“Yeah, I have. We had a job that involved him a while back.” A job that was close to home. Abby’s brother Max had gotten involved with the Bartolli family. He’d stolen some information and Bartolli had him killed. But they’d never been able to find the evidence to pin Max’s murder on him.
“Why would you get involved with him? Why did you have that money?”
“You know I’m not going to tell you that.”
Zeke pinched the top of his nose. “Fuck.”
“Yep. Bartolli knows that Keira and my guy took the money. We’re trying to find them, Bartolli has his goons looking for them. We have no leads. Until your girl walks into my bar, asking after Keira.”
Fuck. Shit. His protective instincts rose, threatening his control. He needed to stay calm. She was safe. She was with him.
“I called you because I don’t hurt innocents. But Bartolli doesn’t feel the same.”
“Eden has no clue where she is.”
“I know. But Bartolli is fucked up. If he thinks Eden will help him get his property back, he’ll use her.”
“What are the odds he knows that Eden came into your bar asking about Keira tonight?” Zeke asked.
“I would say pretty good. I’ve got a suspicion there’s a mole in my club. Don’t know who it is. And plenty of people heard your girl say Keira’s name.”
So, odds were Bartolli already knew about her.
“Fuck. It’s only a hundred grand.” He thought furiously. He knew that Clint or Kent would easily have those sorts of funds on hand.
“It’s not just the money, that’s the least of it.”
“How did I know you were going to say that?” he muttered.
“You know the sort of shit that Bartolli is into?”
“You mean that he’s a scumbag who sells drugs, weapons and skin? Yeah, I fucking know.” It surprised him that Reyes was working with him. He didn’t peg him as the type to get into shit like prostitution. “Why the fuck would you work with the likes of him?”
“Not out of choice, that’s for fucking certain,” Reyes added. He let out a sigh. “I was forced into it. Don’t like it. At all. But mostly it was just laundering a bit of money.”
“He’s got something on you?”
“I own the bar myself not the Iron Shadows. I got into a bit of financial difficulty. Borrowed from the wrong people, ended up in bed with Bartolli. Started off just having to launder a bit of money for him. I’m not a good person, Zeke. It didn’t bother me much. Then he stepped the game up. The cash was a payoff from blackmail.”
“Who was he blackmailing? How did the money get in your safe?”
“Who isn’t important. And he was using me as the go-between. Keira didn’t just take the money; she took that fucking blackmail material. And Bartolli really wants that back.”
Holy. Shit.
“Idiot girl.”
“Yep,” Reyes agreed. “I had plans to take care of Bartolli, I won’t be his bitch forever. But Keira put a stop to that. Right now, I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. If I don’t get what Keira fucking stole, then we’re all in jeopardy. Your girl included, because he won’t think twice about using her for his own gain.”
“What was the blackmail material?”
Reyes sighed. “This stays between us.”
Obviously.
“There were photos in the envelope of a state senator having sex with an underage girl.”
Fuck. What a mess.