Bitter Queen (Advantage Play #4) - Kelsie Rae Page 0,47
upstairs, then grab Jack? He can stay in one of the guest rooms. I’ll have someone bring up some food as soon as we’re finished here.”
“Sounds good. Come on, Will. Let’s go.” Offering his hand, Will stares at it for a second, then turns to Regina with a fresh wave of fear in his eyes.
“It’s okay,” she encourages, rubbing his back. “You’re safe now. Go get some rest. I’ll come check on you in a few.”
His courage is shaky at best, but he takes Lou’s hand and stands up from the couch before following him up the stairs to his room. Pretty sure that if it were any other day of the week, the ten-year-old wouldn’t be caught dead holding hands with a stranger, but he’s too terrified to put on a brave face right now, and I don’t blame him.
Sei really is a sick bastard.
Head cocked, a patient Kingston listens to their footsteps creep up the stairs before he turns to Dex and Stefan. “There was a laptop?”
“Yeah. The clean-up crew was supposed to pick it up,” Stefan answers stiffly.
“Which means Sei slipped in sometime after you both left and the clean-up crew got there. How big was that window?”
“Thirty minutes, maybe?” Dex rolls his shoulders before scrubbing roughly at his face. “I should’ve just grabbed it.”
“We were a little busy carrying a body,” Stefan argues.
“No excuse. I should’ve gone inside.”
“You were following standard protocol. The clean-up crew was supposed to grab it.”
“Yeah, but—”
“It’s no use arguing over the past,” Kingston interjects, but it doesn’t erase the frustration emanating from his stiff frame.
A set of footsteps ends the conversation as Jack and Lou come into view.
“Jack, thanks for joining us,” Kingston greets him as he appears at the base of the steps.
“Thanks for having me,” he quips. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“We had a visitor.”
“Who?”
“A boy named Will Johnson.”
“Am I supposed to recognize that name?” Jack returns as he takes a seat on the arm of the couch.
With a one-shouldered shrug, Dex replies, “Probably not. His dad was a potential buyer for one of the girls and had been working with Burlone before I was sent to…take care of it.”
“Take care of it?” Jack laughs. “You mean, you killed him.”
“I mean, I took a sex trafficker off the streets. When was the last time you did that much?” Dex challenges.
“Stop,” Kingston orders before resting his elbows on his knees. Cracking his neck, he continues. “Listen up because I’m about to throw a shit-ton of information at you. Johnson’s son was kidnapped by Sei, who helped him break into Johnson’s computer before Sei carved an ‘X’ into his arm. Then he dropped the kid off down the street and ordered him to walk up my driveway and deliver a message to Dex.”
“What kind of message?” Jack asks.
“It was a threat that he’d be seeing him soon and that he knows where Regina is. Why the hell isn’t he in police custody?”
“Sei wasn’t on the premises when we raided Burlone’s estate,” Jack answers with a glare at Dex. “We searched everywhere for him.”
Ignoring his pissy attitude, Kingston adds, “Yeah, well, his appearance is just the tip of the iceberg. A few minutes before the kid showed up, Diece and I had a little chat with Q. She divulged some information that connected your boss to the mob and explains why he’s so desperate to find her.”
Jack’s annoyance transforms to utter shock. “What? How?”
“She witnessed Reed attending a meeting with Burlone and Johnson. When they caught her eavesdropping, Reed wanted to have her killed, but Burlone figured that selling her would be a more lucrative way for her to disappear. She’s the key to clearing your name. Unfortunately for you, I can’t allow her to testify.”
Outraged, Jack jumps to his feet and spits, “What? Why the hell not?”
Shit, I’d be pissed too. His freedom was at the tip of his fingers, but Kingston just slid it out of his grasp.
Ignoring Jack’s outburst, Kingston clarifies, “Because I told everyone Burlone was working for the Feds, and while that’s true, it seems that he was using them instead of the other way around.”
“And that’s a problem because…?” Jack lets his voice trail off and waits for Kingston to fill in the blanks.
Instead, I do it for him. “If it looks like Kingston got his facts wrong, it’ll taint the Romano name, and we can’t have that now, can we?”
“So, what? I’m supposed to take the fall?” Jack sneers, but Kingston doesn’t back