King Maker (King Maker 3)

My money was on them. But I had to go through it all.

“Scott?” I asked.

“Not smart enough. But he’s gotten a few calls from disposables. He hasn’t been answering. It’s a matter of time before they take him out. We could shake him down, but my guess is he’s only had phone contact.”

“Should we alert the authorities?”

Griff snorted. “And what? Announce we’ve been illegally hacking into private citizens’ bank accounts.”

He had a point. Scott was on his own.

“We could keep on him and snag whoever makes a play on him,” I suggested.

“It will likely be a hit. I doubt whoever is doing this gets their hands dirty.”

Like what they did with Bailey, I thought.

“Steven?” I hadn’t thought about Vi’s husband for a while.

“Now he’s interesting. I can’t completely confirm, which is why I haven’t brought it up. But I’m almost certain he’s the missing rock star who up and disappeared a few years ago. He fits the profile, especially with his whole religious background.”

I didn’t care.

“Is he dangerous to Bailey or her family, especially her sister?” That was all that mattered.

“I don’t think so.”

“Think or know?”

“I’m working on it, Kale,” he snapped. “I haven’t fucking slept in days, maybe weeks. If he’s who I think he is, he’s clean of this anyway.”

“Well, my days are numbered too. Either I’m to be a King or a fucking pauper in prison.”

“It’s federal prison, Kale. It’s like a fucking country club for white collar criminals.”

“I don’t care if it’s like a debtors’ prison in the 1700s. I’ll lose my son.”

I ended the call and took the steps forward to the bar.

“Scotch, please.”

Everything was slipping away and I had to keep my promise to the lass and stay away.

Thirty-Three

It was late, so I hesitated answering the door.

The last person I expected hung on the doorframe like he would fall.

“Lass,” he said, taking a stumbling step forward.

When he looked like he might face-plant, I ducked under his shoulder while simultaneously shoving the door closed.

He was too big for me to carry, so I prayed he would stay on his feet until we made it to my secondhand sofa I’d gotten at a secondhand store rich people used to dump all their unwanted things. A little-known place my coworker had shared with me.

Once there, he sank into the cushions and could barely keep himself upright. I’d never seen him wasted before.

I sat on his side and his head landed on my shoulder.

“I know I promised to stay away,” he slurred. “But I need to ask—no, beg—you for a favor.”

I remembered the last favor he’d asked of me. I’d also seen the news and he’d been all over it. He was in town for a meeting with the SEC, which I didn’t understand because they had no authority over a privately held company.

“Marry me.”

“What?” I asked, sure I hadn’t heard him right.

“If I go to jail, they’ll give Gabe to Keely.”

I had to assume Keely was his son’s mother, remembering Isla’s hesitation to tell me about her.

“First, you’re not going to jail.”

He bobbed his head. “I am. We’re no closer to finding out who’s doing this while the evidence against me is piling up.”

“Why don’t you want Gabe to be with his mother?”

He barked out a laugh. “She’s no mother. She gave him up.”

“Why?” I asked and found myself stroking his hair.

“Because all she really wanted was me.”

I understood the feeling.

“And that’s wrong?”

“It is when all I ever wanted was to protect her from guys like me.”

“How long have you known her?”

Since he was talking, I’d get answers.

“I was about nine or ten when we met. Mum had come home for the third day in a row with food for me, claiming she wasn’t hungry. I’d left the next day determined to play Robin Hood.”

I could picture it as the story slowly spilled from his slurred tongue.

“There were drug dealers around the corner. I waited until I thought they were distracted and tried to steal some cash. But I was caught. One and maybe I would have gotten away. But there were three, and after they roughed me up, they tossed a bag over my head and drove me off to some building.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear more.

“I was dumped in a room and told to wait so I could pay off my debt even though I’d gotten away with nothing.”

He sighed. “When the man came in, he didn’t bother to lock the door. He assumed I’d do whatever he asked. But when he told me what he wanted, I’d taken the lamp that was next to the bed and bashed it over his head.”

Silently, I cheered for the boy I hadn’t known.

“When I left the room, others had come to investigate the noise. Two other kids’ heads popped out, Griff and Keely. When I ran, they ran with me. We got away and vowed never to talk about what happened there.”