Their chaos was enough to draw Ruby’s attention. She blinked as she rejoined them in the real world. And when she saw James’s car had become the latest addition to the landscape, she too lost it.
Neil drew out his phone and hit a favorite contact. “Bryce, you’re never going to guess what just happened. Can you bring the flatbed? Don’t forget the winch, you’re going to need it.”
They were still rolling with laughter when Jordan came into the room, looking anything but amused. He waved his finger at Cash, Aarav, and Sola. “You three. Come with me. Ruby, you too.”
And like that, the fun times were over.
13
Cash swallowed hard as he looked from Aarav to Sola, who were flanking him where they sat across from Jordan in the command center. Ruby jogged in behind them and took her station at the brains of the room.
Jordan didn’t bother with civilities. That wasn’t the kind of meeting this was going to be. He could already tell from the lines around the boss man’s eyes and the ones creasing his forehead. Cash didn’t envy the impossible weight of the responsibility he bore.
“Okay, so you know we’ve been working on how to hamstring these gunrunning bastards by cutting off their funding, which is really only half the battle until we can go after them more directly.” Jordan looked at Cash while he spoke, but Aarav and Sola were nodding along.
“Yeah.” It still seemed surreal how close he’d come to not being there, especially since he had fuck all to do with his father’s gambling operations.
“Well, I’ve worked a few miracles, and was able to negotiate a deal for your father. It would grant him full immunity, which I’m sure he does not deserve and took an awful lot of convincing to arrange.” Jordan rubbed his eyes. When was the last time he’d slept?
“Damn, that’s great news.” Sola clasped Cash’s hand, but he didn’t quite share her enthusiasm.
“Why are you telling me this?” Cash wondered.
“Because I need you to convince him to take it.” Jordan grimaced.
“Of course I’ll try, but…” Cash thought despite what he’d shared with them, they still didn’t fully understand how little his father respected him and vice versa. However, some dumb part of him still wished it were different. Maybe this could be the turning point for their relationship.
“I have a plan, just play along.” Jordan pointed to Aarav and Sola. “You two, look grumpy, like you used to before Cash showed up.”
He hoped that was true. Smiling a tiny bit, he gave in. “Yeah. Okay. Let’s do it.”
“Ruby, can you put us through to Mr. Kalykalaos on videochat using the private line Cash gave us from his contacts?” Jordan asked.
“On it.” She tapped a few screens. Before Cash had a chance to really get himself ready, the device was ringing.
The first test would be to see if his father even bothered to answer. He might only because he didn’t recognize the number as Cash’s. That thought stung.
It took seven rings, but just as Cash was giving up hope, his father appeared on the huge curved screen of the command center, making him look entirely too real and too close.
“I knew I shouldn’t have picked that up.” Cash’s father glowered at his son. He felt the impact of that disdain even from half the world away.
“Wait. Mr. Kalykalaos. Don’t hang up.” Jordan’s words were an order, not a request. “Not if you want to see your son alive again.”
Well, shit. Was that the plan? Cash could have told Jordan his dad didn’t give a fuck and would probably pay the gunrunners a bonus if they offed Cash so long as it didn’t blow back on him.
Looking bored, his father seemed like he was going to disconnect anyway, sending a knife through Cash’s heart. Not that he hadn’t expected as much, but it still rankled to know his father probably hadn’t even noticed he was gone. Hell, Sola and Aarav and even Mr. Prickles probably gave more of a damn and they’d only known him for a few weeks.
“Really? You’re wasting my time with this bullshit?” His father was irritated but also obviously curious or he would already have bailed. “Whoever you are, fucking up my grand opening, acting like barbarians and scaring off my customers, making myassociatesnone too happy with the missed opportunities that would have come with those high stakes games…you can go fuck yourself. And take him with you. He’s only ever been a pain in my ass and a disgrace to our family.”
“So you were hoping we’d eliminate him instead of you. Is that why you were using him as a shield?” Jordan asked, one brow raised.
“I sure as shit didn’t want to be standing out on an exposed balcony knowing mypartnershave plenty of enemies. No thanks. Looks like I was right, too.”
Aarav clenched his jaw so hard Cash swore he heard the man’s poor teeth grind together, and Sola gripped the arms of her chair as tightly as she had clutched him while dangling over the ocean that fateful day. The day they’d saved him, when he hadn’t even known he’d needed it.
Cash would likely have gone off right then and said fuck it to the whole thing, but Jordan shot him a silent plea. He only conceded because he was aware that what was going down was bigger than only his fucked-up relationship with his father. This could change many lives.
He thought of the photographs he’d seen when he’d researched the marketplace massacre and other atrocities linked to the gunrunners his father had helped fund.