Page 50 of A Captive Situation

And strutting around as if they were badasses.

Four of our uncles made up the board for the business, but I decided there was only one that I needed to talk to for my information.

I shot off a text after I searched his phone.

Crispin: I just heard some shit about a contract on Jake’s head. Wtf, dad? Do I need to know something?

Uncle Toby wasn’t tech-savvy so I held up my gun and moved back to Crispin, tearing off the tape. I spoke through his howl. “Your dad’s going to call you in a moment, and you’re going to say whatever the fuck you need to say to find out who put a contract on my head. You got me?”

“You fucking—”

I took the safety off and pressed it harder against his temple. They didn’t know the lengths I could go. No, that wasn’t correct. They knew the lengths I went to, to protect my brother, but I was thinking they needed a reminder.

He shut up, but his eyes narrowed. Confusion showed.

“I mean it, Crisp. I went through your messages. I know you got a little girlfriend in Jersey and I’m guessing there’s a reason you’re keeping her a secret. You want to keep her secret, you play ball.”

His eyes continued glaring before looking down to where Penn was lying.

Oh. I’d just outed him.

I shrugged. “We’ll work something out with him.”

He continued seething at me.

I ignored him, saying, “I don’t have to time to be fucking diplomatic here. Someone’s trying to kill me. You help me find out who that is sothat I can put a bullet in their head or you don’t. If you choose option two, trust me, I will have no problem taking down every single family member with me. You get me?”

I stared at him, hard. Letting him see just how far I was willing to go, and if that meant putting a bullet in each of my uncles’ heads, in each of my cousins’ like him, I had no problem doing that. When he stilled, and swallowed, I finished, “Are you in or out? Your dad is going to call any second.”

Fury showed before he banked it and slowly nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll ask him.”

The phone began ringing.

“You do what the fuck you need to get the answers. You got me?”

He nodded again, this time quicker, so I accepted the call, putting him on speaker.

He coughed, clearing his throat. “Hey—”

“What are you playing at? Sending that shit over text? Have you lost your damn mind—”

I moved the gun so it was directed at Penn, who froze when he saw the move.

“Dad—Dad! Shut up.”

There was a beat of silence, but Uncle Toby was not one that you told to shut up.

“Listen here, you little piece of shit. You—”

“Who’s trying to take out Jake?”

Silence again. “Why the fuck do you care about that fucker? He’s a traitor. Who the fuck cares—”

Crispin paled, cursing under his breath. “Dad!”

There was another moment of silence.

Uncle Toby was the keeper of all the secrets. He knew everything, and since I didn’t have time for a trip to Maine right now, his sons were the closest way to get those answers.

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