Victor slammed his cell phone on the desk. That prick, Eric, hadn’t checked in or answered his phone. It was after midnight. By now, he should have reported back with the results from the loot at Cooper’s excavation site. Black market buyers were waiting in the wings for new artifacts. He paced his office, a slow burn starting in his chest, and snatched the phone to dial Eric again.
“Hey, boss.”
“What took you so long to answer? I’ve been calling you for the last half-hour.”
“I…uh…ran into a little problem.” Eric’s voice wavered.
Fuck. Of course. “What?”
“The cops showed up. They grabbed me, but they didn’t get anyone else.”
Stupid shit. He would be the only one caught. “Where are you?”
“At the camp with the team.”
“Why weren’t you arrested?” Something didn’t add up.
“That dirty cop let me go. He—”
“What about the artifacts? Did you get any?”
Eric cleared his throat. “Yeah. The tweakers had already gotten away with some before the cops came.”
“Send me pictures of what you have, and then haul your sorry ass over here.” Victor hung up. He’d get the rest of the story in person from the little dick. Make him sweat blood.
A few minutes later, Victor’s phone beeped. He opened a picture message. Boxes of broken pottery. He zoomed in and swiped the screen. All pieces like someone had taken a sledgehammer to them. Worthless. Not a single item intact. His blood pressure ratcheted.
“Stupid useless fuck!” He slammed a fist on the desk. The twitchy jerk had messed up everything, netted nothing of value, and now had the police on his tail.
An hour later, a knock rattled through the empty mansion.
Victor answered the door and dragged Eric by the scruff of his filthy jacket into the office. He grabbed his throat and squeezed.
Eric’s eyes bulged. He gasped for air and tried to talk, but nothing came out.
Victor pressed harder. The pulse in Eric’s neck throbbed under the pressure. His face turned red, and he clawed to loosen the grip.
“You’ve fucked up again.” Victor brought his face closer and squeezed harder. The urge to kill coursed through his veins. A quick snap of the neck or another few moments of strangling, his preferred method, and it would all be over. Nothing like watching a person’s face contort as panic and helplessness registered. No one deserved it more than Eric, but the asshat had information Victor still needed. He released his death grip.
Eric sucked in a deep breath, coughing and struggling for air. He doubled over and dropped to his knees, one hand on his thigh, the other on his throat.
“Get your shit together. You have some explaining to do.” Victor jerked his desk chair out and sat. He fixed his gaze on Eric, still on the floor wheezing.
Eric managed to hoist himself onto a chair and sniffed. Sweat dripped down the side of his grimy face. He wiped it and jerked his head up. “Wh-what do you want to know?”
“For starters, what happened with the artifacts your guys dug up tonight? They’re in pieces.”
“The diggers used shovels.” Eric coughed and rasped, “Might have damaged some of the goods.”
Victor’s lungs threatened to explode. “Whose fault is that? You were in charge of giving them the right equipment. They got shit. I can’t sell any of it. I’m done with you.”
“No.” Eric jumped to his feet and then quickly sat. “I mean, this is fixable. Those artifacts I stole from the storeroom last week, they were worth something, right?”
“They were worth something because the archaeologists had dug them up, not your bulldozer-in-the-sandbox tweakers. You aren’t capable of running this end of the operation.”
Eric’s gaze darted to the door, his body shaking. He licked his lips and touched the red marks on his throat. “But I found someone good to bring in. Already met with him. He’s a real badass and has connections. We could double the crystal sales. You need me to, you know, get him onboard. We can work together.”
Just another ploy to try to save his miserable ass. “You’re full of shit. If someone like that existed, I would have found him. Besides, if he’s a friend of yours, I’m sure he’s a fuck-up, too.”
“We aren’t friends. I got a lead on him. He just got out of prison and knows the business. His name’s Zach Gordon. Turns out I was dating his sister, only neither of us knew it at the time. I got nothing to do with her anymore.” Eric plucked his phone from the pocket of his jacket. “I’ll call him in so you can see for yourself he’s the real deal.”
“Not so fast. What do you mean, you dated his sister and neither of you knew it?” Victor narrowed his eyes.
Eric shrugged. “She never told me she had a brother. Guess she was embarrassed because he was in jail. I don’t know. I figured it out from the last name. Doesn’t matter. It’s all over. He only cares about the money.”
Victor stroked his chin. Convicts were a good source to tap for worthwhile contacts, but anyone Eric brought to the table needed checking. And the whole sister thing added another layer. Yet…worth looking into.
“I can get him here tomorrow for you to meet. I’m telling you, he’s good.”
Victor picked up his cigar and lit it. “I’ll check him out first and let you know. Now, give me an update on the survey. What did Cooper do today?”
“She dug most of the day. That’s all I could see from the woods.”
Victor nodded. Digging at last. One step closer to the final report. “All right, tell me more about this crooked cop.”
Eric gripped the armrests of his chair and rocked. “The new detective’s on the take. I need five hundred dollars for him to look the other way and let us do our thing. We’ll be right back in business.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I paid him off once before already. He wants more for tonight.”
