“You want to keep me safe. That’s so nice of you.”
“I don’t want Mack to lose his father,” Luca said. “What happens between the two of you is up to you.”
“Don’t hold your breath waiting for me to see the light.”
Luca’s brother had told him that exact thing, but the truth was, he would always want the best for Amir. Not just his help. Now that Luca had found the peace that came from a relationship with Jesus, he wanted that for his brother as well. Amir would still have to serve out his sentence, but redemption happened in the heart, and freedom came in all kinds of ways.
“Why’d you tell me that Ralph Rousseau was the head of the Shadow Syndicate?”
Jenkins said, “Because he is.”
“Then it’s was, because he’s dead now.” Luca gave him a second to absorb that, then said, “Someone tried to kill you, and they succeeded in killing Ralph. It doesn’t make any sense that he would be targeted if he’s the head of the Shadow Syndicate.”
Jenkins just stared at them. Probably trying to figure out what was going on as much as Luca.
“Who targeted you?”
“If I knew that,” Jenkins said, “they’d be dead.”
“This is bigger than you. It’s bigger than your scheme that you had going on, trying to grab up land for the mineral rights.”
Kira shifted in her seat and glanced at him. “Minerals like lithium.”
“What is it?” Luca asked her.
She shook her head. “I’ll tell you later.” Then she looked at Jenkins. “What do you want with all that lithium? Where was it going?”
The skin around Jenkins’s eyes contracted.
Luca said, “Who wanted to buy it from you?”
Jenkins leaned forward. “Ralph Rousseau.”
“Is that the truth?” Was this guy purposely misleading him, or did he really believe what he was saying?
If their business about mineral rights was the basis for Jenkins’s assumption that Ralph was the head of the Shadow Syndicate, then he could be wrong about that. Ralph was far more likely just another middleman doing their bidding. Maybe neither of them knew who was in charge of the syndicate.
This entire thing could be nothing but hearsay, pointing fingers.
Meanwhile, it felt like whoever was in charge of the Shadow Syndicate was laughing, thinking they were safe from the investigation.
“Doesn’t matter now. He’s dead. I’ll be dead pretty soon.” Jenkins shrugged.
“The police and corrections officers are doing what they can to keep you safe.” Luca wasn’t sure they could do more than that. No one was going to leave Jenkins unprotected, but the truth was that he was living with the consequences of his choices.
Jenkins shook his head. “Whatever.”
“It would help if you knew who was calling the shots. I could pass that information to the police, and they can help you.”
“I told you what I know, and I was nearly killed for it. I’m not about to tell you anything else, or I’m likely to end up hanging by a noose in my cell.”
Luca leaned forward a little. “Mack deserves to have a father who is alive and at least trying to do the right thing for once.”
“Sounds like work. Better to die a martyr and let the kid move on with his life.”
“That’s what you want?” Kira said. “I know Mack well enough that he’s told me stories about Hammer and the rest of the Trouble Boys. All the adventures they got up to, fighting wildfires and saving the world. But do you know what? He didn’t once mention you.”
Mack hadn’t mentioned his father because he didn’t want to face the reality of who his dad was. Or so Luca presumed. The kid didn’t want to deal with the fact that he loved his father but the old man continually hurt all of them. Emotionally and physically.