Page 90 of Lost Kingdom

“Please,” I whisper, fresh tears welling up and rolling along my nose. “If you love me, if you trust me, if you see a future for us at all, keep driving and come back to the bar.”

“And just for clarities’ sake…” He hesitates. “You don’t work for Booth or his boss, right? Because you’re starting to sound a little knowledgeable on someone else’s business, and I don’t wanna be that guy, but…”

“No,” I choke out. “I promise.”

“One minute, Boss.”

“Tim…” I swallow and bring my hand up to brush stray hair off my face. “If you go into that house, Felix won’t come out again. And the fact you’re with him means your path is shifting, too. He wasn’t supposed to be in the city today. He was in New York! But now he’s here, and Jada was placed at Sarge’s to draw you in.”

“Hang on.” Minka’s eyes darken. “You’re still riding Jada? Aubree?—”

“Sarge’s?” Tim cuts in, his voice turning dark in an instant. “How’d you know where I followed her from?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you! Listen to me. Trust me. Leave that place and come to the bar. I’ll tell you everything when you get there. All of it.”

“Boss?” Frank’s voice is like a ticking time bomb in the back of my brain. Aching. Demanding. Panic inducing. “We’re approaching.”

“Drive away,” I cry out. “Leave, or you won’t live long enough to argue with me about divorce.”

“But it’s just a flop,” he murmurs. “Jada’s in there. And Felix’s guy. This is about collecting a few dollars and?—”

“This is bigger than that! I’m trying to tell you it’s bigger. Remember last night? When Booth tried to draw you out, but I kept you home? Because killing you would leave a seat open for Booth’s boss to sit in.”

“This isn’t the sa?—”

“He’s going to kill you! That’s how someone becomes king. You kill the one currently sitting.”

“I’m not the king! I’ve said it a million fucking times, Aubree. I’m?—”

“Riding with Felix right now. One of you is the king, the other, the heir.Youhave the power to choose whichever you want to be. You have more power than Felix himself, because he’d step down if you demanded it. But if you’rebothremoved, then Booth’s boss slides in, not only to Copeland, but New York too. Turn. The car. Around.” I bring desperate eyes up and lock onto Minka’s. “Call Archer. Have them siege the house or something.”

She pushes off the desk and circles around to pick up the corded phone. “He’s not part of that team, though. No chance I’m sending him in. And if Jada’s there, then Fletch is staying away, too.”

“We’re calling the cops,” I tell Tim. “You’re riding with a known associate in the organized crime world. You’re heading to a house notorious and known to the police for illegal activity.” I see him, in my mind, and the way his face hardens to stone. “I’ll visit you in prison if I have to. I willnotvisit your grave. This is non-negotiable.”

“Boss?” Frank tries again. “What’s the word?”

“You’re calling the cops?” Tim snaps. “Are you serious right now, Aubree Grace? You’d have me sitting here with my brother, and you threaten the cops?”

“To save his life?” I firm my quivering lips and nod, though of course, he can’t see me. “I’ll bake fruit cake and visit as often as I can.”

“Aubree!”

“Trust.” I press my free hand to my face and slump in my chair, my elbow on my thigh and my back arched. “You said you would trust me.”

“Boss!?”

“Tim…?”

“Turn it around.” He barks out, despite Felix’s frustrated ‘what?’. “Take us home. Watch for a tail. Cops are gonna swarm that house within minutes.” Then back to me. “Get your ass to the bar. Now. We’ve gotta talk.”

“Thank you.” My breath comes out with a burst of relief, my heart thundering and my lungs heaving for fresh air. “I love you. I’ll see you soon.”

“Don’t make me come looking for you.”

I kill our call and crush the heels of my palms against my eyes, while in my mind, I see paths. Winding roads, twirling and knotting, chaotic and dangerous. But some of them straighten out. Some lead out of the craziness and into something calmer.

“Archer’s gonna meet us at the bar.” Minka hangs up the phone with a heavy-handed thud, only to sit again and burn the side of my face with a glare. “You’ve earned a certain amount of credibility within our friendship circle, Doctor Emeri.” She rests her elbows on the sides of her chair and steeples her fingers. “That’s why, without proof, without cause, and without question, I made that call, and Archer subsequently initiated what will become a breach team that smashes a door in.” She raises a single brow. “On your word.”

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