He frowned but didn’t interrupt as I spent the next fifteen minutes explaining what I wanted from him. There really wasn’t much to say. That was the beautiful thing about blackmail. A few pictures or incriminating documents tended to speak for themselves. I didn’t have to threaten him because the papers in his hand got my point across all on their own.
Jeremy didn’t even try to argue with me when I insisted that the first batch of weapons would need to be transported next week. He just looked resigned as he guaranteed delivery with discretion.
I was pleased as we left the office, and I knew I had Sarah to thank for this development. I didn’t know what I would have done about my shipping problem if she hadn’t provided the perfect solution.
She was proving to be helpful, even though that wasn’t why I was keeping her in the safety of my home.
When we left Jeremy’s office, I headed for the safehouse where the man who tried to kidnap Alexis was being held. Cold determination settled over me during drive, and I was so lost in my anger and thirst for revenge on the man that I didn’t notice Maxim was even quieter than usual. We’d just turned onto the street with the safe house when he spoke up.
“Do you know what Sarah is going to say on the stand tomorrow?”
I sighed. “No. I haven’t had the chance to ask her.”
That was bullshit, and we both knew it. I was a busy man, but I could’ve found time for a brief conversation with the woman who was living in my home.
I’d been avoiding the conversation. With the sexual tension burning hot between us, I didn’t want to discuss theelephant in the room. All the heavy shit related to this case and the murder charges had already been weighing on me for months, and I didn’t want to bring it into the fragile connection I had with Sarah.
That was stupid, of course. The whole reason she was back in my life was because of the trial, and things were coming to a head on that front tomorrow afternoon when the trial resumed. She’d be called up to the stand first thing, and I’d find out then what she was going to do.
“Shouldn’t you try toconvinceher to testify in a way that’ll help you instead of putting you behind bars?”
I didn’t like the emphasis he put on the word convince.
“You think I should try to intimidate her? Threaten her like those fucks in the parking lot?”
Maxim didn’t say anything, but the look in his eyes told me I wasn’t far off the mark.
“I’m not hurting her,” I said, disgusted by the idea. I didn’t really think Maxim would ever suggest such a thing. We’d both done some pretty immoral shit in our lives, but I thought growing up with a man who took sick pleasure in hurting family had made both of us unwilling to hurt woman or children.
“I’m not suggesting you hurt her,” Maxim said, almost sounding offended. “Just… maybe let her think you will. Just to influence her testimony,” he paused, then added, “Or at least tell her what it’ll cost her if she lies under oath. She cares about that kid. What’s going to happen if she ends up in jail for lying? Is the girl’s father on the scene?”
That made me think. From my research on Sarah, there was no man in her life. She hadn’t talked about Alexis’s father. Iwondered what kind of man he was, if he’d willingly walk away from a woman like her and that sweet little girl.
I knew what Maxim was saying, but the notion of even pretending that I would hurt Sarah or Alexis made my stomach turn. I wouldn’t scare Sarah, even to save my own ass.
“That’s not happening,” I said, my tone hard enough to make it clear that the topic wasn’t up for discussion.
“Fine,” Maxim said, raising his hands in surrender. “You know what I don’t understand? Why is the DA pursuing this case?”
“What do you mean?”
“Historically, the district attorney has declined to file charges in cases unless he’s confident he has a good chance of winning in court. But this case? It seems risky. There’s no real evidence against you. Even the connection between you and the men you sent to threaten Henry Moss isn’t much in the way of proof. It just seems strange to me that the DA agreed to take this case to court.Unlesshe somehow knew Sarah’s testimony was going to change in a way that would help his case.”
I thought about what Maxim was saying as we pulled into the garage at the safehouse. It was a two-story dwelling in a low-income neighborhood. It looked like any other single-family home in the area, but there was a state-of-the-art security system and surveillance cameras set up in every room. We had minimal furniture in the place because it wasn’t set up for comfort. It was a place for my men to hide or recover from injury if needed. Except for the basement. That was where we held people prisoner.
I killed the engine, but before we went inside, I turned to Maxim. “You make a very good point about the district attorney. If he is trying this case against me with the belief that he’llwin due to Sarah’s false testimony, he must be in the Italians’ pockets.”
“That’s my suspicion.”
“Look into it,” I said. “Get Nikolay to help if you need to but keep it quiet otherwise.”
Maxim gave a curt nod, and we got out of the car. Entering through the garage had us stepping into the kitchen, were one of my men was standing in front of the refrigerator, sipping from a bottle of beer.
“Status update?” I asked.
He quickly put down the beer and straightened. “The man is secured downstairs. There’s been no other activity.”
The door to the basement was just off the kitchen, and I headed there, feeling the rage I’d been suppressing all afternoon rising inside me. The bastard downstairs tried to take Alexis. I didn’t know where he was going to take her, but I doubted it would have been somewhere safe and warm and fun. Would he have hurt her? Held his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet as he slipped out of the gym with her? Hit her if she cried in fear?