I laugh. If Violet and I weren’t involved, his stupidity would’ve been funny. “He’s blackmailing someone, all right. If he doesn’t get what he wants, he’s going to show that video to Gus Starley. What do think will happen when he does?” I trace the pleats in his forehead with the barrel. “He’ll kill his cheating wife—torture her to death, for sure—and then what?”
The guy’s Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows.
“Yeah,” I say. “Then he’s coming for you. So, as you can see, it’s in both of our interests that you give me that video.”
“What are you going to do with it?” he asks, his voice hoarse.
“Destroy it. Make sure Gus never sees it.”
“What about Elliot?”
“You’re not scared of a wimp like him, are you? I’ll deal with Elliot.”
He drags his tongue over his teeth. “You some kind of IT boffin?”
“You could say so.”
“I already sent the video to Elliot. He asked me to hold onto it until he needed it. Seems like that day was yesterday.”
“Yeah.” I chuckle. “The shit is about to hit the fan.”
He shifts in his seat. “The video is on here.” Lifting the phone, he turns it from side to side. “But I’m still not giving you jack shit. I’ll get rid of it myself.”
I hold out my hand. “I’ll delete it. You can watch.”
He hesitates for a second before handing over the phone. Indenting my finger on the trigger, I let the threat speak for itself while I access his photo albums. After locating the video, I delete it from his phone and from his trash folder. Then I send his number to my phone.
When I’m home, I’ll do a thorough cleanup of all the traces that are recoverable from the cloud and plant a tracker in his software to keep an eye on his whereabouts. It’s the only reason I don’t destroy his phone. I check his photos to make sure there’s nothing and go through his messages and emails. The guy isn’t a big communicator. There’s not much to search.
“Was that all?” I ask, dumping the phone on the seat next to him.
He knows he’s in deep shit. He’s not going to tell anyone. Who’s he going to call? The police?
“I only took the video, and the only person I sent it to was Elliot.” He mumbles under his breath, “That motherfucker. He set me up, knowing his daddy would blow out my brains. If I ever get my hands on that little twat…”
“I’d advise you to leave the city. Lay low for a while. You never know.”
“You got what you wanted.” He juts his chin at the door. “Now get the fuck out of my house.”
He can act as tough as he likes, but the sweat that beads on his forehead says he’s shitting his pants.
“With pleasure,” I say, keeping my gun trained on him and picking up his shotgun as I backtrack to the door.
When I’ve fit my helmet and grabbed the weapons, he’s still in the lounge, wisely not trying to charge at me unarmed and with a broken hand. I let myself out and lock him in. With the burglar bars in front of the windows, it’ll take him a while to break himself out of the house. By the time he picks the lock, kicks down the door, or calls for help, I’ll be far away.
Balancing the shotgun on the handlebar, I fire up my Harley and head out. A message comes in from Walter, saying he’s crossing the Westdene Dam. I tell him to stay put and open the gas. In less than ten minutes, his black SUV that’s parked in a clearing at the back of the dam comes into view.
The driver’s door opens when I stop next to the vehicle. Walter steps out, hooking his thumbs into his waistband. “Any new developments?”
“Sex video blackmailing. You’ll find the guy who took the video locked in the house at the address I sent you if he hasn’t broken out already.” I take the keys from my pocket and hand them to him. “Those are for the front and back doors.”
“Do you want us to go through his house?”
“Nah. There’s no point in wasting your time there. He told me the original was on his phone and that he didn’t make copies. Knowing he understood what’s at stake, I believed him.”
“Must we detain him?”
“He can go. He’ll probably want to run as fast as he can. I just wanted to make sure he doesn’t tail me.”
“’Kay.”
He catches the shotgun I throw his way.
“That needs to be destroyed,” I say. “As in melted.”
“Got it.”
Saluting, he gets into the SUV.
With the mission I set out to do accomplished, I drive home.
Violet is pacing in the entrance when I arrive. She rushes over, hugging me even before I’ve closed the door. She was worried. About me. Warmth spreads through my chest. I kick the door shut and wrap my arms tightly around her, simply holding her for a moment and inhaling her sweet caramel scent.
“How did it go?” she asks, leaning away to stare up at me without untangling her arms from around my waist.
“Good.” I brush the hair from her face. “I deleted the video.”
“He gave it to you? Just like that?”
I raise a brow. “What do you think?”
She blanches. “Did you shoot him?”