“Bourne,” he mumbled, but not so much that we couldn’t make out that word. He tried to open his mouth again, but only ended up pushing out a cry of pain before closing it again. His breathing slowed and I wondered if he was about to lose consciousness. And then he managed to force out more words. “He’s…not…who…he…says…” – he coughed – “…he…is…”
And then his head dropped forward and he passed out.
Griff turned and punched the wall before looking back at me. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“Jesus…your guess is as good as mine.”
“I wanted to kill the asshole, but now I’m thinking we might need to let him live for a bit longer.”
My phone rang.
Blade.
“Tell me you’ve got information that will help us. We’ve got Julio here and he’s just told us some shit about Bourne not being who he says he is, but then he passed out, so we have no clue what he meant by that,” I said, answering the call.
“Bourne isn’t who you think he is, Scott. I’ve just discovered that Julio actually works for Bourne.”
“You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kidding me.” All my conversations with Bourne filtered back through my mind, none of them making any sense now.
“They go way back. Bourne had an affair with Julio’s sister when they were younger and they have a child together. Bourne put Julio as the face of his operation and let everyone think Julio was in charge. Once he had South Australia under his full control, he sent Julio to take over Queensland, but somewhere along the way Bourne decided he wanted Julio out. Problem was, he couldn’t just get rid of him because Julio’s men were loyal to him and if they knew Bourne killed Julio, they would retaliate against him.”
“And that’s where we came in…Bourne was using us to do his dirty work,” I said as it began to make sense.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Bourne wants control of your club so he can run the drugs through it. He wants you and anyone else in his way, dead. And he’s in Brisbane now, ready to make that happen. He already took out some of Julio’s men earlier; it seems he’s on a mission to get shit done. You need to make sure everyone is locked up tight while we find Bourne.”
“I’m on it.”
When I ended the call, I said to Griff, “Call your family, brother, and tell them to lock up tight. Bourne’s been playing us and is now after us. I’m gonna call Harlow and then I’ll fill you in.”
He nodded and we both made the calls we needed to.
“Hey, baby,” Harlow answered a moment later.
“Harlow, I need you to make sure the house is locked up and you stay alert. There’s a guy looking for me and I’m concerned he may come there.” I tried to keep my voice free of the tension I was feeling, but I needed her to take this threat seriously, so I was firm.
“Okay…how worried should I be?” She sounded like she was biting her lip.
“You’ve got Wilder there with you, and I’m going to try to send someone else as well.”
“I think we’ll be okay. One of your Adelaide guys just arrived to help Wilder, so -”
I cut her off, frantic to know the name of the guy. “Who?”
“I’m pretty sure Wilder called him Bourne.”
Icy fear slid down my spine as my world spun.
I can’t lose her.
I can’t lose our baby.
“I’m coming now, Harlow.” I hung up without waiting for her reply.
I promised her I w