Landry took a few deep breaths. “We followed orders. If we didn’t, Jameson had enough dirt on each of us by that point to bury us all. There’s reasons he brought us with him when he came to the SNB.”
Lucky hadn’t trusted none of them. More people should have listened. “He’s been planning this for a while, hasn’t he?”
Landry nodded. “You’re not the only one who got a second chance to clean up their record. Greg, Philip, and I all had strikes against us.” Wiped clean so Lucky’s checks turned up nothing.
Just like Lucky’s. Only, O’Donoghue held Lucky’s past over his head. “He planned to build his own little money-making business here.”
Again, Landry nodded.
They’d nearly succeeded in getting rid of Lucky. Walter too. “What about Loretta Johnson?”
“She’d stay, but we’d watch her. Part of the deal we made with Philip was for her to keep her job, but if she didn’t shift loyalties, she’d be gone.”
If she knew, Johnson would plot murder and cuss a blue streak. Loyal to a fault.
So many people tried to convince Lucky not to doubt O’Donoghue. Then again, he couldn’t trust a word out of Landry’s mouth either. Oh, shit. Landry claimed Bo was O’Donoghue’s plan B. If anything went wrong, they’d shove him under the bus to take the blame. With enough of them backing O’Donoghue’s word, and the doubts cast on Bo’s loyalties from the Corruption case…
Sonofabitch.
“You can stop right there.” Landry waved the gun, motioning Lucky away from the door.
Fuck. So close. Lucky huffed out a breath and returned to his original position. Only a few more steps and he’d have been home free. “If things hadda gone according to plan, you’d have a cushy office job.” Lucky needed to be watching for O’Donoghue. He hadn’t left yet, had he? Then again, if Landry really did lock down the doors so no one could get in, by now cops and agents should be aware of issues and have eyes on all exits.
“It came with a price. Jameson never let me forget for a moment that he put me there.” Landry dragged fingers through his already messy hair. “He’d talked to Forsyth’s CEO, arranged to get Chastain’s licenses yanked. If I delivered the drug, I’d get an executive position, giving O’Donoghue leverage for my continued cooperation.” Which brought Forsyth Pharmaceuticals back into the case. Landry lifted his face and blinked hard a few times.
Tears?
Lucky wouldn’t comment. Not right now. Maybe he could use Landry’s distress to his advantage. “So, he was in this with you.”Please, please, please let Keith be catching this all on camera,though it’d be too late to do Lucky any good if Landry shot him.
“In a way. You’d be surprised how effective a word in the right ear can be when somebody trusts you.” Landry shifted his gaze past Lucky. “If anything happens to me, you’ll have all the evidence you need against Jameson and so many others.”
“What are you talking about?” Did Lucky detect a hint that he might not have to kiss his ass goodbye today?
“You’ll see. It’s why I can’t kill you. Let’s just say at the moment I hate you less than I hate Jameson. You’re sonofabitch enough to make them pay. They screwed me over and tossed me to the wolves.”
Someone saw Lucky’s sonofabitch qualities as an advantage? Would wonders never cease? At least Lucky breathed a little easier, even with a gun in his face, O’Donoghue somewhere loose in the building, and no backup.
“Owen? What the hell are you doing here?” came a familiar, but unwelcome, voice.
Shit.