Alibi (Brantley Walker Off the Books #5) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,74

ever having to get his hands dirty.

The only thing that had stopped him was the fact Gage deserved a say in what happened to the woman. After all, Kylie was Gage’s wife, too. Maybe not in the eyes of the law, no, but he was where it counted.

“Talk to me about what?”

“He can take care of her,” Travis said. “All I have to do is say the word.”

“I’m sure he will. But what’ll you be in for? We both know Adorites don’t do favors for free.”

No, they certainly did not. And though Travis had asked for a few favors from Max over the years, he’d only been called on once to return it. That particular incident had required Travis to manipulate a situation, maneuvering a person to a certain spot by using his resort as the carrot.

He had no idea what’d happened after that, nor did he care to. What Max did was his business. Whether it was legal or not was also his business.

“If it ever came down to it, can the feds tie you to him?” Gage asked.

“As an acquaintance, maybe,” Travis admitted. “But it’d be circumstantial at best.”

Gage seemed to consider that before he said, “And what is it you’re askin’ him for this time?”

Travis opted for honesty. “I want him to make her disappear. Permanently.”

Gage nodded, as though processing that information.

Travis wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it wasn’t for Gage to slowly get to his feet and head for the door.

But what shocked him the most was when Gage turned back around and said, “Then I suggest you don’t let the task force find her. It’d be best if no one ever lays eyes on her again.” He started to pull the door shut. “I’ll just close this so you can make that call.”

When Gage left the room, Travis stared after him for a few minutes, letting his instructions sink in.

Travis should probably have worried that he didn’t have a crisis of conscience when it came to ordering a hit on Juliet Prince. And that was what it was, no matter how he wanted to pretty it up and call it a favor. He was asking one human being to eliminate another.

The question he had was who would he rather do it? Did he call Max and finalize his request, or did he take matters into his own hands? No, he’d never killed anyone, nor had he actually considered it before.

Had he played a part in having some really nasty people taken care of? Yeah. When his cousin Wolfe’s wife, Amy, had been running from a sadistic fuck who’d used his position of power to abuse and beat her, to kill her family and imprison her, Travis had called Max. And he’d never lost a moment of sleep for it.

And when his cousin Jared’s ex-wife used her own child to manipulate Jared, to punish him for absolutely no reason, Travis had stepped in. No, Sable wasn’t dead, but to this day Travis kept an eye on her, ensuring she did not come back and interfere in their lives.

Travis didn’t pretend to be a saint. Never had. Nor was he going to lose sleep over the decision he had to make now.

Taking a deep breath, Travis opened his top drawer, pulled out the burner phone he’d been sent for this specific instance, and dialed the familiar number.

“Yeah?” the gruff voice answered.

“I’m finalizin’ my request.”

“Where?”

“Port Isabel, Texas,” he stated firmly. “It’s a rush job.”

“Understood.”

When the call ended, Travis pulled the battery out of the phone. His next order of business was to destroy it as he’d been instructed.

Still sitting, he glanced at the picture of Kylie on his desk. “It’s almost done, baby. Just like I promised.”

*

Maximillian Adorite stood on the veranda overlooking his estate.

He sipped coffee, enjoying the pleasant weather and the cool breeze. He’d been up much of the night dealing with urgent business and he was slow going today. But he didn’t mind the downtime. In fact, he enjoyed what little bit of peace he could find in a day.

When Rock stepped forward, Max passed the phone over to him. “Destroy it.”

“Consider it done.”

Since Rock, born Taye Smith, was one of his most loyal enforcers, he knew the man could be trusted to protect him, to ensure nothing would blow back on him in the end. It was because of people like Rock that Max’s family had been able to build the life they had. And it was Rock and the others in Max’s