When He's Dirty, стр. 47
“And we’ll be where?”
“Miles away in a place he’ll never find us, just you and me. I’ll set up secure communications for you. You can manage the case from a distance.”
“I’ll make it work, but what if Deleon doesn’t come for us?”
“He will,” he says, his tone absolute.
“Okay, well let’s say he does and all goes well. What’s to keep Waters from sending someone else after us?”
“The goal is to capture his men alive and turn at least a few against him. That might force a deal he’s not going to take now.”
“Will Deleon flip?” I ask hopefully.
“Never. It has to be some of the lessers down the food chain. If that doesn’t happen, we’ll stay off the grid until the trial, and we’ll keep our team close during the trial. But you don’t have to do this today.”
“Don’t you want to be a part of taking down Deleon?”
“I trust the guys and I’m not leaving you. We leave tonight and we do it together.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
PRI
I eat the chocolate brownie sundae.
I mean, if I’m going to die soon, macaroni and cheese, chocolate, and ice cream need to be a part of my final days. And Adrian. I need more Adrian. In the process, I end up with a whole lot more Walker Security as well, which is just fine by me. I like these guys, especially as they get focused on planning, and Lucifer pulls out a MacBook to check in with the rest of their team.
By the time me, Adrian, and Adam are back inside the SUV, on our way to the Del Valle detention center where Waters is being held pending trial, I’m feeling ready for our meeting with him. That is until my cellphone rings and the caller ID is my father’s number. Just that easily, I’m twisted in knots. I’m pretty sure that alone establishes me as having enough personal baggage to fill a 737’s hungry belly. I decline the call and glance at Adrian. “Can you just confirm for me that my parents are safe right now?”
“I’d hear if they weren’t. Why?”
“My father just called and while I don’t want to talk to him before the Waters’ meeting, he never calls. It could be about Logan, but I just need to be sure.”
He studies me for a probing moment—seeing too much, I suspect—but I really don’t have it in me to hide my private demons right now. I’m not sure I’d try with Adrian if I did. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he says, “but I need you to call him back in case it affects the meeting in some way.” He pulls his phone from his pocket. “But I’m also shooting a message to our team to confirm all is well with his security detail.”
I inhale an uncomfortably thick breath and wait as he shoots a text to someone. The reply is instant and Adrian looks at me. “The man watching your parents says all clear.”
“All right then,” I say, “I’ll just dial him up and have a little father-daughter chat.” I punch in the auto-dial and my father answers on the first ring.
“Pri,” he says, his voice deep, distinguished, and you almost know he’s a good-looking man without ever seeing him. My father’s a stud. All the women think so, including my mother, who seems to manage him in ways no one else could. “I thought for a moment there you were going to blow me off,” he adds.
“Why would I do that?”
“We both know we haven’t exactly endured the choppy waters we created to find our calmer sea.”
“No,” I agree. “I suppose we haven’t.”
“Logan wants you back. He’s not the only one. I do, too.”
“He wants me back to do damage control.”
“I don’t know what his agenda is, but it fits mine so that works for me and I do believe it works for our family.”
“Why do you want me off the Waters case?”
“I don’t,” he says without hesitation. “And if I might speak outside our little deal to not talk about business?”
“Yes, please do.”
“I want you to stay on it and win and then come on back over here, and bill the hell out of that win.”
I can almost believe him since he’s talking money, but not quite. “Mom and Logan said you wanted me off the case. Or Mom did. Logan spoke for himself.”
“Exactly. Who speaks for me but me?”
“True,” I say. “But Logan—”
“Has an agenda. He wants you back here with that ring on your finger. You two were a real power couple.”
“If you start down this Logan-loving path again, Dad, this call is over.”
“I’m simply stating his motivations. And Mom is worried about you. She was never going to leave town when you might need her, by the way.”
I should have known that, I think. My mother is flawed, but in her own way, she loves me. And I love my parents despite all our conflicts. “I’m not coming back.”
“Let’s have dinner.”
In other words, he’s unfazed by my decline and setting up negotiations. “Not until after the trial,” I say. “And if I lose, what would there be to talk about?”
“You won’t lose. You never lose. But after the trial works. We’ll do Thanksgiving together and talk about the future. Be careful. It’s a different game being on the bad side of the bad guys.” Someone speaks to him. “Gotta run. Win big, my girl.” He disconnects.
I lower the phone and glance at Adrian. “Nothing interesting. Just him wanting to cash in on me winning this case.”
“He wants you to come back to the family biz,” he assumes.
“That’s never going to happen,” I assure him. “But what’s interesting is him being