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There wasn’t much time to take in the beauty because we were quickly ushered towards the rear of the house. Obscenely expensive paintings hung on the walls, but I didn’t have time to stop and study them. There were even a couple tapestries throughout the house.I didn’t think people even liked tapestries anymore.
We came to a large study. Bookshelves lined the walls, and plush chairs and a big desk stood close to the side wall. Lamps with fancy carved bases sat on little end tables, all lit. In my opinion, the decor was over the top. There was no way he needed that many lamps lit.
Archuleta’s men fanned out around the room, setting up by the large windows overlooking a pool. Archuleta himself sat behind the desk, a seriously displeased look on his face. My stomach sank when I saw his expression, but I tried not to read too much into it. I had a feeling anger was his default emotion.
Emerson didn’t seem cowed by his angry visage. “Archuleta.” His greeting was respectful, but not necessarily friendly.
Archuleta grunted. “Emerson.”
“We’re here for Kent.”
“Obviously.” Archuleta rubbed his jaw. “He’s dead.”
I don’t know why I was surprised, but I was. Julia had thought something like this would happen. My main thought was that we were back to square one.Can’t follow the chain of command up to the boss if one of the links is broken.
Emerson scowled rather fiercely. “What do you mean, he’s dead? I called you less than an hour ago.”
Archuleta gave him an annoyed look in return. “He’s dead. Sitting out back with a bullet in his head. I sent my men to retrieve him, and he fought back, shooting one of them. Rodney didn’t have a choice but to kill him.”
At the mention of his name, a man standing to Archuleta’s left towards the corner of the room straightened, tilting his chin up slightly. I hadn’t seen him before, and I was pretty sure he hadn’t been at the meeting Julia and I had crashed, but I thought his name sounded vaguely familiar, as though someone had brought him up in connection with Archuleta before.
“Walk me through exactly what happened.” Emerson sounded like he was trying to conjure up patience.
“I told Rodney to bring Kent here so I could hand him over to you. Rodney took a few of the men and went to retrieve him. Kent saw them and must have known what they were there for. He started shooting at them and killed one of my guys. Rodney put him down.” Archuleta spoke as though he was talking to a simpleton. The tone was condescending, and I twitched, controlling the impulse to say something snarky.
When I was younger, I used to have a quick temper and a smart mouth. It had gotten me in trouble a time or two. I had learned to move away from that and to think through my words, but being in this kind of environment made those old tendencies want to spring right back up. Emerson wasn’t Goliath, but he and I were on the same side, and I didn’t like him being disrespected. If I’d still been with Goliath and someone had talked like that to Sosa, I would have shot them.
Emerson didn’t have my reaction. Instead, he folded his arms. “How do you expect me to find your guns now? Kent was our only lead. Now we have no way of figuring out where the guns are.”
My eyes jumped around the room, trying to take in the reactions of the men. Emerson wasn’t telling the truth, and I knew exactly why he lied. It was highly likely that whoever Kent had been working for was in the room. It was also probable that it was someone who had gone to get Kent, hence why he’d ended up dead instead of captured.
Archuleta stood up, braced his palms on the desk, and leaned towards Emerson, who didn’t back away. “I don’t care how you do it. Dig into his past, his financial life, where he likes to hang out, I don’t care. Figure it out. This is still on you. Kent must have stashed the guns somewhere. I want my merchandise back, and I’m holding you personally responsible if they are never found.”
Emerson’s look turned ugly. “You make it really hard for me to want to work for you.”
Archuleta shrugged. “The money’s good. If you want to stick around, impress me. I’m not impossible; I simply want results.”
“I’ll find your guns, mark my word. But I won’t take the blame for this. This scheme was concocted by one of your men. You are responsible for what went down.”
Although he didn’t look happy, Archuleta didn’t contradict him. Instead, he waved his hands at Emerson as though he was finished with him. “Get out. I’m in a foul mood. Go find my guns. You won’t find them here.” He turned to one of his underlings. “Take them back to their shuttle.”
Rigid, Emerson turned and followed him from the room. The rest of us trailed along silently, taking our cues from Emerson. Obviously, Kent’s death put a wrinkle in our plans, but there were still some avenues we could explore, if we didn’t tip our hand. Julia, Steel, and I exchanged silent looks. Neither of them seemed surprised by the outcome of our little jaunt to the estate, but none of us were happy about it.
Once we were back on the shuttle, Jack started to fire up the engines, and Emerson let out a vehement string of curses. I blinked at him but didn’t comment. Julia set her jaw and took her seat. Steel, however, gave Emerson a bland look. “Hades, Emerson, calm down. You’re that angry?”
“Shut up, Steel,” Emerson groused.
Steel rolled his eyes. “It’s called a setback. We have other options.”
We strapped ourselves in as the engines whined and lifted the shuttle into the air. Emerson tapped a hand against his leg. “I’m not angry about that. Archuleta’s attitude aggravates me.”
“I agree.” I pushed a couple of my dreadlocks over my shoulder and adjusted the safety restraints. “Guy’s an alpha-class jerk.”
Julia laughed under her breath. “What I can’t figure out is how he’s so successful.”
“He’s good at business.” Emerson stretched out his legs, and some of the anger seemed to leave him. “He’s good at making deals and knowing the exact moment to act. Somehow. It’s like an instinct for him.”
“We should make a new plan.” Julia studied her fingernails, picking at one of them. “My instincts are telling me that Rodney is the guy behind all this.”
