Page 111 of Absolution

“Who is it?” he asks, on alert.

“Bobby.”

“What the fuck does he want?” He sounds as confused as I feel.

I shrug. “Who knows?” I answer the cell and put it on speaker. “What’s up, Bobby?”

“Dougal has a last-minute change of plans. You are to come to the restaurant, and Viktor is to continue to the docks.”

“That isn’t part of the plan,” Viktor barks, his tone as vicious as his bite.

“Hello, Viktor. I’m afraid you don’t have a choice. There are currently men outside two-twenty-fiveToledo Street.”

Viktor and I share a knowing look.

“If you fucking hurt them, I’ll kill every single one of you.” Viktor’s tone warns his threat isn’t baseless. He means what he says.

“Then you know what to do.”

Bobby finishes the call.

“How the fuck did they find them?” Viktor asks while fighting like hell not to pound his fists on the steering wheel of our car.

“I don’t know. I can’t see how Dougal could have found out. You just bought that property. Every man who is currently there, I vetted myself.” My stomach gurgles as I ask, “Who else knows?”

“No one. I bought the property under a different name.” Viktor burns rubber when he executes a U-turn.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” He flattens his foot to the floor. “We have to protect our family.”

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but the best way to protect them is by following the new orders.”

“You’re right. I don’t want to hear it,” Viktor grinds out through clenched teeth.

“You need to think logically, Viktor, not emotionally.”

“Fuck you, Oliver,” he spits out, although I can tell he knows I’m right.

After turning back onto the road, he tightens his grip on the steering wheel.

Twenty minutes later, we’re nearing the docks.

“Leave me here. I’ll make my way to the restaurant. Don’t do anything rash. Size him up and then leave,” I tell him like I’m head of the Clan.

“I don’t like this,” he confesses, his tone lower than usual.

“Neither do I, but what other choice do we have?”

He pulls over and waits for me to slide out before saying, “Don’t get killed.”

“You either.”

I hail a cab and give him an address near the restaurant. Of course, I’m not driving straight into the kill zone. I’m not that stupid.

The cab is approaching the drop-off when my cell rings. It’s Jimmy.

“Everything okay, Jimmy?”

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