Page 96 of Protection (Mobsters + Billionaires 2)
“The details are still sketchy, but Shimla is a good place to start.”
Ryder agrees with me
I hang up the phone, and it rings right away. “Luca?”
“No, it's Hopper. Luca wanted me to let you know they found Mads’ driver.”
“He’s dead?” I ask, my stomach plummeting to the floor.
“Looks like they roughed him up, Anthony.”
Fuck. I put down the phone and try to fucking breathe. After a few moments, I pick back up the handset. “Thank you for telling me, Hop.”
“Everybody breaks,” he says, his voice oddly soothing. “He wasn’t a bad guy.”
I bite back hysterical laughter. If anyone knows how effective torture is, it’s my good friend Hopper.
“I know, Hop,” I respond, my voice cracking. “We’ll make sure his family is taken care of.”
“Good. Also, Ryder just sent me the details. Shimla? Is that where we’re heading?”
“Yes.”
“Luca said Charlie is bringing a friend.”
“Yes, um,” I say, searching our messages. “Anders Bash. And he’ll have company. They’re on this side of the planet, but they homebase near Austin.”
“Oh goody,” Hopper says, his giddiness transferring across the line. “Anders is hilarious.”
This is not a good thing.
“You know him?”
“Anthony, I want you to imagine the small percentage of people in the world like me.”
“Yes?”
“Then I want you to imagine the number of those people who are more or less on the side of good.”
“Probably not that many.”
“It’s a small community. So yes, I know Anders Fucking Bash. Besides, he’s the one who recommended Charlie to us. So, good choice.”
“I’m so happy he meets with your approval.”
Hopper chuckles, and it makes my blood run cold. “You should know his parents are Norwegian and their nickname for him is Texas.”
Ah, shit.
“Isn’t that what the Norwegians say when something is absolutely batshit?”
“Ja,” he says, and I can practically hear him bouncing with glee across the line.
“Great.”
* * *
Ryder,who probably hasn’t slept a wink, pulled security camera footage from the house in Shimla, and there was no activity seen for the last several days. Worse, Mads’ family owns many properties all over India.
