Broken by His Hand - Piper Stone Page 0,45

One thing was certain. If the fucker wanted to continue playing games, the shit was going to get real.

* * *

“An inner circle. You are kidding me, Michael?” Christopher asked after a few minutes of silence. “What the hell.”

“No, I’m not kidding.”

“And you’re just telling us this now?” Gregory’s voice was laced with tension.

“I didn’t feel there was any reason given I had no knowledge of the members and they certainly haven’t attempted to make contact over the last few years.” I glanced from one to the other.

Gregory shook his head. “All the stories you said our father had told you, the ones you refused to tell me months ago when we were under investigation...” He allowed the words to drop off, his anger changing his facial expressions.

“Did you ever wonder why the accusations suddenly went away?” I asked.

Christopher inched closer. “Because someone from this inner circle made certain the FBI agent dropped the case.”

I nodded.

“Which means that whoever was responsible for making that happen is likely watching everything we do,” Gregory added.

“I think that’s an educated guess.” I moved toward the monitors, studying the few employees who’d already arrived at work. “Christopher. Can you cull the list of members to find out how many remain from before our father died and check to see if they’ve been active? Some maybe have rejoined simply to get their piece of the pie.”

“Like paying us to keep the information secret,” Gregory huffed.

Christopher lifted his eyebrows. “Yeah, but that’s likely going to be a long list. Granted, some are undoubtedly dead or have moved away, but at last check, we have close to fifteen hundred members.”

“At least it will be a start. Check the dates of their memberships as well,” I suggested.

“Father had the club open for almost forty years. You honestly believe one of the old cronies wants to bring the inner circle back?” Gregory challenged. “Why the hell wouldn’t they simply approach one of us? If they wanted to bring down members of politics, now is the right time.”

I gave him a half smile. “That’s exactly what I believe, but I’m not certain this is about politics or elections, other than bringing up dirty laundry. Pops mentioned a bad apple. I think that particular individual is determined to finish whatever he started all those years ago. Maybe because of the importance of the upcoming elections. Maybe because he anticipated our re-creation of the same inner circle, allowing him more access to current records. That I am uncertain of.”

“So, the asshole is sending bizarre gifts to taunt you?” Christopher asked.

“I’m not entirely certain they’re one and the same.” Russian roulette. I thought about my father’s words.

“Do you think this bad apple is under the impression we know who he is?”

I looked at Gregory, his question a viable one. “I’m not certain but whoever it is, this individual can’t take the chance on his identity being discovered. However, we don’t have enough to make accusations to anyone. Christopher, I uploaded the old roster on the network. See if any names stand out to you well.”

“I’ll see what I can come up with,” Christopher said quietly. “We need to find Father’s ledger. My guess is that he’s identified the members of this inner circle.”

“Agreed. Maybe there are notations on the old list that didn’t raise any eyebrows when we reopened.” I gave him a respectful nod. “Do you still have certain informants on the streets?” I’d never understood why my youngest brother paid criminals who worked the darkest bowels of DC for tips until they’d provided solid information when we’d been accused of a crime ourselves. They had the pulse on certain activities. Whether political or involving law enforcement, if something was about to go down, the informants had amazing access.

Christopher’s eyes twinkled. “Of course I do, brother. I’ll put out feelers.”

“Good.” I thought about the prince and sighed. I certainly couldn’t put it past the asshole to push. “Make certain you pay special attention to Prince Amoundi. I will guess he’ll show his face soon enough.”

“Agreed. I’ve heard he’s been very unhappy as of late,” Christopher said, laughing. “Maybe we should allow him a limited membership.”

“I don’t appreciate anyone who’s threatened me. Not on any level,” I barked.

“Michael. You’re an astute businessman and the fact you were shot at by some asshole should put you on edge, but don’t cut your nose off to spite your face.” Christopher walked closer, keeping his eyes locked onto mine.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that you always taught me to keep