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“Are you familiar with the business?”
“Only in an ancillary way,” Theo said. “People will always want alcohol.”
“Good winemaking is an art,” Ennis said. “It’s not just about the alcohol.”
“True enough.” Theo brought a bit of food to his mouth, letting it hover while he spoke. “Just saying the fact that it’s alcohol certainly won’t hurt you.”
“Are you in the alcohol business?” Ennis asked.
“I have been, in the past. Anything that helps people escape the everyday doldrums is good business.”
“Everyday doldrums?” I said.
“Of course,” Theo said. “People need an escape. Tom, Larry, Wendy, and I have specialized in escape. Getting people what they want, you know?”
“Wendy?”
“Yeah. You know we all started a business back in high school, right?”
Sounded vaguely familiar. “She’s back in school now.” I dropped my gaze to my lap.
“She is. Doing well, from what I hear.”
“Do you keep in touch with her?” I asked.
“I keep in touch with all my friends from high school,” Theo said. “You never know when you might need an old friend.”
“What kind of business do you want to talk to Brad about?” I asked.
“A new venture,” he said. “Nothing that would interest you.”
“Anything my husband does interests me.”
“It’s still in the preliminary stages,” he said. “Tom, Larry, and I have made a commitment. We’ll be going into some intensive training next summer.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Tom and Larry wanted to finish the school year first. The training will last three months, so they’ll be back to continue their law school in the fall.”
“I see.” Though I didn’t see at all. “And you want Brad to go in with you?”
“If he’s up for it.”
“Brad doesn’t have three months to go off for some kind of training. He has a ranch to run. And he has a son.”
“Tom has a son too.”
No way. No way was Brad leaving us for three months next summer. Who would run the ranch?
“Brad won’t be interested,” I said, sounding much more confident than I felt.
After all, Brad wasn’t here right now. He was out. Working. Away from his family.
Theo finished his dinner and stood. “Thanks for dinner. Tell Brad I’ll be in touch.”
“Of course.” I stood. “I’ll see you out.”
I didn’t want to see him out. I got such a bad feeling from him. That sharp edge that permeated his demeanor.
But I faced him. Took a good look at Theodore Mathias.
And jerked at what I saw.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Brad
I was wearing a black ski mask.
Black pants, a black sweatshirt, black gloves—thin fabric so as not to hamper my shooting—and a black fucking ski mask.
I opened the door to Morey’s house in the city. It was unlocked, as I’d had a locksmith come by earlier to take care of that.
He was no doubt in bed, so I crept upstairs.
Yes, there he was. I grabbed my piece from my holster and held it to his temple.
“Wake up, Morey,” I said gruffly.
When he didn’t respond, I pressed the gun more firmly into his flesh. “I said wake up!”
He jerked and then gasped.
“That’s right,” I said. “Did you think we forgot you? Forgot about the money?”
“Fuck. What is it?”
“You know what it is. We want our share.”
“Where are the other two?”
“Downstairs,” I lied. “Make the arrangements.”
“It’s the middle of the night.”
“It’s ten p.m.”
“I have to leave for Denver in the morning. I went to bed early.”
“Start talking,” I said. “We know you’ve been talking to Brad Steel. What did you tell him?”
“Nothing. Nothing, of course.”
“Right. Don’t fucking lie, or I’ll blow your fucking head off.”
“He figured it out. He knows I haven’t been working his case.”
“He figured it out? Or you told him?”
“I swear. He figured it out. He knows I’m the best. I told you this would happen. Steel’s not stupid. He might not be the shrewd guy his old man was, but he’s far from foolish.”
I wasn’t as shrewd as my old man, huh? The words stung, not because they were true—they weren’t—but because Morey thought they were. The PI had a lot to learn.
I’d kept myself from pulling a gun on him previously because I’d decided I wasn’t my old man.
Turned out, maybe I was a chip off the old block after all.
I didn’t like the idea, but I’d learn to live with it. You could learn to live with a lot of things given no choice.
At this point, I had no choice.
I had to protect my wife and child. Preserve the legacy, even if it meant my own descent into hell. I didn’t matter anymore. Only Daphne and Jonah. The other children we’d have.
My legacy was for them.
I’d make sure they never had to resort to what I was resorting to now.
This was my first step. “You didn’t tell him, then, that you know who was behind the murders and the threats to his son.”
“I didn’t. I swear I didn’t.”
Right. My hunch had been correct. He knew. Now, how to get him to fess up without him figuring out I was under this mask?