Victor shook his head and puffed out smoke. “I told you to stay out of trouble. What the fuck do you mean by ‘before’?”
Eric blanched. “That Maddie bitch sucker-punched me in a bar the other night. The detective let me go.”
Victor snorted. The girl had some guts. He didn’t even want to know why she’d slugged Eric. “What part of dumb-fuck-stupid logic am I missing here? If she punched you, why were you going to be arrested?”
“The detective, uhh…he’s a hard ass. You know, just wants to bust everyone.”
Victor squinted. He had work to do, and Eric might not live if he didn’t get the fuck out. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing, but this Gordon guy might be worth looking at. “Wait for my call tomorrow. And don’t do anything. Maybe you can do absolutely nothing without fucking that up.”
“But what about the cop? He wants the five hundred by seven tomorrow night.”
Victor reached into his pocket and tugged out his money clip. He unfolded five hundred-dollar bills and tossed them on the desk. “Pay off the cop. This comes out of your payroll plus an extra hundred for interest. Got it?”
“Yeah.” Eric snatched the money, rubbed a hand over his throat, and slunk out of the room.
Victor’s doorbell rang exactly at noon. For once, fuck-up Eric was on time. Victor had spent the morning getting the lowdown on Zach Gordon. Showed promise, but he’d judge for himself. On paper, anyone could look good.
He eyed Zach as he entered the room with Eric. Squared shoulders, with a confident stride, Zach met his gaze head on. This was no sniveling meth head. Victor waved to the chairs across the desk. “Sit.”
He tapped his lit cigar on the ashtray. “I checked you out. Not much on you.”
“I fly under the radar, and so do the people I work with.”
Victor nodded. “Only a dumb fuck gets caught with drugs and weapons.”
Zach kept his face neutral in spite of the insult. Good. A man who could control his emotions.
“I trusted someone I shouldn’t have. I’ve learned since then. That won’t happen again.”
Victor took a puff of his cigar and stared at Zach, who held his gaze. “How’s your sister? I understand she came to visit you quite a bit in jail.”
Zach twisted his mouth. “Yeah, when she needed money or wanted to bitch about her boyfriend, who turned out to be him.” He jerked a thumb in Eric’s direction. “She blames me because she had to go into the system. Shit, she only spent three years in foster care. I did four in a cage with a rat. My sister liked to visit so she could remind me how I fucked up her life and then hit me up for cash. I got no use for her.”
“Blood’s not thicker than water?”
“Hey, I got no respect for whiners. I made my way. She can make hers. People in this business are ruthless. They use family as leverage. Me?” Zach brushed his hands against each other in the universal dismissive gesture. “I’m free and clear.”
Eric mimicked Zach’s hand brushing. “Me, too. I got rid of the bitch. Taught her a lesson.”
Victor shot a glance at Zach, who didn’t so much as flinch. Either he really didn’t give a shit about his sister, or he had one hell of a poker face. Something like that could come in handy. Victor turned his gaze to Eric. “Shut the fuck up. Unless I ask you a question, keep your mouth closed.” He swiveled around to Zach and pointed to Eric. “You don’t have a problem with him?”
Zach shrugged. “Sounds like they’re done, but her love life is none of my business. Neither is his.”
Victor eased back in his chair and took another puff of the cigar as he studied Zach. So far, he’d cut it. Enough about the sister. Time to talk shop. “Eric said you can double our sales.”
“I have connections. Looking to use them here and make some money now I’m out.”
Eric bobbed his head. “See? Like I told you. He’s got connections.”
“What part of ‘shut the fuck up’ did you not understand?” Victor gave Eric a caustic glare, causing him to shrink back in his seat. Reaching into the top drawer of the desk, Victor drew out a small plastic bag filled with crystal meth. He slid it across the table. “This is quality stuff. I only deal with the best. Test it.”
Zach glanced at the bag and shook his head. “I’m a businessman. I don’t use. Need to keep my head clear and not smoke up the profits.”
Finally, someone who go it. “I think we might be able to work together. I’ll be in touch.”
Zach stood. “I’ll wait to hear from you.”
Eric rose as Zach strode out of the room.
“Sit down. I’m not done with you.” Victor snuffed out his cigar, and Eric dropped back into the chair.
He fingered his bruised neck. “What’s wrong? You like him, right?”
“We’ll see. I’m not letting him in on too much yet. So keep your mouth shut about the tweakers and the digs.” Victor would keep Zach in the dark about the black-market business until he’d proven himself. The sooner, the better. Eric had to go.
“I didn’t tell him nothing about that.”
“If you fuck up and get caught again, you’re dead. Understand?”
Eric swallowed.
Victor leaned across the desk. “You get the right tools for the job and make sure the finds aren’t destroyed next time. Now get lost.”
Eric all but ran out of the room. Victor rubbed his chin. Zach was cool and had all the right answers. The complete opposite of fuck-up Eric. Maybe with the crooked cop on board, they could move things along.
But first, Zach would have to pass a test.