Page 27 of Dagger

“You okay, babe?” I asked gently. “You look tired.”

Elise rolled her eyes. “In other words, I look a mess.”

I leaned forward, hitching my elbows to the table to meet her eyes. “You couldn’t look a mess if you damned well tried, Leesy. You were beaten half to death a week ago by your fuckhead husband, then this morning had a confrontation with him. Anyone else would be on their knees. You wouldn’t look outta place strutting down a damned catwalk.”

Abe chuckled.

“Nice save, Pop,” Cash murmured from beside me.

Bowie held a fist to his mouth and coughed, “Suck up.”

I shot them a glare.

Elise’s gaze swept over us, and her lips twitched. “Are you men always like this? How do you get anything done?”

Kit busted out a laugh.

“It’s like dealin’ with village idiots.” I threw each of my boys a glare. “Now shut the fuck up, or it’ll be Thanksgiving by the time Elise gets to fill in the blanks.”

Bowie nodded toward Stafford. “Before we get into it, tell me somethin’. How the fuck are you involved?”

“I was recruited just out of law school,” Brett admitted. “I knew something wasn’t right with Robbie Junior back Layla got roofied years before. Something bad happened to her at that party; no way could she have passed out and forgotten hours of her life after a couple of beers. When it happened, Robbie covered his ass and insisted she’d slept with some guy from a different college, but I knew he was lying. I made inquiries withsome contacts I’d made at law school, and The FBI made contact soon after.”

Bowie’s lip curled.

“The agency had already opened up their investigation and recruited me,” Elise explained. “We were getting nowhere fast. Robert took care not to involve me in his dirty dealings, but he did involve his son. Brett’s mission was to get close to Junior and then Robert. Without him, we’d still be going around in circles. Junior was in deep with the Sinners. He introduced them to Robert, and now they run protection when he transports the women.”

“He called the Sinners to transport Layla that time he took her. I was running interference and sent them on a wild-goose chase.”

“So all the asshole behavior’s been an act?” Cash asked.

Stafford shrugged. “I had to make them trust me so I could infiltrate. The most effective way to achieve that was to become one of them.”

“We’ve been trailin’ you for fucking months,” Atlas muttered accusingly. “Complete waste of time.”

“Actually,” Colt interjected. “It’s been good for us. Henderson thinks the club’s onto Stafford. It’s helped Brett gain his trust. The mayor’s on the verge of pulling him into the inner circle and giving him more responsibility, which, in turn, has enabled us to start building a case. All we need is proof of the cargo, where it’s shipped from, and where to, and we’ll have Henderson where we want him. The tricky part is that we want to take the Sinners down along with everyone else who’s had a hand in the operation. If we don’t, the second Henderson’s gone, they’ll just start up again from somewhere else, and we’ll be back to square one.”

“We need to pinpoint everyone who’s covered for the fuckhead,” I muttered.

“Bet you my last dime that the sheriff’s involved,” Cash retorted.

“You’d be right,” Elise confirmed. “Bear Rawlins is another big player. His club deals with transport and protection. They also pick the girls to order, abduct them, and get them to where they need to be.”

I turned to Brett. “What about your dad? He’s part of Henderson’s inner circle, isn’t he?”

“Dad’s always known something’s off but only recently discovered how dark it goes,” Stafford admitted. “He keeps the mayor sweet but doesn’t get involved in anything deep, mainly because Henderson hasn’t got anything he can blackmail him with. Officially, Dad announced his retirement so he could get away from Henderson. Unofficially, he’s still practicing law on the down-low in Florida. My dad’s not exactly pure as the driven snow, but he’s no sex trafficker.”

I sat forward, my stare holding his. “Pete Barrington?”

“Much like my dad,” Brett stated. “Problem is, he’s his own special brand of dick. It didn’t start that way, but over the years, he’s become richer off the backs of the townsfolk and become more entitled. We suspect Henderson’s got something on him, and he’s using that opportunity to launder dirty money through Barrington’s bank. Pete will be a problem if you give him the opportunity. He’s not exactly a criminal mastermind, but he’s got connections.”

Bowie turned his head to address me. “Been tryin’a think of a way to bring him down since he pulled that shit with Layla. I screwed with his daughter but never quite worked out how to screw with him.”

“There’s only one way to topple a banker, Son. You mess with his cash, and you take away his power.” I studied Colt, relaying the meaning behind my words. One look was all it took for my ex-brother’s lips to start twitching. “You feelin’ me?” I asked.

He smirked. “You wanna take everythin’?”

I rubbed my beard, deep in thought. “Need to bring down Henderson’s network, and the only way to do that is to leave him without one. Vulnerable men take stupid risks.”

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