Page 99 of Jael

When she pulled away, he kissed her, then slapped her butt before she could get out of reach.

“It’s almost over,” she muttered to herself.

Danny checked the time, then scratched his cheek so he could speak into his earpiece. “Give me the heads up when you’re ready to make your move.”

“You get him to say what we need, and we’ll move,” Barak replied.

Danny made his way around the room until he spotted Artus.

“Nice party,” he said, and Artus turned, looking only slightly annoyed.

“Danny, are you still here? I thought you would be long gone now that Gregory’s dead.”

“Unfinished business.”

“Anything I can help with?” Artus said with a wolfish grin.

If Danny went for broke here, it could get him kicked out, or it could get the result he needed. He could see Jael talking to Hannah, but he didn’t know where Christopher had disappeared to.

“Maybe. I’m still looking for a decent job.”

Artus looked him up and down. “You’ve got some nerve. After the way you behaved, I can’t believe you think you’re welcome here.”

“Jael invited me.”

“Enjoy the last of her warmth. Because your friendship will come to an end once she’s married. Christopher will make sure of it.”

“Honestly, Artus, I don’t know what you have against me. Your boy isn’t the shining light you think he is.”

Artus leaned a fraction closer. “What did you just say to me?”

“I’m sure I don’t need to spell it out for you. Christopher makes messes. I bet you’ve cleaned up a few by now. I was attempting to keep things clean and sharp. I thought that was the type of business you ran. We get the job done and get out. But maybe I was wrong.”

“You’re lucky Christopher didn’t shoot you.”

“For what?”

“Does it matter? He’s a grown man. I let him decide what’s best in the moment.”

“Heads up, ladies and gentlemen,” Barak said into the earpiece. “We’ve picked up Bo Feng, the clerk who sold the drug to kill Gregory. He’s already agreed to confess about both Artus and Christopher’s involvement. We’ll leak the information to Artus and see if we can’t get him to confess before we move.”

Danny smiled at the news while nodding at what Artus was saying.

“…When the ends justify the means, you know you’ve got the right combination. I hope we can at least agree on that.”

“Absolutely,” Danny said. “But I don’t believe that was the case with Burger or with Martin.”

“If you like, we can see what Christopher has to say for himself.”

Artus nodded to Danny’s left, where Christopher was on the phone. He’d seen his dad’s summons but held up a finger for him to wait.

Danny would only be in the way if Christopher was getting the expected news. Father and son would talk more freely without him there.

“If you’ll excuse me for a moment,” Danny said. “While he’s on the phone, I’ll go grab a drink.”

“Sounds to me like you’re running away.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back.”

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