Page 70 of Devil's Queen

“What’s the status on Diaz? Has he made any further contact?” Tinley queries. “This could be him.”

“Who’s Diaz?” Rex interjects, looking between the three of us.

“The owner of the bike that was stolen,” Cheyenne answers.

“Why would he have something to do with this?”

I let out a weary sigh, my hands dragging down my face in exhaustion. “He paid half a million dollars for that bike,” I explain, feeling the weight of guilt settling in my chest. “I tried to give him his money back, but he came to me with an alternative proposition.”

“And what was that?”

“He wanted the guys responsible for stealing it taken out. If we take care of them, we keep the cash for the bike.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner? You can’t honestly be considering it.”

“We don’t have a choice, but we’re working on an alternative plan of our own,” I confess, my voice tinged with regret. “It’s under control.” My words sound hollow even to my ears as I try to convince myself that everything will work out in the end.

“How could you possibly have a hit like that under control? What do you know about this guy?”

“We’re working on that too. Maya’s been trying to track down what she can as our backup plan,” Cheyenne adds. “It’s not perfect, but it’s what we have to work with right now.”

“Let me get this straight. Your client is essentially blackmailing you to take out the two guys who took the bike. One of which is likely Wolff.” Rex drags his hand over his face and paces around us, lost in his thoughts until he stops dead in his tracks. “Call your stepbrother.”

“You don’t think I’ve already done that. Beau’s been looking into it since the bike was taken. He hasn’t found anything on this guy. He’s a goddamn ghost. Beau’s words. Not mine.”

Maya is good, but Beau is better. I’d honestly been considering asking Raze if I could send her out there to learn from my stepbrother until shit hit the fan here.

“This is bad, Rem. Worse than I fucking thought.”

“Preaching to the choir, asshole,” Cheyenne retorts.

My cell phone begins to ring in my pocket. I reach for it, praying that it’s not more bad news. I sigh when I see the name on it.

“It’s Diaz.”

“Put it on speaker,” Rex demands.

“Hello,” I answer after accepting the call.

“Ms. Laveau. I hope you have good news for me.”

I look to the group, shrugging. “We have a lead we’re following up on as we speak.” The lie spills from my lips too easily. Rex waggles his finger, indicating for me not to add more to my statement. “We should have an answer for you soon.”

“I expect results, Ms. Laveau,” Diaz scoffs audibly, his disbelief clear even over the phone. “I gave you a simple task. I would have expected to have their heads gift wrapped by now.”

“It takes time to gather the necessary information to bring them down.” I pause for a moment, collecting my thoughts.

There’s a tense silence on the line, and I can almost picture Diaz fuming on the other end. Finally, he speaks, his voice laced with irritation. “I don’t want excuses, Ms. Laveau. I want results. And I want them soon.”

“We are doing everything in our power to ensure justice is served.”

Diaz scoffs again, clearly unimpressed. “You better hope that your ‘lead’ pans out,” he warns. “Because if it doesn’t… well, let’s just say there will be consequences.”

I grit my teeth, refusing to let Diaz intimidate me further. “I assure you, Mr. Diaz, we are fully committed to resolving this matter.”

After exchanging a few more terse words with Diaz, I hang up the call and let out a frustrated sigh. Rex stares at me with an indescribable look on his face.

“All this time, Rem. All this fucking time with the bike and the shit with Wolff, this was going on as well.” Rex paces the floor again. “This is so much bigger than I realized.”

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