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“You get the word out there that I’m taking them back,” I say, straightening his shirt and patting his shoulder. “I want E15. Tell the restless kids to contact me, I’ll make them a good deal.” I slide my card across the bar. “And you let everyone know, the Palmer brothers are wanted and I’ll pay a lot of cash to whoever gives them up.”
I head for the door, Albert following. “What about this?” asks Donnie, turning to show his hands still tied. “And how much?”
We leave without answering him. Those who enquire about a price will be on my list of visits. Some fucker knows where the Palmer brothers are, and it won’t take long for them to come running.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
MELI
I wake to find Arthur gone. I decide to head into work. My ribs still hurt, so I’ll stick to light duties, but it’ll do me good to get out of here. Mav offers to drive me in his car, seeing as a bike would be too painful. He also tells me to call him when I’m done because I’m not to go anywhere without an escort.
Lola, the bar manager at Artie’s, looks relieved to see me. “I tried calling Arthur,” she says, “but he didn’t pick up. What the hell happened to you?”
“Nothing, don’t worry. What’s wrong?”
“A woman called Jolene is up in the office. She had a key, so I’m sure it’s all fine. I just wanted to check.”
I reassure her with a smile and head straight up, wondering what the fuck she’s playing at. Jolene is looking at a file when I walk in. She doesn’t look alarmed to see me, so maybe Arthur okayed it after all. “Hey, anything I can help you with?” I ask, dumping my bag.
“Nope. I was hoping Arthur would be here. He didn’t come home last night.” She drops the file on his desk and sits down.
I laugh at her words, rolling my eyes. “You sound like his wife.”
“Maybe one day.”
I scoff. “Excuse me? You know we’re together, right?”
“Please, it makes much more sense for him to marry someone like me, and now I have all my brothers’ businesses, it would make us unstoppable. We’d be so powerful together.”
I refuse to let doubt cloud my mind and smile confidently. “You shouldn’t be in here unless Arthur or I are around. How did you get a key?”
“From home, obviously. I was worried about him, so I came to check he was okay.”
“Thanks for your concern, but he’s fine. He was with me last night.”
She places her elbows on his desk and leans forward. “What happened to you, anyway? I hope Arthur isn’t responsible for those bruises. I know how rough he can be when he’s horny.”
I force a smile. I’m not in a fit state to bitch-slap her. “I’ll tell Arthur you were looking for him. I have a lot to do,” I say, opening my laptop in the hope she’ll take the hint.
“I can wait.”
I send off a text to him telling him to get here now before I start a war of my own with Jolene fucking Hall. It’s ten minutes before he walks in the door. “Jolene,” he says coldly.
She bursts into tears and rushes to him. I arch a brow and watch the performance. “I was so worried,” she sobs, burying her face into his chest. He holds his hands in the air as if to show me he’s not touching her. “When you didn’t come home, and then you didn’t pick up the phone, I thought maybe . . . maybe something happened, like it did to my brothers.”
He seems to weaken at her words and places one arm around her shoulder, patting her gently. I roll my eyes and open a spreadsheet to try and block out the awful acting. She places her hands on his face and stares intently into his eyes. “Thank God, you’re okay. I wouldn’t know what to do without you.”
“Take his keys and check his other businesses?” I suggest, not looking up from my laptop.
“Meli,” he mutters with a hint of warning.
“I reported them missing last night,” Jolene sniffles, taking his hand and sitting at his desk. He crouches down. “The police said they’d look into it, seeing as I haven’t seen either of them for days.”
“That’s good. It gets the ball rolling.”
She nods, sniffling again until he reaches for a tissue and hands it to her. “I can’t have a funeral,” she whispers, releasing another fresh round of sobs.
“They might find them,” I suggest.
