Carter Reed 2

Cole narrowed his eyes, but didn’t say a word.

I did. “If your daughter is moving against the family’s leader, I’ll be paying her a visit one day.” I let that hang in the air. I’d been their Cold Killer before.

“Well then.” Cole cleared his throat. He gestured to the man on the far right. “Carter, this is Police Chief Smith. He’s been bringing us up to date about the bombing at the club.”

The police? He was on the payroll?

Cole nodded, seeing my unspoken questions, and I leaned against the wall. Folding my arms over my chest, I tucked my head down. I was content to wait, but I wanted to hear everything this man had to say.

He gave me a nervous look. Holding a baseball cap in his lap, his hands fidgeted with the strap, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

Cole said, “Ignore him, Jack. Carter’s woman was at the club. No, he’s not with us, but he wants to know everything so he doesn’t worry about her any more than he needs to.”

“Oh.” He kept looking at me. He didn’t look appeased.

I didn’t care. Sending Cole a slight nod, I signaled for him to continue their meeting. “So, Jack. You were saying the results were…”

“Uh.” He sent another skirting glance to me before swinging back to Cole. “Yes. We think the backpack had been left there when the club wasn’t open. It was in a back locker, and when we checked to see what employee used it, there was no one. It was an empty locker.”

“Prints?”

He shook his head, but glanced at me once more. I stared him down. This cop was dirty. I shouldn’t look down on him, but I did. I’d killed. I had blood on my hands, but I was loyal to those I loved. If I had taken an oath to serve and protect, I would’ve followed that allegiance to my death, no matter what. But this man, he was here, sweating and wiping his hands on his legs. He was betraying his family for a paycheck. A lot of people told us things, did things for us, because we paid the best and the Mauricio name was honorable. But this man wasn’t worthy. He got a paycheck because of his job. That was it.

“You’re not in the family.” A voice in my head reminded me. “If you’re in, you’re in. Stop saying you’re out when your actions show you’re in.”

“Without video surveillance of your club, we won’t be able to find out who put the bag there. If we had that—” He swallowed again. “We could rule out a lot of scenarios.”

He wanted eyes inside. He was lying.

Cole rounded the desk. His eyes met mine for a second and flashed their own warning. He wanted me to back off. I got it, but I’d do what I wanted. And even though there was no visible reaction from me, Cole got that message, too. A slight grin flickered over his features before he turned to face the police chief, his face wiped clean of all emotion.

A mask stared down at the man, who clutched his cap in a death grip. His knuckles were turning white.

“Jack, I know there was evidence collected. I know there are little things, things telling you how the bomb was put together, maybe where those pieces were purchased. Bombs have their own signatures. I know this, and you’re sitting here telling me you found nothing except that it was in a locker?”

“Sir—”

Cole shook his head, cutting him off. He leaned down, resting his hands on his legs until he was right in the police chief’s face. “I know you’re feeding me a line of bullshit. I don’t know what other family members you’ve worked with, but that won’t work with me. I’m smarter, and I’m less patient. Give me the name of the person behind that bomb by tomorrow, or you’ll find out I’m not as nice as whoever you were dealing with before.”

The man’s sweating had dampened the collar of his shirt. He bobbed his head up and down. “I will. I’ll find out and bring it to you tonight. I will.”

Cole’s eyes were still narrowed, but he leaned back, allowing the police chief to stand. “Thank you, Police Chief Smith. I’ll be waiting for you tonight.”

“Yes. Yes, sir.”

Cole flicked a hand to Leo. “Escort him out, please.”

Leo and the police chief left the room, leaving one other family member still with Cole: Gene. He shook his head, leaning back in his chair and resting his ankle across the knee of his other leg. He looked at me. “You think he’s working for the Bartels?”

I didn’t say anything. I waited for Cole to speak.

Cole ran a hand down his face as he went to his desk chair. “Has he worked with us before?”

“He was with Leo,” Gene said.

“And Shavon?” Cole asked me. “Was that the truth, what you said before?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. She tried to prevent me from coming in here. One guess is that Leo is running his own agenda, and he wanted to see if you’d buy what the cop was saying. Maybe. Maybe not.”

“Or he is working with the Bartels and wanted the last bit of evidence we might have on them, the cameras?” Gene asked.

Cole shook his head, frowning. “Either way, I can’t trust some of my own family, or I can’t trust who each of them has in their pockets.”

“We have family politics, just like every other family.”

Cole shot Gene a look. “I’m not an idiot, and I know I came in and took over. I knew my place as the leader wouldn’t be met with smiles and thumbs-up, but that was complete bullshit. They have evidence.”