Page 7 of Brutal Truths

To move this along, I remind him where he left off. “Then Trent showed up.”

“Right. I was getting there. The two men had a heated discussion before Rico stormed out, taking the brooch with him.” Cort reaches up and wipes a hand across his brow. “And before you ask what it was about, I don’t know. They weren’t yelling, just talking in hushed tones, but their body language said enough.”

I tap my pen on the desk and glance over at Silas. He’s barely containing his anger. My next comment will set him off.

“Trent was there to collect his merchandise, which you’ve been storing in your basement.”

Right on cue, Silas growls at the mention of his father and what he was doing behind his back.

Swallowing hard, Cort nods again. “I was uncomfortable with our arrangement because it put my store at risk. But I owed him after he bailed me out of a sticky situation.”

Silas can’t sit still any longer. “What situation? And don’t say it was those goddamn antiques you tried to con me into fucking buying.”

Cort’s face loses more color, leaving it ghostly pale. “I’m sorry about that. That was the Russians, not me. Then you demanded the diamond.” He squeezes his eyes shut, like he can’t bear to look at Silas. “Once those vultures heard about it, they went to my store wanting to see it, forcing me to tell them the truth.”

“Which was?” Silas waves his hand in a slow circle when Cort pauses.

“The attention Trent brought to my store made me uneasy about leaving my diamond there. So, I went to Rico.” Cort takes another sip of his drink. “Our business relationship was always positive. He helped me move merchandise, and I gave him a cut of the profits. An investor of sorts. He agreed to store my diamond in his secured safe, and I promised to do all I could to help him sell the brooch.”

There’s more. I can feel it. I’ll give him one chance to say it himself. “On what condition?”

Cort’s eyes grow large. “What?”

“Cort, are you forgetting our agreement?” My pen drums steadily against the pad. “You get to live as long as you don’t hold back. What was his condition?”

Rico wouldn’t do anything just because it was a nice thing to do, investor or not. If I’ve learned anything since meeting him, it’s this.

He slumps back, the fight draining out of him, and blurts it out. “To let him know when the next shipment for Mr. Doyle was due to arrive. I told him I didn’t know those details.”

“But?”

“They’d call to give me time to close.” Swishing the amber liquid in his glass, Cort sighs and gives his head a small shake. “The best I could do was call him when that happened.”

His head drops as he slumps forward. “And that’s what I did. When Mr. Doyle came to collect two days later… it was gone.”

“Gone?”

Cort nods, sweat beading faster across his forehead. “Gone. Trent was pissed.”

Silas scoffs. “Of course he was, you fucking tosser. You double-crossed him.”

This time, Cort shakes his head. “He wasn’t pissed at me or Rico. And when I asked Rico about it, he swore he never had the chance to call anyone. He’d been in a business meeting, one he wasn’t about to leave just to screw Trent. And by the time it was over, he’d forgotten all about it. So, it wasn’t Rico. And Trent seemed to know this.”

“And you believe Rico told you the truth? Cause I’m not so sure I do.” Silas tosses his drink back. “Who the fuck was he pissed at? Or do you even know?”

“Mr. Cygan.” With shaky hands, he set his empty tumbler on my desk.

Lifting the decanter to refill Cort’s, I ask, “Who’s Mr. Cygan?”

The stark panic in Cort’s eyes rivets my attention. “The man Urick and Tank work for.”

“Have you met him?” This is a new player even I’ve never heard of.

Who the fuck is he?

“No, I’ve only spoken with him on the phone.” Picking up the tumbler again, he brings it to his lips and downs half. “No one’s ever seen him in person. Rumor has it that if you do, you’re already planning your funeral. All I know is he’s a powerful man with a very long reach. Someone even Trent seems wary of.”

“My father fears no man.” Silas grabs the whiskey decanter and pours more into his glass.