Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 97951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“I can’t disagree with that.” She sucked her teeth, replaying in her mind the news coverage.
“If he doesn’t just sit around and wait to see what I do now that Sam has fucked everything up, he’ll try something crazy to lure me to him so he can either try to convince me that what I see before my eyes isn’t real, or he may even try to kill me. Anything is possible. So that gives us less time.”
“Okay, so what’s your next move?”
“Well, I told you when I explained my plan that I would be going high up the damn food chain. Grandpa is a shark, so the only way to stop him is to ask God to dry up the ocean. I have been in contact with the FBI. They’re aware of my grandfather’s shady activities. Known about it for years. Since the police have been of little assistance due to a good percentage of them being paid off to stay out of his way, we can’t rely on them for assistance. That’s where I come in. It’s been up to me.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a USB.
“What’s that for?”
“On this thumb drive are financial records dating back over fifteen years, the majority of them detailing illegitimate and forbidden accounting activities. My father is meticulous about recordkeeping. He has to be, so he can give the information to other family members for debt collection. The extortion payments. The shady tax practices. The gambling rings. My grandfather owns several legitimate businesses where dirty deeds go down, too. He owns hundreds of rental properties and a small national motel chain. Don’t even get me started on what he sometimes uses those for. Now, if I present this to the FBI, my father will go down with him. I was more than willing to take that chance. After all, my father allowed that piece of shit to do irreparable damage to his marriage, to his family, and to everything he held dear. I had no hesitation until…” Lennox sighed. “Until he stood up for me today. He didn’t even know I was there… He stood in front of the bullet, so to speak.”
“What do you mean? What happened?”
Lennox took a deep breath. “I’ve been painstakingly workin’ on this for months. Grinding! I’ve been meeting secretly with the FBI and giving them all sorts of information, baby—some of the smaller stuff he was dealing with I could verify, but a lot I could not. The big offenses are what they need. Something to sink their teeth into. They’ve been struggling for years to obtain solid, concrete proof and couldn’t even get a search warrant because they didn’t have enough evidence for probable cause. My grandfather has the city on lockdown. It’s hard to get close to him because he has a thousand fortresses. I knew I could get the evidence from my father’s house, though. Like I told you, the plan all along was to get confirmation of him cheating the government, and of him being involved in reprehensible criminal activities. But I, uh…” He shook his head and laughed miserably. “I can’t believe I’m second guessing this now. Shit!”
“You don’t want your father to have to go to prison.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Lennox, I know you two don’t have the best relationship, but the way you’re feeling about this now is understandable. He’s still your daddy, and though you think he’s a fraidy-cat, he did for the most part take care of you and your sister.” Their gazes linked. Surely he could read between the bloody lines. “In your heart, you feel like you owe him by not punishing him this way. Especially since he’s just been doing what he was taught to do. Have you tried to work out a deal with them so that your father is allowed to walk away with no charges if he cooperates?”
“Of course I tried, but that would require him to testify against his father, Nadia, and he’d never do that in a million years. It’s one thing to keep the man’s secrets, to even lie to him to protect his son—but if he does that, become a rat, he’ll not only pay with his life, but it could also put Silva in jeopardy, too. Everyone would go down in flames. A lotta innocent people, too. I’m trying to target one motherfucker, but everything he’s touched is covered in gasoline. So when that match strikes, people better run. Houston will be burning.”
She nodded in understanding, then slowly stood up. She walked up to him, wrapped her hands around the back of his neck, then placed a soft kiss against his lips.
“I’ve been doin’ some thinking since this mess down at the club happened.”
“Yeah, I ’magine so.” He wrapped his arms around her waist, brought her flush to his hard, warm body, and offered a slight grin before placing a tender kiss on her lips. “What’s on your mind?”