Page 80 of Fight for You
“I oughta?—”
I cut her off, tone flat. “Here’s the truth. Your connections were useful when I was at the LBPD. But you. You were never gonna help me level up.”
I swirled the whisky, listening to the silence on the other end.
“All those kids?” I shrugged, even though she couldn’t see it. “Their parents didn’t care a lick about them. Why should I?”
For a moment, I thought she’d hung up.
Then I heard it—her breathing. Steady. Controlled. Rage held at bay.
Good. “Let’s scale back, Nan,” I said smoothly. “Forget about the past. Emotions make things messy. I suggest we create an agreement?—”
“An agree?—”
“Just hear me out, lassie. I’ll not bother your clan. Ever again. Of course, I’ll miss your cooking. My wife’s food never had a thing on yours.” I filled the glass again. “See? Neither of us will be left unscathed. You need me to look the other way regarding shipments at the Los Angeles Port. I can’t live without your Dundee cake. Now, do you remember when Jamie had to be 51/50’d by a psychiatrist? I assume he’s with you.” Since I figured they were together, I directed the next question to the man of the hour. “Do you remember your mental breakdown when you were sixteen, son?”As opposed to all the others.
“Don’t call me son.” Jamie MacKenzie’s voice oozed venom through the receiver.
“It was a necessary tactic when redirecting the young, scared critter in you. Suppose I don’t have to redirect you now. When you became obsessed with Camdyn’s little floozy, you murdered a man in cold blood, right?”
“I did.”
My brows rose. This was too simple.
“I’m not proud of murdering the man.”
“True.” I felt obligated to agree since I’d pressed a button to record this call. A smile curved my lips. Jamie gave me leverage. “Let’s keep that between us. No one has to know.”
“You’ll call off your Nazi hacker?”
What? I tossed back the drink. Poured another. How did Jamie know about my confidential informant?
“Oh, é senza parole,” another man said. What language, I did not know. Spanish, Italian? “Speechless.” The man reverted to English. “Not in a good way.” Another chuckle.Pah.Italian.
Jamie laughed too. “Assuming I have the floor, I’ve another question for you. Is your wife at the gym this morning? Or did the lovely Mrs. McGregor stay home?”
“Do not. Go there.” I clutched the glass, almost tripping over the intricate leg of the cherry wood desk in my office as I paced around.
“I only mention it because I made a mistake once—I killed an innocent man. Now, let’s set some rules of engagement for this waryouinitiated. You made the first move by compromising my location and handing it to Chelomey. Then, you claimed the second strike by unleashing Officer Walsh on me. It’s my turn. Now.”
“What did you do?” I rushed to the window of my study, flicked the blinds shut, then pulled the silk string. The expensive, heavy curtains my wife just had to have fell into place.
“One more question. Are you missing a bottle of Brunello Riserva Biondi Santi? 1983. I told my friend not to take the wine when we visited your home last night.”
My eyes snapped to the wet bar. The spot on the bottom shelf. The vacant spot left the skin at the nape of my neck on edge.
“If you require some time to reach your office, don’t worry. While I wait, I’ll take care of this call you’re recording. Delete it from the cloud. No biggy.”
“You sonofa?—”
A click sounded. The world around me became brighter than life itself as an explosion erupted.
The intense heat scorched my nose and throat as fire consumed me from inside out.So, this was how it en?—
30
BIG BEAR
