Mitchell didn’t answer him. He didn’t want Clive around for this meeting. It was bad enough he’d already questioned him about Greg Baldwin’s shooting. Clive was the weak link, and Mitchell needed to get him out of the house for the next few days.
“I’ve been ignoring calls from Dad,” Mitchell said. “I think he’s lonely. Can you go keep him company for a couple of days? Maybe take Presley with you, talk to her about going back to college in the fall.”
“Why are you trying to get rid of me?” Clive asked.
“I’m not.”
“What’s going on, Mitch?”
“Nothing is going on except that Ellen McKenna is a stubborn bitch who hasn’t signed the best deal she’s going to get in her life.”
“Yesterday was stressful. I’ll, um, go over this afternoon. See where her head is at.”
“I know where it’s at. In the sand, ignoring progress and opportunity. I’ll talk to her, because you certainly haven’t been able to get anything accomplished.”
Clive bristled, but Mitchell didn’t care.
“She doesn’t like you,” Clive said. “You’ll never convince her to sign. Hell, she doesn’t even like me anymore because I’ve been pushing so hard.”
“We’re running out of time.”
“Maybe you should tell her the plan, offer her a stake in it.”
He stared at his brother as if he had grown a second head. “Just go away,” he said.
Clive reddened, then left.
Mitchell drank his coffee, now lukewarm, and grimaced.
He needed to think. He had less than forty-eight hours to turn this around. He’d find a way—he had to. Or he’d lose millions of dollars. All the land he bought was practically worthless if he couldn’t get that last two hundred acres.
Offer her a stake in it…
Never. Not the McKennas. He’d rather offer David Sudduth a stake than anyone namedMcKenna.
He felt hot and cold at the same time. Sudduth would laugh in his face, then bleed him dry. If he knew how desperate Mitchell was, that there were time constraints, he’d make Mitchell pay through the nose.
Tom came in, unshaven, dark circles under his eyes.
“Shut the door,” Mitchell said as Tom was already in the process of shutting it. “Lay everything on the table. All the dirt.”
Tom sat down slowly. “There’s nothing.”
“There’s always something.”
“Not with the McKennas. Not with anyone who works for them. I’m done, Mitch. I’m tired. I’m going home as soon as they open Mule Run.”
“You’re not done. Do I need to remind you—”
“You don’t need to remind me about anything.” Tom stood. “The people you hired took the Mendozas hostage. Nearly got Ellen’s girl, Avery, killed. I just got word from my buddy in the sheriff’s department that she’s home, but she was tied to a fucking steering wheel and left in a ditch. She’s the same age as my son! Dammit, Mitch, I did shit for you I’m not proud of. I’ll tell you this: You come after me, it’s mutually assured destruction. I go down, you’ll go down harder.”
“Do not threaten me, Garza.”
“I’m not threatening you. I’m quitting.”
He walked out.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
