Page 50 of Mine to Protect

“Hey, Rhett. So, you came up for air?”

“Not really,” he admitted. “I got a text from Miles that said you’re holding Laurita and that I might want to talk to you about that.”

“It’s complicated. And, it’s not in the news. Yet. Need to keep a lid on this for a lot of reasons, one of which affects you.”

“Me?” He lifted his cold, dry bagel and took a bite. “How so?”

“We got a tip that he was picking up some square groupers near the inlet. I went out with the Coast Guard, and, sure enough, there he was.”

One of these days, he would love for his mother to use language that wasn’t from the seventies and eighties, since most people had no idea that a square grouper was drugs dumped from an airplane. “No offense, Ma, but what the hell does that have to do with me? I’m not working any drug cases right now.”

“Nope. But when we searched Cole’s boat, we found a shitload of counterfeit money. All from the same batch as the one your girlfriend’s brother had in his hotel room.”

Rhett stiffened his spine. “You’ve got my attention.”

“Cole doesn’t want to go back to jail, so he asked me if we could work a deal, to which I explained that I couldn’t authorize that kind of thing. But I said that if he had something good, I’d facilitate it. He told me that while he was in prison, one of his cellmates was a guy who worked for the Gorga organization, and the moment he got out, the Mortellis were at his doorstep.”

“Jesus, Ma. You can’t make this shit up.”

“Nope. You can’t,” his mother said. “I had him stop because I didn’t want to promise him shit that I couldn’t deliver. Anyway, I’ve got the feds in my office right now working a bona fide deal with him.”

“What do they know about my situation?” Rhett pinched the bridge of his nose. This was where things got sticky with his career and what some of his family members did.

“A little less than I do, and I’m not asking you to bring me full circle. Not yet, anyway,” his mom said. “I had a brief conversation with Miles last night, and while he didn’t tell me anything, he hinted just enough that I know I need to give you a little breathing room. But, Rhett, the feds are in my fucking office. You’d better not need too much oxygen, because that is a tank I can’t refill.”

“I’m dealing with it all this morning and should be able to loop you in shortly.”

“You’d better,” his mom said. “Because one of the things that Cole said in his interview with the feds was that he was the one who planted that hundred. That the Mortellis told him to.”

“Why?”

“He doesn’t know. Except that he was also toldnotto use the cash he was given. Well, anywhere except to plant it on Chris. Apparently, he fucked up and used it to pay some of his back bills at the marina,” his mother said.

“Does he know anything about Chris? Or Jackie and her uncle?” Rhett opted not to say anything about Albert or his wife. He would have to—and probably by the end of the day, if not sooner—but for now, he’d leave things as they were.

“Only that he was to go to the hotel, ransack the room, and plant the money. Do you want me to question him about them?”

“I’d rather you didn’t.” Rhett leaned back and raised his mug, taking a large gulp. He picked at his bagel, dunking a piece into his coffee and letting the doughy treat soak up the heavy liquid. “At least, for as long as you can. Obviously, this is going to collide, but until I have more information—which I should have in a couple of hours—it might be better if you waited for that to happen organically.”

“I’m good with that, but keep me in the loop the best you can. Got it? Don’t make me chase you down.”

“I won’t,” he said. “Listen. I have a huge favor to ask.”

“You want to bring Shelby to my and Steve’s house out on the island?”

He chuckled. “I’m glad you’re finally calling it your house.”

“Not the point,” his mom said. “Why don’t I swing by and pick her up? I can be there in a half-hour. Emmett and Emmerson can handle things here.”

Rhett groaned. He hadn’t meant for his mother to become Shelby’s babysitter. He absolutely would have preferred it to be one of his brothers. Not that they wouldn’t have tried to get the dirt, but they would have a hell of a lot more tact than dear old Ma. But, he figured his mom was running on fumes if she had been out all night. She likely needed to rest.

“Thanks. I appreciate it. Love you, Ma.”

“Love you, too.”

He ended the call and tapped Miles’ contact information.

“Hey.” His brother picked up before it even rang. “Thought you were just going to show up.”

---