“I have to find out what else he’s hiding.”
“Why?” he asks.
“Because my best friend is dead and he’s the last one that saw her, that’s why.”
Maverick doesn’t reply. I know my tone is clipped, but he’s the one that told me about all the money Phillip owes.
“Have you heard anything else about Phillip’s bad business deals?”
Maverick grunts. “No, told you I’d call if I did.”
I can tell this conversation is going nowhere fast. “Do you want to meet for a drink a night this week maybe?”
“I can’t. The club is keeping me pretty busy these days.”
“So you haven’t heard anything else suspicious–maybe Phillip had a business partner that the Seminoles have mentioned or…?”
“No…no haven’t heard a thing, Mac.” He calls me by my nickname and despite how testy he’s been this morning, his term of endearment makes my stomach heat with warmth. “Is this the only reason you called? Nohow ya doingor whatever?”
“I’m sorry,” I offer. “I’ve just been so consumed by this accident. Not only did I lose my best friend but I think she was murdered. It’s a lot to process.”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry about that.” The warmth in his tone returns. He must be under a lot of stress because he rarely gets agitated with me. “I guess I did hear one thing–”
“Really? What?”
“I didn’t call you because I’m not even sure that it’s about Phillip at all, but maybe it is…” he trails off as iflost in thought.
“What did you hear?”
“I overheard Butch on the phone a few days ago,” he mentions the president of the Seminoles, “it sounded like he was talking to a banker or a finance guy maybe. He kept complaining about waiting for deposits to come in to cover some loan.”
“Is that it?” I ask.
Maverick takes a long moment to answer. “He mentioned making a move on Tigertail.”
“On Tigertail?” I breathe. “What does that mean?”
Maverick mumbles, “I would imagine he’s talking about Phillip. Isn’t that the name of one of his holding companies?”
I frown, searching my memory for any mention of Tigertail. Phillip has dozens of companies and corporations he’s created over the years. Bennett does too, so it’s not really something that seemed suspicious before now, but the fact that the president of a motorcycle club is aware of the name of one of Phillip’s companies does seem odd.
“The conversation they were having seemed pretty heated. If the deposit doesn’t come through soon I get the sense Phillip will have a few more enemies to deal with.”
“Really?” I whisper. “How corrupt is this guy?”
Maverick laughs. “Not any more corrupt than any other successful businessman, I’d say. You wouldn’t believe the kinda men involved with the club–everyone wants to think that motorcycle clubs are into drugs and human trafficking and shit, and some of them are, but that’s not Butch’s style. Butch had bigger dreams for the Seminoles when he was elected president a decade ago and he’s surpassed them all. The club is making more money than ever before and the funny thing is, I don’t think it’s by doing anything illegal. He just hands out loans and invests in businesses all over South Florida–it’s the businessesthat are operating outside of the law with their fancy ponzi schemes and shit that fall through.”
“You think Phillip is running a ponzi scheme?”
“I don’t know what the fuck Phillip is up to and I really don’t care. He’s got enough lawyers to keep him bubble-wrapped from prosecution anyway, so why spend time worrying about it?”
“Why? Because I think he killed my friend to make this right, that’s why.”
Maverick doesn’t reply because I guess there really isn’t a good reply to a statement like that.
“Thanks for keeping me in the loop on everything.” I finally say. “I know you’re busy so I guess I should let you go. Let me know if you want to grab a drink or tacos or–”
“Sure, Mac. See ya.” He hangs up before I can say anything else. I know I’m getting under Bennett’s skin with this preoccupation I have with Whitney’s death, now it seems like I’m annoying Maverick too.
