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He flashed a grin full of yellow, crooked teeth. “Jake Heath.”
Andrei nodded. Either he was lying or he didn’t expect Andrei to live long enough to use the name against him.
“Yeah, I protected Vallois. Risked my life for the bastard only to get shafted.”
Jake snorted. “Considering the prick’s preferences, I’m surprised he didn’t try.”
Andrei kept his face blank, trying to look as if he didn’t understand when all he wanted to do was slam his fist into the man’s nose. It was bad enough that he had to lie about Lucas. He didn’t want to listen to any derogatory words about him as well.
Jake cleared his throat and continued. “Did you recognize any of the men chasing Vallois?”
“Yeah, a couple,” Andrei mumbled, looking away from Jake to gaze around the warehouse, as if the other man wasn’t able to actually hold his attention.
“But you didn’t tell the cops.”
“Nope. My job was to keep him alive, not solve his problems. He’s not earned any loyalty from me.”
“Besides, you solve his problem and you’re out a job.”
Andrei smirked. “Exactly.” He shrugged and then winced at the pain in his shoulder. “Glad I didn’t. Fucker deserves what he gets.”
“Would you like to help my employer in that respect?”
“What do you mean?”
“Vallois has hurt some people. Taken advantage of them and we just want to make things square.” Jake spread his hands as if trying to make his argument seem like he and his employer were the good guys. Robin Hood stealing back what was theirs from the evil Sheriff. “You give us a little inside information on Lucas’s habits and we can make it worth your while. Better than risking your life in those fights.”
Andrei rubbed his jaw, making a show of thinking things over. “What kind of information?”
Jake smiled slowly. “Nothing too detailed. If you were with him a while, you’ve got to know his schedule. Any habits? Places he goes on a regular basis where we can meet him and…talk to him.”
A harsh bark of laughter escaped Andrei. “You can kill him for all I care.” He dropped his hand back at his side and glanced up at the other man. “I don’t know about his usual schedule. I was with him for less than a week, but I know that tomorrow night he’s supposed to go to the jazz bar across the street from Fortune off of Main Street with that doctor.”
Jake nodded and stepped closer. He was shorter than Andrei by several inches so it was odd when the man tried to intimidate him, but then the two larger men who stepped up next two Andrei from behind certainly helped. “Now, you understand…that since you were working for Vallois and you’ve suddenly shown up here with information, it does look questionable. How do we know you’re not a spy or just bait?”
Andrei met his narrowed gaze and smiled. “You don’t.”
“Then you won’t mind if you stay with me for a couple days. Just until after we pay Mr. Vallois a visit. We’d hate for you to have second thoughts and warn him.”
“Not fucking likely, but yeah, I get it. You gonna feed me?”
Jake laughed deeply, throwing his head back before clapping his hand on Andrei’s shoulder. “Yeah, we’ll feed you. You’re probably gonna break the fucking bank when it comes to food.”
Andrei shrugged, trying to push down his nerves as Jake started to walk him toward the exit accompanied by the other two thugs. “I’m not asking for steak. Just pizza with more than one topping might be nice.”
“You get me Vallois and I’ll make sure you’re eating steak every night for a fucking year.” Jake laughed.
Andrei’s cheeks hurt from the fake grin and he was fighting a wave of nausea. He and Rowe had discussed this. Even though they hadn’t told Lucas ahead of time, they knew Andrei would have to prove that he was on the level. They’d set up a series of potential times when Lucas would make an appearance somewhere. When Andrei failed to send his check-in text tonight, Rowe would assume that he was in custody and that Lucas would have to make his appearance with Snow. He just prayed Rowe had a solid plan for keeping Lucas safe when these bastards hit the bar, because he had just sold out the one person who was starting to mean way too much to him.Chapter 18Snow took in Lucas’s deceptively lazy sprawl and smirked. His friend was fooling no one with those tense muscles and scowl. They’d been at this ridiculous bar for two hours now. Whoever designed the place had no imagination. Everything was so red, Snow’s eyes felt as if they were bleeding. Even the whiskey choices made Snow wish they could leave. He glanced around the shadowy room. Rowe had parked himself near the main entrance and in addition to the new bodyguard covering Lucas, two more of Rowe’s staff were strategically standing near doors. Still, Snow couldn’t help but stay tense. He’d been jumpy since the shootout in Gaile. One of the people who’d been shot hadn’t made it. He knew there’d been nothing he could do by the time he got to the woman—she’d bled out fast—but it still cut into him.
