Page 87 of Made of Steele
“Twenty-percent cut on the laundering isn’t enough if I have to let my product get stale with him. I want you to renegotiate. Get me another ten and we will move forward.”
Rossi frowned. “He’ll never agree to that.”
“Then it’s his loss. We aren’t in the cleaning business. If I’m carrying that risk, I’m going to get a just reward.”
“Okay.” The uncertainty in Rossi’s tone hung in the air.
Jabal glared at him. “You think the Conti bozos are up to handling this?”
“Sal and Aldo for sure. Vito is a weak link.”
“I want him gone. I have never even been suspected of anything illegal in all these years, and that’s because I don’t abide weak links.”
“We can take care of it.” Rossi didn’t even blink an eye.
“No.” Jabal rested his hands on a nearby crate. “I’ll take care of it. You just get me my thirty percent. Now let’s get this stash put into safe keeping, and I’ll let you know when the job is done.”
“You heard the man,” Rossi said to Tony. “Put it in the upper deck, bay six.”
Tony strode across the room and hopped onto a forklift. He started the engine and it rumbled to life, the sound echoing from the high ceilings.
Drew turned off the recording and bolted, letting the engine noise cover his steps as he hurried out the door. His mind raced as fast as his feet.
Was Jabal the killer? Had he killed Smiley and the other men? Sure seemed like it, but what about the varied ways the men were killed? Why do that? It just didn’t make sense.
Drew hoofed it across the lot, trying to keep his footfalls from sounding on the asphalt. He powered through the ditch and into the rental car.
“They’re leaving soon.” He buckled his seatbelt. “Go!”
Teagan gave him a frantic look. “Go where?”
“Assume they’ll go back home and get into position to follow them where they can’t see us.”
She floored the gas, and the car shot back in reverse. She backed onto a nearby street and maneuvered into a hidden spot. All was done with minimal, but precision effort. He had to admire her driving skills.
She shifted into park and turned to him. “What did they say or do?”
Drew quickly played the recording while keeping his eyes on the road and waiting for the SUV to appear. “Once we get across town, we’ll have to split up. You stay on these guys, and I’ll have Harris come for me.”
“Why?” Her tone ratcheted up another notch.
His fault. He’d been hyper since he’d left the warehouse. He needed to bring things down a notch. “I need to locate Vito, bring him in. First, to make sure he stays alive. Second, to try to flip him.”
She turned her face from the road and looked at Drew. “You’ll have to blow your cover.”
Yeah, he would. He swallowed away the unease of revealing his true ID. “The op is coming to an end anyway. If Vito rolls over, we’ll have our case made. Harris can’t say no to us bringing this killer to justice.”
23
Teagan finished her surveillance shift at nine p.m. when Londyn and Peyton came to relieve her. She thankfully drove off from the boring task and headed for the Steele Guardians’ office. She’d seen no additional action at Rossi’s house and figured the men were in for the night. But not her.
No. She might be tired, but she was amped at the same time. She had to do something constructive. Nick’s report had arrived in her Inbox right before she’d ended her watch. She would print it out and study every word in hopes of blowing this investigation open.
She pushed through the door, surprised to see Gretchen still sitting behind the reception desk. It was unusual to find her there after six. Not so unusual for Teagan. She often worked this late, usually the last one in the family to leave the building for the day. Mackenzie often worked late too.
No life outside of work for either of them—zero.
Okay, maybe they both went to Sunday worship and family dinners, but otherwise, Teagan likely could be found behind the four walls of Steele Guardians. And she didn’t mind that. Not one bit. She’d had her share of relationships fail and didn’t have the energy to even start one, only to have it end when the guy got upset over all the hours she put into her job or didn’t like that she was a strong force to be reckoned with.
