Page 144 of Angel

‘The biggest lesson? Find your healing,’ Bishop insisted, pointing a finger at my chest. ‘Also fill your time with your crew, hobbies, work. An idle mind is a dangerous playground.’

I rubbed my tired face.

‘Journal or write music,’ Bishop advised. ‘It always helps to voice your struggles instead of locking them down. Seek therapy, too. Professionals will help you untangle the toxicity of Evangeline.’

I huffed. ‘I’m not that lost a cause yet.’

‘Jury remains out, my friend,’ Bishop shot back.

‘Fuck off.’

We shared a grin as he steered the conversation to sports, turned on the television, and we lost ourselves in a Knicks playoff game.

Brian and Amos at Waring Partners hit the jackpot, first with Maurice’s whereabouts.

‘We found him skulking in a club downtown, asking about Roxy and dealing coke on the side,’ Amos told me on the phone. ‘We got the local sheriff on it, and they hauled him away. He’s wanted on charges in New York for murder, so he’s going away for good.’

That brought me some relief.

They also had news on their investigation into Reese Rosedale.

The pair delivered a thick folder to our Six Sinners’ HQ in Nashville.

Brian tossed the binder onto the glass conference table and laid it all out for me.

‘For years, Reese maintained studs here in Tennessee and out on the Texas Panhandle. Buying stallions at auction to breed elite racing thoroughbreds,’ he explained, flipping open the fraud summary. ‘His massive operation expanded on a fifty-million-dollar agricultural bank loan and an additional one hundred and twenty mill from private investors. The Saudi investment group bidding for the company assumed the Nashville businessman was a gold-standard success story.’

Jude, who was in the meeting with me, leaned forward, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

‘So what’s the catch, Brian?’

‘He’s been hiding an enormous secret,’ Brian stated, tapping a red line on the ledger. ‘Most of his prize stallions were imaginary. The documents exposed how a corrupt operator built a house-of-cards horse breeding empire that burned through two hundred and sixty million dollars. Turns out Reese is a high roller, and a few years ago he lost almost 100 million dollars in Macau and Hong Kong, money siphoned from his business and investors. He’s been trying to catch up on his debts since, selling a few thoroughbreds while pretending he still has a great stable by running a Ponzi scheme, using new investors cash to pay those he owes.’

I cursed under my breath at the magnitude of Reese’s subterfuge.

Brian raised a chin at Jude and me.

‘Now that you’ve got all the evidence, what would you have us do?’

Jude glanced over at me to set the play.

‘The snake blackmailed my family and our band,’ I growled. ‘He deserves no mercy. Leak the entire evidence file to the Saudis and the local, even national press.’

Reese was exposed within two weeks.

The news of his downfall broke one midday, as I sat at home, the television screen glowing as the rest of the Six Sinners gathered in my living room.

I whistled at the live feed of federal agents marching Reese out of his downtown headquarters in handcuffs.

Reese threw a massive tantrum on the concrete steps leading to his office, his face turning purple as he fought the restraints.

‘Do you know who I am?’ he yelled into the cameras, spitting threats at the arresting officers. ‘You’ll all be shining shoes when my lawyers destroy your careers!’

‘Look at that clown,’ Bishop muttered, throwing popcorn at the screen. ‘Still trying to flex while in cuffs.’

‘Pure entitlement,’ Deacon rasped, shaking his head. ‘The man believed he was untouchable. He fuckin’ finally got what he deserved.’

The media fallout exploded across every major network as the judge ordered Reese held without bail.