Deadly Coincidence (Brantley Walker Off the Books #4) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,84
haven’t”—Gerard swallowed hard, his eyes slamming closed as he spit out the rest of the words—“killed him yet?”
“Fine.”
There was some rustling, and a second later, Dante’s pained voice came on the phone.
“Mom? Dad?” His words were slurred, and Brantley didn’t think it was all for show.
“Dante!” Katrina cried out.
“Are you all right?” Gerard asked, keeping his cool. “Have they hurt you?”
“I’m okay, Dad.”
“That’s enough!” the original caller shouted, clearly having taken the phone back. “Now you’ve got two hours to get me the money.”
Brantley shook his head, then mouthed for him to ask for more time.
“I…” Gerard inhaled. “It’ll take me longer to get that much money together. It’s a holiday. The banks are all closed.”
“Good point.”
Brantley shot a look at Reese. Seriously? The guy sounded sincerely baffled, as though hadn’t considered today was a holiday. Who the fuck was this idiot?
“I’ll get it, I swear to you,” Gerard added in a rush. “I just need a little time.”
“So you can get it today?”
Brantley was dumbfounded by this true moron. How the fuck did he get through the day on his own? Clearly not a criminal mastermind.
“I can, yes,” Gerard blurted.
Brantley closed his eyes so the governor couldn’t see him rolling them. They could’ve bought time until tomorrow if he hadn’t said that.
“When can you get it?”
Gerard looked up at him and Brantley held up four fingers.
“Four hours.”
“Fine, but it’ll cost you. The price has gone up to two million,” the caller huffed. “Two mil in four hours. You better have it.”
“I will. Where do you want me to bring it?”
Another chuckle and this time Brantley glanced at Reese. He saw in his eyes the same morbid curiosity. Who the hell had Dante gotten to help him with this plan? Whoever it was … they were about as smart as a box of rocks.
“I’ll call you with instructions in four hours.”
The call ended abruptly.
Instantly Reese was making a call, most likely to Luca to see if he managed to get the trace.
“What do we do now?” Katrina asked, getting to her feet.
Brantley moved closer to the family. “Right now, I’ve got my entire team lookin’ at this. Give me a little time to work it.” He looked at Gerard. “I want Trey to stay here with y’all, and I’ll keep you updated when I have something. You bought us a few hours, and we’ll use ’em wisely.”
“What about the money? It’s not like we’ve got that kind of cash. Investments, sure.”
Although he had no intention of letting the Greenwoods hand over that kind of money, he figured it would give them something to do. “Figure out where it’ll come from, and I’ll let you know.”
*
Dante glared at Marcus when the call disconnected.
“Two million,” he snapped. “We agreed we’d ask for one.”
Marcus’s grin was pure evil. “My price went up.”
“They don’t have that kinda money,” he argued.
“Well, they better take out a loan. That or they’ll never see their sweet little boy again.”
“Didn’t you hear him? It’s a holiday.”
Marcus shrugged. “They do it in the movies all the time. I’m sure your dear old dad will figure it out.”
Not for the first time since they’d made this arrangement, Dante felt real fear. This time he feared for his own safety. He got the feeling Marcus was willing to sacrifice him for money. Which meant, if his parents did fork over two mil, Marcus was going to take it and split. But probably not until he’d killed Dante first.
Marcus let out an evil laugh. “You should see your face right now. Looks like you might piss your pants. You scared, Dante?”
He schooled his expression, watching and wondering how the hell he was going to get himself out of this mess.
Chapter Nineteen
After giving his statement to Sheriff Endsley and promising Brantley he’d keep his nose out of the investigation, Travis played the dutiful husband for the majority of the day, ringing in the new year in the best way possible, spending time with Kylie, Gage, and the kids.
They’d started off with lunch as a family, then watched a movie with Kate, who was back on board with the idea that Frozen was the greatest movie of all time. At six years old, he could see how she might think that. Travis would admit, he hadn’t minded the animated singalong. The first time. The six or seven dozen times after had been hell.
After the movie, he’d played a couple of rounds of video games with four-year-old Kade, who would be content with a controller