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‘Have you seen the news?’ Sean asked.
‘No, I’ve been busy. Why? Is Alice all right?’
‘She’s fine as far as I know, but someone wearing a ski mask walked into the Ledger and starting firing a modified AR-15. It’s all over the Internet. Six dead, one wounded. One missing. Four survivors.’
Ken didn’t blink. What the fuck? One wounded? Four survivors? ‘That’s terrible,’ he said. ‘Was one of the dead Marcus O’Ba
‘Why hide it?’ Sean asked, bemused. ‘You’ve been angling to kill O’Ba
‘Habit, maybe.’ He zipped up his carry-on. ‘Anything else?’
‘The cops pulled DJ in, too.’
Ken sat down on the side of his bed, stu
‘From the gym. Remember? It’s how Alice kept an eye on O’Ba
‘How’s he holding up?’
‘As far as we know, fine. Why did you feel the need to shoot up the Ledger?’
Ken narrowed his eyes. ‘I never said I did, but if I did, it’s no business of yours.’
‘It is my business, because there are cops crawling all over the place. With Alice and DJ in custody, it’s only a matter of time before everything comes crashing down. The cops aren’t going to let this pass. Neither will Marcus O’Ba
‘Let me worry about Marcus.’ Ken handed Sean the folder he’d prepared. ‘This is everything you need to know. Suppliers, customers, pricing, profits. It’s all yours.’
‘Such as it is,’ Sean said, keeping his arms crossed over his chest. ‘After that stunt you pulled tonight, I don’t know that our company will be worth diddlyshit. Our customers will go ru
Ken tossed the folder on the bed. ‘Suit yourself. With everyone either in jail or dead, you could rule it all.’
‘And I’m telling you that there is nothing left to rule. It’s all gone. Including the funds in the company accounts.’ Sean lifted his brows. ‘I wonder who could have taken that money,’ he said mockingly.
‘I don’t like your tone, son. Talk to Joel. He told me that he’d found missing money and traced it to accounts in Demetrius’s and Reuben’s names. Maybe that’s where the funds went. Reuben’s probably sitting in the Caribbean right now, with an underage girl on each knee.’
‘Is that where you’re going? The Caribbean?’
‘No. When I get to where I am going, I’ll send for you. It’ll be your choice to come.’
‘What about Alice?’
‘She got caught, Sean. We all know the price of getting caught.’ He grabbed his suitcase and carry-on, pushed past his son and went down the stairs.
Sean followed him. ‘Who’s the woman in the cage?’
‘Don’t you know?’ Ken asked mockingly. ‘I thought you knew everything by the way you were talking.’
‘You’re going to lure O’Ba
‘No. I’m not.’
Sean grabbed his arm. ‘Then where? You shot up his office to rile him so that he’d let his guard down when he came after you. You stole his office manager to make sure he came.’
‘Looks like you do know everything.’
‘All alone, Dad? You’re going to take O’Ba
Ken smiled condescendingly. ‘You’re offering to help me? Really?’
Sean’s eyes narrowed. ‘You can’t go alone. That man was an Army Ranger.’
‘So? I shot up his office single-handedly. Took out three guards.’
Sean nodded. ‘But you left five survivors, not including the woman in the cage. Stone O’Ba
Ken shrugged. ‘Doesn’t matter. I covered my face. Now if you don’t mind, I have a meeting to prepare for.’ He went into the garage to load his luggage in his car, but Sean followed.
‘Where’s the cash, Ken?’
Ken lost his temper. ‘I don’t know. Now shut up and get out. I don’t answer to you, Sean.’ He turned his back to load his luggage and realized his mistake too late when the barrel of a gun dug into his kidneys.
‘Now you do, Dad.’
Cinci
Wednesday 5 August, 10.15 P.M.
‘No,’ Isenberg said flatly. She’d arrived at the hospital a short while before to help them develop the plan. Which basically meant that she wanted to tell Marcus what he could and could not do. ‘We do not condone the use of civilians as bait in hostage negotiations.’
Scarlett, her father and Deacon’s boss Zimmerman had asked Isenberg to join them in their little war room – set up in the same place where Scarlett had interviewed the Ledger team the night before – and Marcus had agreed out of respect.
But it didn’t mean that he had to agree with Isenberg’s opinion.
Marcus shrugged his shoulders and settled his body in the chair he’d deliberately chosen – the chair in which Stone had sat last night. It made him feel a little closer to his brother and at the same time reminded him what was at stake. As if he really needed reminding.
‘With all due respect, Lieutenant,’ he said, ‘it doesn’t matter. It’s my choice.’
‘You’re choosing to get killed, then?’ Isenberg asked sarcastically, but there was a flicker in her eyes that was genuine concern. The sight helped Marcus get his temper in check. Mostly.
‘No, ma’am. But this man has to be stopped. He shot my brother and left him for dead.’ Marcus’s gaze shifted to the empty chair between Isenberg and Zimmerman, and his hands began to tremble. It was the chair where Cal had been sitting the night before. ‘Sweeney killed a man who’d been like family to me for most of my life. Gu
Isenberg bristled. ‘It becomes my business when you include my people.’
Marcus stiffened. He hadn’t asked for help from anyone but Scarlett. It had been Isenberg, Zimmerman and Jonas Bishop who’d started throwing additional law enforcement bodies into the mix. ‘Sweeney needs to be stopped. He needs to pay. Right now he’s fixated on me, so right now I’m the highest-value chip on the table.’
Isenberg narrowed her eyes, but Zimmerman spoke before she could. ‘He killed one of my men today too,’ he said quietly. ‘I want him to pay as much as you do, Mr O’Ba
Marcus started to open his mouth to tell Isenberg and Zimmerman that they could take their people and shove them, but Scarlett shook her head gently, stopping him from messing the whole thing up.
‘What would you recommend instead?’ she asked, meeting Isenberg’s eyes first, then Zimmerman’s, then, last, her father’s. ‘We’re putting snipers in the trees around the meeting place – here and here.’ She pointed to the map of the park that they’d spread over the table. ‘Kate Coppola is an expert marksman and Adam can certainly hold his own.’
They’d tagged Deacon’s cousin, Detective Adam Kimble, for the op, and he had agreed right away. Which was nice of the man, because Marcus didn’t know Adam from . . . well, from Adam. Marcus understood that Kimble hadn’t done it for him. The detective had agreed for Scarlett’s sake, as they’d worked together for years, and for Deacon’s sake. Faith was about to become Adam’s cousin by marriage and since she and Marcus were already cousins, that apparently made Marcus family.