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Rooks hadn’t stopped glaring at Holt since he walked up. I knew things would be tense between them, but they both looked like they could claw each other’s eyes out. Rooks’ jaw was clenched tight as he snarled, “What are we doing here, Tallie.”

“We have some questions,” Holt answered.

“What makes you think I’ll answer them?”

“Because your mother and sister’s lives are at stake.” Holt held his glare for a moment, then turned and glanced over at Ford. He was playing a game of pool with one of the brothers andlooked to be having a great time. “He’s good for a bit. Why don’t we go down to the conference room, where we’ll have a bit more privacy.”

I nodded. Holt then motioned over to Shep, one of the brothers I’d met when we first arrived, and he followed as we all started down the hall. Holt opened a door and led us into a small room with two flat-screen TVs on the wall and a large round table in the center of the room.

We all took a seat, and as soon as we were settled, Rooks turned to Holt and said, “Alright, let’s get on with it.”

“What do you know about your father’s involvement with the Volkov family?”

“Dad worked with a lot of people. What’s so important about these guys?”

The blood drained from Rooks’ face when Holt replied, “Sergei Volkov’s driver and one of his guards were the ones following your mother and Tallie.”

“And how do you know it was his driver?”

“Because I know.” Holt remained calm as he looked at his childhood friend and said, “If you know something, now is the time to…”

“Dad always said that there was a fine line between right and wrong in real estate, and he often pushed the perimeters. That push led a particular clientele to come knocking at his door.”

“What are you saying?” Mom asked. “Your father was working with crooks?”

“Well, they weren’t in his Bible study.”

“Rooks!”

“I’m sorry, Mom, but you know Dad. Once he set his mind to something…”

“I just can’t believe that he would do anything illegal.”

“I didn’t say that. I said he pushed the perimeters. There’s a difference.”

“Tell that to people he booted out of their homes,” Holt grumbled.

“Look, he did what he had to do. I don’t know what else there is to say.”

“Well, for starters, you could tell us about the code.”

Rooks gave Holt a strange look, and anyone could see that he was lying when he answered, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Volkov’s driver said he was sent to retrieve a code. We’re guessing it’s a password or routing number to an offshore account,” Shep interjected. “Would you know anything about that?”

“Don’t know what makes you think I’d know anything about it.”

“We all know what you do, Rooks. It doesn’t take much to put two and two together.”

“You’re barking up the wrong tree, man. I don’t know anything about any offshore accounts or any stupid codes.”

I don’t know if it was the tone in his voice or the weird way he was squinting his eyes, but I could tell he was lying. And I wasn’t the only one. Holt and Shep knew it, too. I could tell by the way they were glaring at him. I just didn’t know what they were going to do about it, but something told me they would stop at nothing to get the information they needed.

Even if it meant putting everything on the line.

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