Page 355 of Lodestar

“They’re threatening him.”

“Liam? Why?”

“They want him to throw his next match against the Maple Leafs.”

“What do they have on him?” I queried.

Paddy huffed. “Nothing.”

“Bullshit,” I countered. “People only pull these kinds of stunts if they have leverage.”

I thought back to what I knew of Liam Donnghal—not much, really. Not as a person.

Mostly, I remembered his stats as a player. I also recalled that said stats had plummeted after he was kidnapped last year.

Matter of fact, I was the reason the guy was still playing lacklusterly in the rink rather than fertilizing roses—I'd found his ass and had helped bring him home.

“Liam’s a good boy?—”

“Sure he is,” I drawled. “He’s a professional athlete. They never get intoanytrouble.”

Conor chuckled. “She has a point. The Rabid Wolves deal drugs. Has Liam started using?”

Paddy’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “No.”

“Convincing,” I mocked.

“After the kidnapping, he’s gotten paranoid. Understandable but… he bought a gun from them and they’re holding that over him.”

Conor heaved a sigh. “Why didn’t he ask us to procure one for him?”

“He doesn’t like talking to me. You know that.”

Even as I wondered what had triggered a falling out between father and son, I scoffed, “He talked to you about this.”

Paddy conceded that with a grimace. “Desperate times. His words, not mine.”

Ouch.

“He could have bought a gun the legal way. Why go to some shady MC when you have a legitimate reason to be paranoid?”

“Not this type of gun,” he muttered. “Gun laws are stricter across the border.”

“Rightfully so,” I sniped.

“Didn’t think you’d have that opinion,” was Conor’s surprised retort.

“I’m full of contradictions.”

“You said it, not me,” he said with a snort. To his uncle, he asked, “What does Liam think I can do?”

“Make up a gun permit for him for the weapon.Orget the Rabid Wolves off his back.”

“I can do that,” I offered. “They do runs with the Sinners. I’ve got plenty of dirty laundry of theirs I can air. You’ll deal with the permit?”

Conor nodded. “The Mounties face the Maple Leafs next week if memory serves?”

“Yeah. Thursday,” Paddy answered.

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