recliner like it was his own and crossed one leg over the other. He waved toward the tiny chair opposite the recliner. “Please, Mr. Mitchell. Have a seat.”
Roman stood to Sergei’s right and clasped his hands in front of him. Kir mirrored the stance to Sergei’s left.
Pauley looked from Sergei to the tiny chair, clearly aghast that his throne had been usurped by a stranger. He covered the response quick enough, though, and mimicked Sergei’s pose. Which looked utterly ridiculous on a barefoot man in his undershirt. “So, you want to talk business.”
“Yes,” Sergei said. “I understand you’ve been known to extend financial assistance to individuals. There is one in particular I’d like to talk to you about. One who is very close to a friend of mine.”
To his credit, Pauley managed to keep his expression passive, but the quick assessment of Roman and Kir at either side of Sergei and the calculation behind Pauley’s eyes telegraphed all manner of concern. “I’ve done short-term loans for people from time to time, sure. You know—for friends.”
Sergei inhaled slow and deep, the sound that of a man searching for patience and coming up short. “I’m afraid that’s not what my men learned. They tell me you’ve got a respectable business developed and make a tidy profit on the interest you charge.”
Pauley fidgeted in his chair. “You said you’ve got a particular customer in mind?”
Sergei shifted his head slightly toward Roman.
“Jack Drummond,” Roman answered for him. “He goes by Buzz.”
The shift in Pauley’s demeanor was instant, all signs of calm and caution evaporating beneath his scowl. “That son of a bitch?”
“Yes,” Sergei answered dryly. “That one.”
“Not sure who your friend is, buddy, but if they’ve got ties to Buzz, your best bet is to tell them to walk the fuck away. Never met so big a cheat in my life.”
“So, he does currently owe you a debt?”
“Fool that I am, yeah.”
“And you want what’s owed to you.”
“Damn right.”
“Bad enough you’d be inclined to abduct him and his son from their home this afternoon?”
Pauley opened his mouth, ready to throw out another emphatic answer, then fully registered Sergei’s question and frowned. “Say what?”
“This afternoon Buzz Drummond and his son were taken from their home. I want to know if you were the person that took them.”
Genuine surprise pushed Pauley’s eyebrows to where his hairline should have been. “Me? Why the fuck would I want to do that? Easier to steal his truck again than put up with that asshole one-on-one.”
Truth.
If he’d been lying, he’d have had an entirely different set of tells, but Pauley met Sergei’s gaze dead-on when he spoke. “You tellin’ me someone nabbed that idiot?”
“And his son,” Kir added.
Pauley scoffed and reclined as much as the chair would allow. “You sure it’s Buzz they’re after then? ’Cause that boy’s got a string of people he’s pissed off. Ever since he got into computers in high school he’s been gettin’ into things he shouldn’t. Buzz coulda just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or hell, maybe the two of them hooked up on some con and whoever they tried to pull it on decided to fight back.”
“You say that like you’re intimate with their history,” Sergei said.
“Well, yeah. Buzz and me went to school together. Go way back. He never did think rules applied to him. Neither did his wife, Joleen. Peas in a pod, those two. Born to screw the world and everyone in it every chance they got.”
“And their apples didn’t fall far from the tree?”
“Not with Kevin. Boy’s smart as a whip. Got all A’s in high school and didn’t even try. Heard he did good in all his tech classes, too. But common sense? Ain’t got a damn lick of it.” He paused a moment and his gaze narrowed. “Don’t know much about Bonnie, though. Quiet girl. Seemed to mostly stay to herself growin’ up. Cut out of her daddy’s house before she graduated.”
Instinct prickled along Roman’s shoulders and his gut clenched. “Why?”
“Beats the hell out of me. Probably ’cause her daddy was an asshole. Always was a short-tempered son of a bitch, but after Joleen died, he drank twice as much and fought every chance he got. Least up until that liver of his decided to fight back.”
Sergei nodded then looked to Roman and Kir in turn. When neither of them added any additional questions, he stood and buttoned his coat. “You’ve been most helpful, Mr. Mitchell. I’ll look forward to doing business with