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“Fred.” He rushed over but stopped short of scooping the smaller man into his arms. The relief in his driver’s expression was telling…or was he merely a good actor?
“Hi, Aiden.” Fred didn’t look the part of a mob boss, but he never had. He’d been thrust into a life he hated, and I had a feeling that someone agreed he didn’t belong and thought taking him out was the only way.
“Are you hungry?” Aiden motioned to the table, where there was a small spread.
“Not really. I’m thirsty, though.”
“You should eat something.” Aiden moved to a chair and pulled it out. “You haven’t eaten in days.”
“And yet I’m not hungry…shocking.” Fred walked past the table and began opening cabinets. “Glasses?”
“Above the dishwasher,” Axel said from his position by the back door.
Fred pulled out a glass and filled it from the pitcher of ice water that was on the counter. The room was silent, every eye on him.
He chugged it and filled the glass again. I glanced at Axel—I wasn’t sure if drinking so fast was dangerous, but when he remained silent, I refrained from saying anything.
“I do have to agree with Aiden.” I stepped closer to Fred. “You need to eat.”
“I’m not hungry.” He put the glass into the sink rather forcefully.
Zion chose that moment to enter the kitchen, laptop in hand.
“I might have found something.”
Fred’s eyes widened, and he rushed over to Zion. “What?”
He placed the laptop down, and on the screen was a picture of what appeared to be an abandoned SUV.
“Thomas and Eden—they’re Lex Talionis, Fred—found this SUV on their search. Shell casings were found in the back seat and the passenger seat. They match three separate guns, a nine millimeter, forty and forty-five calibers. The SUV was found a mile from the restaurant and is registered to an Arnold Blessett.”
“That name isn’t familiar to me. Do you recognize it, Aiden?” Fred was hopeful.
“No.”
“Well,” Zion continued, “Arnold’s grandson, Richie, has ties to a local gang known as the Bleeding Angels.”
“I’m aware of the gang, but not the name Richie. We’ve sold guns to them. We have a decent relationship with the leader, and they’ve never caused us grief.” Fred’s frustration was palpable.
“But for a price, I’m sure whoever wanted you dead could have hired them,” I pointed to the SUV. “Sloppy work. No self-respecting hit man would leave so much evidence all over.”
“Unless they wanted people to believe it was the Bleeding Angels that did it to get attention away from themselves,” Axel added.
“Exactly.”
Fred huffed. “Can we find out if Arnold called in a missing vehicle?”
Zion nodded. “Yeah, let me see what I can find out.” He left the room, laptop in hand, and I faced Fred.
“If you want to be up for a fight, you need energy.”
“I’m fine.”
I took a deep breath and moved around him, grabbed a plate, and filled it with fruit and some pieces of cut-up cheese and salami. When I returned to Fred, I thrust the plate at him.
“Being a brat is only cute sometimes. Now eat.”
When he took the plate, I spun on my heel and left the kitchen. I had to call Aurora and see how things were going at home.
