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“Sorry, baby. I had every intention of telling you. I met with Caleb this morning. That was the general gist of the talk. He wants out. He feels he has to kill my father to make that happen.”
“Oh my God,” I say, pressing my hand to my forehead and then dropping it. “That meeting could have been part of him setting you up.”
“We tapped it and recorded it,” Blake assures me. “It’s clear from the audio. Damion wasn’t in on this, but it’s incriminating if he doesn’t go to law enforcement, and that is exactly what we need to do at this point. I have a guy I trust. I’ve teased some of this to him already. We need to bring him in, let him hear the audio, and allow him to help shelter you, Damion.”
Damion stares at him a couple beats, his lips pressing together, voice tight. “Because you think my father’s going to end up dead?”
“Being frank here,” Blake states, “I’ve done a lot of digging on Caleb. He has a reputation for getting the job done and not getting caught. If he takes a job, it ends his way. If he says he’s going to do something, he does it. He clearly told you today that your father is as good as dead.”
“Will this trusted member of law enforcement place West Senior in protective custody?” I ask. “Because if Damion’s father finds out about Caleb coming after him, won’t we write Caleb’s death sentence with the mob? I mean, I know he’s not a good guy, but—”
“He did warn me about trouble heading Alana’s direction more than once,” Damion adds, indicating agreement with my line of thought. “I don’t believe he intends to take me down. He’s at odds with my father, not me.”
“Even if that’s true,” Kellan counters, “you have motive and there’s big money at stake. You’ll be looked at by law enforcement. In my opinion, alerting law enforcement now is your salvation. Use them to set him up.”
“You said that involving law enforcement gets tricky,” Damion replies, his attention on Blake now. “My father knows he’s close to getting kicked out the door. He’s planned a way to take me down. He’s that devious. What if that backfires on me?”
“It will,” I say. “Your father will make sure it does. I’ve seen how calculating he is. I can’t do the interview and risk triggering him.”
“Speaking of triggering him,” Damion says grimly. “The board meeting is tomorrow morning.”
“Can you put it off?” Blake asks. “Buy us some time to think this through?”
Damion steeples his fingers and rests them to his mouth a moment before he says, “I don’t know. I can try, but if I do, we’re going to need to have a whole lot better plan to end this than we do now, which is no plan at all. I don’t think I can get more than a day.”
“What does he fear?” Kellan asks, glancing at me. “Would your mother know?”
“My mother’s on her knees for that man. If she was able to think outside her own needs, I doubt she’d tell us.”
“He’s too arrogant to be afraid,” Damion mutters, his hands settling under his blue jacket on his hips.
“He sure as hell better fear the Russians,” Kellan says. “If he crosses them, they’ll come after him. I’d tell you all ways to piss them off and make sure he ends up dead, but that’s not the Walker way.”
“No, it’s not,” Blake says. “We’re good little fuckers that way, and therefore we don’t go to jail and get to keep protecting our clients.”
Seemingly unaware of our exchange, Damion’s attention is razor-sharp on Kellan. “The Russian’s might just be the trap he set himself. What if we just scare him enough that he feels he has to leave the country and retire off the radar?”
Kellan’s brow furrows. “What do you have in mind?”
“I’ll get the board meeting moved, and I’ll pay the guy you have in custody to go at my father, and convince him he’s fucked with the mob. Then I pray like hell my father just goes away. In my mind, it’s the only shot we have.”
“I like the fuck out of this idea,” Blake approves. “Kellan?”
“As long as there isn’t a big money trail, the mob loses by backing away from West Enterprises,” Kellan warns, “it should work.” He pushes off the island. “Let me go get to work. More soon.” He heads for the door.
Blake lingers and points at me. “No interview, Alana. That’s my vote. Damion, let me know on the meeting, and I’ll let you know after Kellan does his thing. What are we doing about travel?”
“If I can push the meeting a day to Friday, we’ll leave together Friday night for the Hamptons.” He cuts me a stare. “If you can agree to stay here until then, no matter how crazy it makes you.”
“I’m not trying to get kidnapped again,” I assure him. “I’ll hold my ground.”
“Good choice,” Blake approves. “My team will be close. Communicate if anything changes.” He offers a nod, and a few seconds later, he’s gone.
I grab a donut because I’m going to need it. “I’m not looking forward to calling Lana.”
“I can call the studio.”
My donut-filled hand goes up. “No. No, I need to do this, and honestly, the more I’ve stepped back from it, the more it pisses me off that they want to snag ratings off my father’s death. I got this. I’m just going to eat this donut and make the call. How easy will moving the meeting be?” I take a bite.
