fucking kid hungering for power lords it over me. I’m not that kind of man.”

“No, you’re not. Okay, I’m in. However, don’t underestimate Saldono, Kage. He’s even more violent and bloodthirsty than when you were working with the bastard.”

“I think they’re both conniving and greedy bastards.”

“Yeah, well, you are right about that. How did we work for them for so long?” Dan asked.

“I ask myself that question several times a week.” And I did. “You still in Colorado?”

“Yeah, working at a ranch. I found out hard work makes me happy.” His laugh was genuine and reminded me that both of us had been different people before going to work with Saldono.

“Let me ask you a question. Can you get in touch with the other guys that can be trusted?”

“A couple of the guys are currently working with me. But yeah, I can get you a few more, but you need to know what you’re thinking is a crapshoot at best.”

Exhaling, I knew I might be wasting time but I had no other choice. And I was the kind of man who didn’t like being shoved against a wall. “I get it. I’m not stupid here, my friend. But Saldono needs to learn the truth.”

“Maybe you’re right. Give me a couple of days. I owe you for saving my life, my man, but after this, both of us need to move on. You know?”

“Let me guess. You’re involved.” He’d been the guy to say a million times a woman would never be happy in his world.

“News travels fast. We ain’t in our twenties any longer. Soon, we’ll be old men with no chance at getting pretty girls. I thought I’d find one while the fire was still burning.”

It was good to hear his voice. He’d always been able to keep me down to earth. “Speak for yourself, dude. I get them plenty hot and young.”

“Always a terrible liar.”

“Yeah, well, I had to be. You know that.”

He’d been with me through a lot of shit dealing with Saldono. He also knew better than anyone what I’d suffered, something I’d told almost no one. “Don’t lose yourself, man. Breathing fresh air is a hell of a lot better than being stuck behind bars. You know?”

That much I knew to be true.

“Tell you what. Are you free for a couple hours tomorrow?”

“Sure, I think I can swing it. What for?”

“I just want to make an impression. Nothing more.”

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