Page 129 of The Mercenary's Guide to Mishaps and Romance

“I found what you were looking for on Nate’s computer.”

“And what was that, exactly?” he asks.

“I have a couple of stipulations before I talk.”

“You don’t fucking get a say in whether or not you’ll talk.”

“You wouldn’t want me releasing the footage to the public, would you? The footage of an innocent woman being murdered so you could fake your daughter’s death.”

He’s quiet for a bit as I hold tight and just wait. “What do you want?” he finally asks.

Holy shit… that worked. I’m over here just fucking guessing my way through it, and it worked? How thefuckdid that work? So Jasmine really is alive? I’d started to question it after finding out that the woman in prison was being paid off. If Arthur really had no reason to kill his own daughter… the only other answer is that he was trying to protect her. And he’s trying to protect her even now.

“I want you to leave Ellis out of it.”

“How about we talk face to face. All of us.”

“Not Ellis. He knows nothing. I’ve told you again and again, he knows nothing. You can ask the man aiming a gun at my head at this very instant what Zachary did when his son’s life was threatened. He’ll tell you that Zachary didn’t even hesitatebefore running off to save his sorry ass. Zachary only cares about his own life. He did back then and he does now. There is nothing you have to gain by pulling Ellis into this. You want your information, then come meet me. If I end up dead along the way, everything I know about the cover-up and all of that will be released. And… let’s just say I’m none too happy about Zachary leaving Ellis’s life in danger. If you need someone to make sure Zachary is dead, you don’t need to look much further.”

“Why don’t I invite you to my wonderful private island for a talk?”

“That would be lovely. I’m assuming your daughter is there and maybe we could all talk and figure out how to make this nasty nonsense with the drugs just… disappear. Wedefinitelydon’t want me to release all of this to the public. It would look horrible, both for you and your daughter. I would have to assume your company, everything you worked for, would just… go under.”

Arthur laughs, but it’s a cold sound. I really don’t know what he has planned, but I’m pretty confident he believes he has the upper hand. What he doesn’t know is just how fucking far Leland and Cassel will go… not necessarily to save my life… but to be entertained.

THIRTY

ELLIS

The moment I get into the older man’s apartment, I call Leland, who picks up on the first ring.

“Well, hello, my new favorite friend,” Leland says.

Everything just comes running out of me in a quick rush. “They have Tavish and he said you guys would know what do and what if he gets hurt and what if it’s all my fault and I have to save him?”

“I think I got most of that… Alright, Ellis, you need to go back to my house and sit your tush down and watch some TV. We’ll handle it,” Leland assures me.

“I’m not fucking sitting down! No! I’m… I’m… uh… going to… save him.”

“Try to sound a bit more confident the next time you declare that.”

“I don’t know how to sound confident!” I exclaim. “Where do I meet you? Do you have a plane?”

“Do I look like I just have a plane?” Leland asks.

“You have a murder van and a weird extra house and a sex dungeon and a gun shrine and a fucking… slab of fence! I feel like having a plane isn’t out of the realm of possibilities!”

“I have more than one extra house but no plane. But I’ll get us one, don’t worry.”

“Where do I meet you?”

“We’ll swing by and pick you up.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“You’re not going to leave me behind because you think I’ll just get in the way?”

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