Angie let go some of her tension. Of course that’s why they were here. She’d heard Marcus call Kip with the problem. She should’ve anticipated that Kip would call in Dale, who would call in Angie.
She glanced around the room, pretending like she hadn’t already scoped out the exits and hiding places. ‘What’s going on here?’
‘Progress,’ Dale repeated. ‘One-Ten is expanding. Now that the All-Star deal is going forward, they need a whole team to manage the branding, make sure the athletes are out front and center, keep all of their noses clean. Laslo’s gonna run it.’
Angie nodded, because that made sense. Sports management didn’t just mean negotiating contracts. They managed every aspect of the athletes’ lives.
‘You hear back from Denny?’
Angie had forgotten about Dale’s bookie problem. She looked at her phone. Denny had texted her back three hours ago. She scrolled through a long explanation about how much trouble he was going to get into for rounding up every whore on Cheshire Bridge before she got to the only part that mattered. ‘He says they’ll do it tonight.’
‘Good.’ Dale said, ‘I gave the lawyer that paperwork for the trust. It’s official.’
‘Have you told Delilah yet?’
He shook his head. ‘I want you to tell her.’
The last thing Angie wanted to do was tell a junkie she’d hit the mother lode. Then again, he could be lying just for the sake of lying. Dale liked to fuck with people. She asked, ‘How do I get in touch with her? Is she staying at your place?’
‘She’s moved into her mama’s old place. I figured Kip would clean out my pad at the Mesa the minute I’m gone.’ He coughed into his hand. ‘If the job falls on you to turn it over, don’t go into the attic. There’s just a bunch of papers up there. Old cases and shit.’
Angie wasn’t going anywhere near Dale’s house. ‘Sure.’
‘You’ll wanna stay out of the bathroom, too. Different reasons.’
The elevator dinged. Kip and Marcus were talking in low murmurs that drained away when they saw Angie and Dale. She tried not to think about the hope in Jo’s voice when Marcus mentioned putting up Jo and Anthony in one of his houses, protecting them from Reuben Figaroa with an armed guard if necessary.
The only person Marcus Rippy was ever going to protect was himself.
Dale asked, ‘Where’s Laslo?’
‘Not here.’ Kip told Marcus, ‘You should go back upstairs, bro. Let me handle this.’
Marcus shook his head. ‘This ain’t like those other situations, man. I’m not going to let you hurt her.’
Angie studied Marcus Rippy’s face. He looked conflicted, which made a sort of sense if you didn’t already know how this was going to end. Angie had spent most of her professional life talking people into doing things they knew were wrong, whether it was getting a suspect to flip on his buddy or bribing someone into changing their testimony before a trial. Without exception, everybody’s weak spot always ended up being some combination of self-preservation and money.
Dale asked, ‘Who are we supposed to not be hurting?’
Kip gave Marcus another chance to leave. When he didn’t, Kip answered, ‘Jo Figaroa has a video.’
‘Of what?’ Dale asked.
Marcus said, ‘None of your fucking business.’
Dale glanced at Angie. She kept her expression as still as she could.
‘It doesn’t matter what’s on the video.’ Kip crossed his arms. Angie realized this was one of the rare times she’d seen him without a bottle of BankShot or a basketball. He said, ‘Jo has the video on her phone. That’s all you need to know.’
Angie asked, ‘Are there copies?’
‘We’re taking care of that.’
That explained Laslo’s absence. Kip would’ve sent him to get the laptop before Jo could get home from school with Anthony.
Dale said, ‘There’s a computer—’
‘The copy isn’t on a computer,’ Kip interrupted. ‘Laslo has it handled. End of discussion.’
Angie considered the lie. Marcus would have already told Kip that the incriminating video came from Reuben’s laptop. The first question out of the agent’s mouth would’ve been to ask about copies. Kip was holding back as much information from Dale and Angie as he could, which actually benefitted Angie. Dale knew the laptop had been cloned onto the iPad. Apparently Kip did not.
Angie said, ‘I can hire a skell to apple-pick the phone right out of her hand. Problem solved.’
‘You can’t take the phone,’ Marcus said, his voice strident. He was thinking about Jo, and the fact that Reuben made her check in. Which on the surface was laudable, but if he were really concerned about Jo, none of them would be here.
‘It’s not just the video,’ Kip said. ‘It’s that Jo’s seen it. We can’t trust her not to blab. She’s got to be taught a lesson about keeping in line.’
Dale asked, ‘Time to use the ax?’
Angie felt her stomach tighten.
‘No.’ Marcus sounded alarmed. ‘You can’t hurt her. Not physically.’
‘It’s a euphemism. We won’t hurt her.’ Kip said, ‘We’ve got an alternate plan.’
‘Alternate plan?’ Marcus repeated. ‘How’d you come up with that so fast? Who you been telling my business to?’
‘We’re your team, Marcus.’ Kip explained, ‘We’ve known for a while that Jo might be a problem.’
Angie waited for someone to point out that Reuben Figaroa was the problem. When it didn’t happen, she asked, ‘What about the husband?’
‘Fig can’t know about this.’ Marcus asked Kip, ‘When’s he coming home?’
‘He isn’t cleared to fly until tomorrow night.’ Kip held up both his hands, like a traffic cop trying to stop an oncoming bus. ‘And I understand—Fig can’t know about the video, or Jo meeting you alone. Trust me, Marcus, I know Fig has a temper. We don’t need him stuck with a murder charge when we’re less than two weeks away from the biggest jackpot of our lives.’
Marcus gave a slow nod, seemingly sad about the fact that money trumped everything. Angie was the only person in the room who didn’t accept the trade-off. Jo’s life was worth more than a basketball game or yet another glorified shopping mall.
Marcus asked, ‘What’s the alternate plan?’
Dale answered, ‘Long time ago, Jo was arrested with a bunch of scripts in her car.’
‘Back in high school?’ Marcus shook his head. He was back to playing Jo’s savior again. ‘Naw, man, those were for me. I hurt my back, had to keep playing. Jo took the weight. She knew they’d go easy on her.’
Angie thought about Jo sacrificing herself for Rippy. Was this what her daughter was like, always lying down for a man?
Kip said, ‘Details on the arrest are still out there. We can use it.’
‘Use it how?’
Dale said, ‘I’ll put some Oxy in her car, call in a buddy of mine, and she’ll spend a few days in jail. Give her time to reflect on her problems.’
‘Nuh-uh.’ Marcus shook his head. ‘You can’t send Jo to jail. I won’t allow it. You work for me, man. All of you—you work for me, and I say no.’