“Good. Send anything you’ve learned over to Lance.”
“Lance? He’s going to take care of it?”
“I’m sending him out to bring the fuckers in. He plans to put them on ice for you.”
“And while that’s happening, I will…”
“Stick by Travis.”
That was exactly what I’d plan to do, but why did Remy want me to?
“What’s up with Travis?” I asked.
“He’s in trouble.”
Shit. I knew my gut wasn’t wrong.
“Beau asked Blackjack to look into more of what Travis had been involved in.”
Blackjack was a man we kept on retainer for his wizard-level hacking skills. I’d assumed Beau had found out all he could before seeking out Travis for information on Guidry. “He hadn’t already done that?”
“He hadn’t had access to Blackjack.”
“Yeah, but he could’ve found somebody.”
“I don’t think he wanted to know. I think he wanted distance.”
I tried to imagine ever not wanting to know where Ambrose was and what he was doing, but everybody said twins were different. Maybe that was true, or maybe I just couldn’t imagine Ambrose ever betraying me. I didn’t know the details of what had happened when Travis fucked Beau over, but I wanted to find out. I didn’t want Travis to have been as horrible as it sounded like he was. I had to admit if I was Beau, I’d have a hard time forgiving him as well.
“Did Blackjack find something?” I didn’t want Travis to be mixed up with assholes again. Was that the real reason he didn’t want to stay?
“What he found indicates Rob was abusing Travis, that he was essentially Rob’s prisoner.”
“That motherfucker. However he died, it wasn’t painful enough.” I wanted to scoop Travis out of bed and hold him. He needed all the comfort he could get.
“I agree, but we have to focus on what we can do. Rob apparently thought a lot of himself, and he got himself involved with some men who weren’t at all forgiving. They weren’t small-time like Guidry. He was in deep with Louis LePlatt.”
“Oh, fuck.” LePlatt was a drug runner who had a reputation for being insane and ruthless. His power and reach were nothing compared to ours, but he was dangerous as fuck.
“He’s not the only one, but he’s the most likely candidate to come after Travis because… I really think it ought to be Travis’s story to tell, but let’s just say he definitely has a vendetta against Rob. The fact that he sees Travis as Rob’s accomplice means he thinks Travis knows things that shouldn’t be public knowledge.”
My pulse pounded in my ears. “If I knew anyone who could raise the dead, I’d pay them whatever they asked for the chance to kill Rob again. Slowly. Over days, maybe weeks. I would enjoy the hell out of it.”
“I’m sure Beau will feel the same way.”
“Will?”
“I haven’t told him yet. I asked Blackjack to report to me first. I think Beau needs a chance to talk to Travis before this information comes out.”
“But if he knew about Rob, wouldn’t he better understand—”
“Like I said, some of this should be Travis’s story to tell.”
I understood Remy’s point, but I didn’t think it would work like that. “He’s not going to tell Beau anything if he hasn’t yet.”
I’d only met Rob once, and I’d thought he was a slimy piece of shit. I didn’t know how he’d ever managed to be friends with Beau, and I hadn’t been shocked when he’d betrayed their friendship and seduced Travis. I knew Travis had felt like an outsider most of his life, and Rob preyed on that. Travis had been so damn young, still in fucking high school, when Rob started sniffing around him.
What had that bastard done to him? I’d known Travis was wounded, but this… I’d at least thought he’d gone with Rob willingly.
“We don’t know what he might say to Beau now, but let’s focus on our most pressing problem of the moment.”
“Fine. How do you want me to handle the bastard Lance is bringing in?” I was ready for some strenuous torture. The idea of ripping somebody apart with my bare hands would actually suit me just fine.
“I need him alive.”
“So I can’t kill him, but you want me to hurt him?”
“Yes. Badly. I want you to make a very clear point.”
That would help me relieve some tension. “Can I leave marks on him?”
“I don’t care how much fucking damage he takes as long as he’s able to talk.”
“Fine.” I froze. I heard something like fabric or a hand brushing against the wall. I listened more closely and thought I heard an intake of breath. Travis was awake, but he didn’t want me to know he was there. How much had he heard? “Remy, I’ve got to go.”
“I’m not—”
I heard more movement. “It’s Travis. He’s awake, and I need to check on him.”
“Call me back when you have more info.”