“It’s not a small thing.” He lets out a breath. “Look, I gotta go call them right now. We can salvage this. We’ll figure it out, right? You can make that money back.”
“I can cover it. I can recoup them myself if I have to.”
“Right, yeah.” He laughs. It sounds nervous, tense. It sounds fucking afraid. “You’re rich, right?”
“I’m rich,” I confirm.
“I forget that sometimes. You know, since some of us are out here working for a living.”
I let that comment slide. “Call them. Call me back.”
“Yeah, sure.” He hangs up the phone.
I stand and call Valerie in to my office and close the door behind her. “Just told Darin,” I say.
She sits down and I go back behind my desk. “How’d it go?”
“He sounded afraid.”
She frowns at me. “I’m sorry, Jacob.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. It’s not… it doesn’t prove anything.”
“I know. You’re right.” She cocks her head slightly and wants to say something more, but stops herself.
“Look, I just wanted you to know, okay? He’s going to call back soon. Maybe you should be here for it.”
“That’s a good idea.” She leans toward me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay.”
“I’m sorry, Jacob. I know I shouldn’t have done that.”
“I know. You shouldn’t have.” I shake my head slowly. “If these guys are mafia, this might get dangerous.”
She frowns at me. “What do you mean?”
“They kill people for this sort of stuff.”
She laughs like I’m joking then slowly stops. “You’re serious? This is investing. This… this stuff happens.”
I stare at her. “Val, these guys are dangerous. Are you joking with me right now? You don’t realize it can get violent?”
“I just… I didn’t…” She trails off and looks horrified.
“Oh, god,” I say softly. “You didn’t think about it. You were just playing with numbers.”
“I thought it wouldn’t matter. Since they have so much.”
I shake my head. “Fuck, Val.”
“I should’ve talked to you first.”
“Yeah, you should have.” I lean back in my chair. “But you didn’t, so now we wait.”
She gets up and paces. I want to get up and go to her, hold her, hug her, try to comfort her, but I can’t. Not with the office just outside my windows. And besides, I’m a little pissed at her for being so fucking careless.
I know she wants to move this case along and gets things worked out, but losing the mob some money like that was reckless. She clearly didn’t think about what it would mean if these guys really were organized crime.
The phone starts to ring. I stare at the name. “It’s him,” I say.
She comes over and sits down, even more pale than usual. “Go ahead. Answer.”
I pick it up and put it on speaker. “Hey, man,” I say.
“They’re pissed.”
I wince a little. “Yeah?”
“They’re really, really pissed. I talked to Carmine and he wants to talk to you.”
“Okay. Put him through.”
“No, in person.”
I stare at Valerie. She shakes her head, eyes wide.
“He can come to the office if he wants.”
“No, dude, listen to me. He wants you to meet him at the place you guys first met. Some coffee shop? You gotta go, just go and explain to him that investments come with risk, and you can recoup all his losses. Okay?”
“Fuck that,” I say. “No way.”
“Look, please. You have to go.” He sounds scared now, really scared, and he’s not trying to hide it.
“Who are these guys, Darin?” I ask him.
He’s quiet for a second. “Just go, okay? Make things right. Write him a check on the spot. He’ll like that.”
“I’m not going. He can come into this office if he wants. I’m not going to risk my life.”
“They’re not going to hurt you,” he says and tries to laugh, but it’s so transparently not true. He slowly goes quiet. “Look, you just have to go.”
“I’m not going and stop asking. If they want to talk, they can call Aimee and set up an appointment.”
“Oh, god,” he groans. “Don’t be like that.”
“You got us into this,” I snap at him. “You brought them into our lives. You chose this.”
“Jacob—”
“You did this, Darin. I gave you every fucking out.” I forget about Valerie, about her bosses, about the feds. Suddenly, it’s just about me and him. “You insisted on bringing them in. Are they the reason you wanted to open this office in the first place?”
“No,” he says. “They’re not.”
“I don’t believe a word you’re saying anymore.”
“You lost the money.” He’s defensive now, harder. “You’re the one that made this mess. You clean it up.”
“Fuck you, Darin.”
“Right back at you, brother.”
I hang up the phone. I close my eyes and take a deep breath before slowly letting it out.
“That went well,” Valerie says.
I glare at her. “Thanks.”
“Look, he’s upset. He’s angry.”
“I’m upset and angry.”
“I know. You both need to cool off. The guys will come in and we’ll talk to them and make it all right. Okay?”