Page 11 of The Lieutenant

As we headed up the outside stairs, I constantly looked to ensure our actions weren’t being watched by anyone from the closest windows. I would hate to interrupt their evening by needing to have aconversationwith them.

I did the polite thing, knocking on the man’s door. Breaking it in would mean dollars spent that shouldn’t be necessary. I could be civil unless I was crossed.

Hearing footsteps, I plastered on a smile.

But as soon as Theo opened the door, I had my hand wrapped around his throat, pushing him further into his house. I knew Jonas would close and lock the door behind us, preventing any unwanted visitors.

I slammed Theo against the back wall with enough force a picture was knocked from the wall. Instantly, I saw fear in his eyes.

“Theo. I must admit I was a little surprised you didn’t have either myself or a member of my family on your show so a rebuttal could be issued. But then, that’s not the way you operate. Is it?”

When he didn’t answer, I squeezed my fingers until he was wheezing.

“Maybe we should start over. I’ll be happy to let you go if you agree to answer our questions.”

It took him less than three seconds to fully comprehend his life was about to suck if he didn’t come to his senses.

His single nod was all I needed for now.

I took a step away, surveying his small home. It was more modern than most, the artful woodworking stripped away in a recent renovation. “It’s a true shame when the lovely interiors of these buildings aren’t kept up to the original standards. But then you don’t care about reality or truths. Or even about solid bones of a building or a family-owned company. Do you?”

Theo didn’t say anything until I turned my head. His shrug was far too nonchalant. “I had solid information that needed to be told.”

“Solid information? From whom?”

“You know I can’t share my sources. That’s unethical.”

I was already growing annoyed with the conversation. I nodded to Jonas who swiftly slammed his weapon into the man’s face.

Theo’s yelp was drowned out as Jonas planted his huge hand over the man’s mouth. “What’s unethical is stating a lie, Theo. Now, I’ve tried to be a gentleman, a businessman about this entire situation. I offered you a meeting in a public place yet after agreeing, you opted out of doing the right thing. That doesn’t sit well with me. Do you understand?”

Jonas released his hand. The weapon strike had given the man a bloody lip and nose. Should I feel bad for him? No. That wasn’t in my repertoire of feelings.

“Now, I think you’re beginning to understand the severity of the situation. So, here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to go back on that television show you make a lot of money off of and tell the truth. Recant. It’s that simple. You’re also going to provide the name of the informant who contacted you or I’m afraid you’ll experience some unpleasantries I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”

“You’re threatening me?”

“I’m cautioning you to think prudently. I’m giving you a choice because I’m a very fair man.” I leaned against the wall, shoving my hands into my trouser pockets. “So, what’s it going to be?”

Theo was intelligent enough to weigh his options carefully. I’d give him a four on a scale of one to ten in attempting to buy some time. He truly had no idea what I was capable of, yet a small part of him believed this might all go away.

I had a very long memory.

“I don’t know who sent it, okay? I got a couple emails, all anonymous. I tried to track down the source, but the sender scrambled his IP address.”

He spouted off what I knew to be the truth. Not that it was any less damning for the man. I laughed and Jonas did the same thing in response. “So let me get this straight. You had a couple tips from an unknown party about long standing and highly respected citizens of this beautiful city. Correct?”

Theo nodded almost too enthusiastically.

“Even in your report, you noted the Nomikos family has brought jobs to the area, millions of dollars in tourism, and also awarded several local charities with significant checks over the years. Yet you failed to make a single phone call to confirm the lies. You didn’t attempt to contact a single member of the family or an employee before airing the tawdry bullshit. Did I get that about right?”

“I did talk to some employees.”

Jonas reared back and glanced into my eyes. Yes, I had a feeling what Theo had just stated was true as well. Maybe it was time to clean house.

“Before you ask,” Theo continued. “They only talked to me given the certainty their identities would remain hidden. There were muffled phone calls and nothing more. No names. No meetings.Nothing. But it was direct confirmation of what my unknown source had sent.”

Well, this put a kink into things. Of course with any organization, there were always those disgruntled from being overlooked for a promotion or a raise they didn’t believe was high enough, but to betray the entire company and everyone involved so egregiously placed the situation on an entirely different level. However, I’d need to talk to my brothers to determine how best to handle repairing the problem.

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