Page 7 of Savage Redemption

“Not exactly,” I correct him. “Julia told me?—”

“Yeah, right. Courteous, considerate, treated them well. We’ve been through all of this.” He turns to leave. “We would have killed me, given the chance.”

It’s fair comment. Kris was his target, not my wife or daughter. But still.

“The Madrid Mob are refusing to pay any ransom. He’s worth nothing to us as things stand.” I try another tack. “We could strike a deal with San Antonio himself.”

My boss’s brow creases. “Since the Madrid contingent chose a new Don, San Antonio is cut loose. They don’t want him back. He has no access to their money, so no way of paying the ransom himself and no leverage that I can see. He’s worth nothing to anyone. What sort of a deal could he come up with?”

“He wasn’t their Don for long, just a matter of months. Before that, while Carlos Domingo was boss, Adan was their money-maker.”

“I know that. He was good at it, I gather. He should have stuck to that rather than branching out into attempted assassinations.”

I ignore the bitter remarks and home in on what matters. “He was better than good. My sources suggest the Madrid Mob is struggling to maintain their income. Adan was clearly the one with the business acumen, the ideas, the entrepreneurial flair.”

“He should have stayed in his lane,” Kris observes drily.

“What if he was to get back in that lane, but working for us?”

Kris gapes at me as though I just sprouted an extra head. “Are you serious? Let me remind you, he wants me dead.”

“Wanted.”

“Kris shakes his head. “He’s a made man with another firm. No one shifts allegiances like that, or if they do, they can’t be trusted by anyone.”

“Theylet him down.Theyleft him to his fate. Why should he remain loyal to them?”

“It’s his birthright. His destiny.”

“Bollocks. What goes around comes around. Loyalty cuts both ways. And, if you could manage to strike a truce with Ethan Savage, why wouldn’t he be prepared to trade with you?”

“It’s hardly the same.” Kris snorts. “Between me and Ethan it was about money. And Janey. He wanted to protect her and didn’t trust me to treat her right. He still doesn’t but gives me the benefit of the doubt. With San Antonio, it’s about attempted murder.”

I sigh and gesture to him to take his seat again. He glowers at me as he does so.

“As I see it, we have three choices.”

“As many as that?”

I ignore his sarcasm. “One. We kill him.”

“That would save us bother and money. Put an end to the problem permanently.”

I press on. “Two. We keep him prisoner indefinitely. Which means we have to guard him. And the hacienda is my home. Mywife and daughter live there, and they know we have him locked up in the cells.”

“Why would they care?”

“They…like him. As I’ve said, he?—”

“For fuck’s sake, Baz. What’s with all the touchy-feely crap? He’s an enemy, we need to neutralise him.”

I plough on. “Or, three. We form an alliance with him and let him make money for us. He could pay off his own ransom.”

He stares at me. “I can’t believe you’re actually serious. Why would you trust him? He’ll sink a dagger in my neck first chance he gets.”

“Why? What would he have to gain by that? The Madrid Mob won’t have him back, even if he wanted to overthrow the new Don and regain his position there. He doesn’t. He’s out of all that, and he wants to go back to his old life doing what he’s good at. Making money.”

I fall silent, waiting.

---