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There was a beat of silence, then a chuckle that didn’t sound all that amused. “You made lemonade out of shit. It’s still shitty lemonade, though.”
“The important thing is that the cops are now looking at someone else for last night’s fiasco. They’re not looking at me.”
“See that they don’t. Just because your life is fucked up beyond belief is no excuse to fuck up mine. I don’t have time to find someone else to take care of things, so make sure you stay out of the spotlight from here on out.”
Corey ground his teeth because Doyle wasn’t wrong. His life was fucked up beyond belief right now, but he would make it right again. “I will.”
“Do not fail me or the NOPD will be the least of your concerns. If you disappear, nobody’s going to be looking at me for it. Understand?”
The threatening words should have made him angry, but they only made him scared. And that made him angry. He hated being scared. “Yes,” he bit out. “Anything else?”
“No. Just get it done.” The call ended, leaving Corey staring at the phone in his hand, fury roiling in his gut.
His rage shouldn’t be directed at Doyle. The man had hired him to do a job and thought that job’s success was in jeopardy. Rick and Jace were the real assholes here. Focus all that anger on them. So he did, and he was instantly back in control and ready to deal with his brothers.
The comm room was quiet except for Rick’s heavy breathing. Both Rick and Jace sat in straight-backed chairs that Bobby had dragged to the center of the room. His friend stood behind the chairs, one beefy hand on Rick’s shoulder, the other on Jace’s.
Bobby was also armed, and Corey nearly laughed. Bobby wore a crossbody chest holster and in it he’d parked his Raging Judge, a revolver that was almost cartoonish in size. It was huge, weighing four and a half pounds, and was fourteen inches long from hilt to barrel. One almost expected a little flag that said “boom” to exit the barrel rather than the .454 Casull bullet that could take down a grizzly bear. It was overkill in the extreme but appeared to have done the trick. Rick looked like he was about to have a stroke. He was red-faced and clearly stressed the fuck out. Jace, on the other hand, looked quietly terrified.
That was a good place to start.
Corey sat on the arm of one of the two leather sofas and stared at his brothers, his eyes narrowing. “Whose idea was it?” he demanded.
Rick flicked a glance at Jace, then met Corey’s gaze. “Mine.”
“Jace?” Corey asked, keeping his tone even. “Is that true?”
Jace swallowed. “Yes, sir.”
Liar. If he couldn’t get the truth from Jace, he’d separate them. Jace had to be handled more delicately than Rick. When Jace felt cornered, he’d shut down, and no amount of beatings could make him speak. It was almost like his whole brain froze.
Rick, on the other hand, spewed words at the least bit of pressure.
“If it wasn’t your idea, Jace, why did you go? And don’t look at Rick. You look at me, boy.”
Jace’s face crumpled. “Rick said we should. He said that y—” He cut himself off, then drew a deep breath. “He said we should help Aaron.”
Corey knew what Jace had been about to say. You. Rick had claimed that this idiocy had been ordered by Corey. “Did you want to go?”
Jace looked miserable. “No, sir.”
“I see. So what was your role, Jace?”
“I drove. That’s it.”
“It was my idea,” Rick stated baldly, and Corey had to admit to being a little impressed with his brother’s guts. “Jace just drove. He’s telling the truth. He didn’t do nothin’ but drive.”
Corey came to his feet, staring down at Rick. “I wasn’t talking to you. So keep your mouth closed. Got it? Nod.”
Rick’s mouth tightened, but he nodded once.
Kid had found his balls. Too bad it was too little, too late. He might have become a decent addition to Corey’s team in time.
Corey took a step toward Jace, making the boy look up at him. “Do you realize what you’ve done?” he asked severely.
Jace trembled. “We broke a law.”
Corey barked out a harsh laugh. “You broke so many laws, I don’t even know where to start. How the hell was this going to help Aaron?” Jace turned his head to look at Rick, his expression beseeching, but Rick kept his gaze fixed on the far wall, staying silent. Corey grabbed Jace’s chair and turned him so that he could no longer see Rick. “You look at me, boy.”
