Page 30 of Red, White, and BearCat Blue

I stepped forward and took hold of the envelope, tugging, but he didn’t let go, just stared up at me with those creepy, glittering, dark eyes. “I-I…thanks.” I tugged again but he held on.

“Where did you find the Maybach?”

“In the parking lot at the Cosmopolitan…ya know…where the SKT restaurant is.” I’d heard it was one of the priciest restaurants in Vegas. I could never imagine trying to eat there since it was like seven grand a table. That’s what I’d overheard anyway. I’d been sitting at the bar at the Garage one night when two guys who’d obviously been a couple, had been talking about it. That conversation had been good for my business too. Josiah had a lot of guys just like me looking for cars in parking lots of expensive hotels the way I had last night; I figured scoping out exclusive restaurants would be a better place to look.

Josiah’s smile widened, his eyes gleaming under the low lights. I squeezed the envelope, feeling nervous as hell as he watched me. He was taking a long time. He never took this long, never questioned where I found cars. Most of the time, he paid me, and I left. I never stopped to count the money he gave me. When he finally let go of the envelope, I nearly stumbled backward. I stopped myself, quickly regaining my balance and taking a deep breath as I tried not to panic. I was about to have an anxiety attack.

“Everything okay, Cam?”

I jolted as Mars’ voice came through the earpiece. I raised my hand to touch my ear, instantly diverting it to my forehead to rub over it as I remembered not to make it obvious that I was wearing the earpiece.

Josiah’s eyes instantly narrowed as he pinned me with a suspicious glare. “Something wrong, Cam?”

“Hot,” I squeaked. I cleared my throat again, laying the back of my hand on my forehead as I sniffed. “I feel a little hot…think I’m coming down with something.”

Josiah’s expression flattened and it struck me for the first time that I was looking at someone who could be a straight up psychopath. If he really was as dangerous as I thought, he could very easily be responsible for killing guys. Though I couldn’t be sure about it, there had been guys who’d just up and disappeared. They might have moved away, but now I was beginning to doubt it. Most of us serious car thieves knew all the other thieves in town. Vegas wasn’t a big place.

It was busy because it was a tourist mecca. Still, most of the guys in my line of work knew each other. We usually steered clear of each other. But some guys—guys who were really good at what they did—were here one week and then gone the next. Maybe Josiah was killing off my competition. Maybe he’d done it when he’d found out they were working with the FBI. My heart started pounding all over again, leaving me breathless. I just wanted to get the hell out of his office.

He finally leaned back in his chair, and it squeaked loudly in protest. “Maybe you’d better go home and sleep it off then.”

I nodded quickly, bobbing my head like a fucking idiot as I stared at him. “Y-yeah.”

“You seem nervous, Cam,” he said. “I couldn’t help but notice.”

I glanced around quickly at the peeling paint. “Nervous, no. Just not feeling great, Josiah. It took me two whole days to find the fucking vehicle and now all I wanna do is go home and have some chicken soup.”

He smiled and rose to his full height. “Well, you should do that then.” Strangely, he reached across the desk, holding out his hand like he was offering me a fist bump. It didn’t have a gun in it and for that, I was grateful. I quickly reached out and tapped his knuckles. Thanks COVID.

“Thanks. And thanks for this.” I held up the envelope and saluted myself with it. “Let me know what you want next time,” I said, turning around and praying I could walk out of the office and get off the lot without getting a bullet in the back of my head. I’d taken no more than two steps before Josiah stopped me.

“Cam.”

I stopped inches from the door, cursing the fact that I heard a whispered curse coming through the earpiece. I’m sure it had been from Mars since both agents had promised that only one of them would speak while I did this, so I wouldn’t hear conflicting orders through my earpiece. I turned around and Josiah was leaning over the desk with both hands planted on its surface. “Yeah?”

“I’ll need you for something special next time.”

“W-what?”

“I’ll let you know when I’m ready, and one more thing.”

“Yeah?” I asked, trying desperately to keep the nerves out of my voice.

“The next time I contact you, I’ll be in Los Angeles. I’m planning on relocating there and I’ll be taking my best men with me.”

“Best men?” I glanced at the two goons before Josiah laughed.

“Not them. I was talking about you and some of my other…boys.” He meant thieves.

I was shocked down to my toes. He knew my mom was in a care home here in Vegas and he knew I provided for her. Why would he say he needed me in L.A. when I took care of her and paid her bills. “I-If you’re talking about me, Josiah, you should know I can’t go to L.A. My mom—”

“Oh, didn’t I say? I’m arranging for your mother to be moved.”

I felt a shiver of rage go through me as I thought about how presumptuous that was. Not only that, but he knew how helpless it would make me. I couldn’t say no to him if he took charge of not only my life but held my mom’s life in his hands. He knew I’d do anything to keep her safe and even if he didn’t, I was devoted to her. By offering…no…by telling me he was moving her to L.A., he was basically saying he had me by the nuts. He was holding me hostage to do his bidding and as long as I did, she’d be safe.

“You can’t do that!” I shouted, leaning on the desk before I could stop myself. “You can’t take her from Shady Grove.” I felt sudden movement behind me and then, there were strong arms gripping both of my biceps. “Hey, let go!”

“Cam! What’s ‘appening?” Mars said in my ear. “If you need us, for shit’s sake, say the word,” he reminded me.