Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 36987 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 185(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 123(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36987 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 185(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 123(@300wpm)
“Yep.”
“And since he didn’t have enough, he borrowed from Melor Vladek.”
“You’re good at this. You should work in intelligence or something.”
“Funny.”
“Apparently, Vladek has been sitting on this loan for about six months, and he’s done waiting. I guess Brad”—he said his name snidely—“thought it was a good idea to tell a Russian mobster that his wife had a trust fund from her grandparents that’s worth quite a bit and that she moved it into the names of her children.”
“But the trust can’t be used until the boys are both eighteen, I’m guessing.”
“That’s right. You’re smarter than you look.”
“You’re not a nice man.”
“Everybody knows that,” he assured me. “But the trust can be broken if…?”
He trailed off, so he wanted me to use my brain. “I’m tired.”
“I don’t care.”
I took a breath. “Oh. If the boys are kidnapped, the trust can be used to pay a ransom.”
“Ding, ding, ding.”
“That makes no sense, though. You should have seen the guys Vladek sent. There was no kidnapping going on. They could have had those boys out of this house before their parents got back, but they were fucking around.”
“What? Wait.”
He was quiet so long, I nearly nodded off.
“Okay, the idiots from earlier—because I’m looking at mug shots of some real losers here—they were there to scare Brad into working with Vladek.”
“Working?”
“Paying.”
“Ah.”
“I suspect Brad was waiting for money to come in from end-of-the-year investments in January, and would have paid Vladek the money he owes him then.”
Or from the profits from sales on Thomasin’s website of whatever she sold during her live stream later tonight. Either way, Brad would have made good on the loan. “But Vladek didn’t want to wait, so he sent goons to scare Brad into paying.”
“I think so, yeah,” Chris surmised.
I was wrong earlier. There weren’t only two possible scenarios. There were three, and this was it: a home invasion had been staged to terrify Brad when he saw how easily Vladek could put men in his home. They were supposed to get in and out, but Thomasin and Brad weren’t home, there were dogs outside making a racket, and everything had just gone to absolute shit once I showed up.
“But now you have a real problem,” Chris instructed me.
“Which is?”
“There’s an actual K and R contract out on the kids.”
“Which means Vladek’s not sending any more of his own guys. He’s outsourcing now.”
“Correct.”
Fuck. “When?”
“You’ve got a few hours. The contract went active about an hour ago, so it’ll take people time to get on planes. I don’t know anyone operating in the Pacific Northwest, so they’ll be coming in from California, Mexico, and the East Coast.”
“How much is the contract for?”
“Looks like either 500K or half of whatever Vladek gets from the boys’ trust fund.”
“So basically, the boys are really the only ones in play.”
“Yes.”
“Meaning Brad and Thomasin are disposable.”
“Yep. The trust will pay out through lawyers. Mom and Dad are not necessary.”
“Great.”
He was quiet a moment. “You have a choice here.”
“I know.”
“You can go legit, get in touch with your buddy Doyle, save everyone, but you run the risk of them splitting the family up to ensure their safety. Or, you can take help from the private sector.”
But I knew already because one way would have to go through law-abiding channels, while the other would be fast. I needed fast.
“If you could help me now, and then if I need a long-term fix, I’ll make that call.”
“Done. I’ll call you back in five,” he said and hung up.
Walking down the hall, I saw Toby in his room, packing two bags. It was impressive how he was rolling things and placing them into the duffels. I liked how well he took direction, and his follow-through was both excellent and appreciated.
I went down the stairs to the first landing and saw Thomasin rushing around, with Kurt following her, trying to talk to her, and Brad putting out platters of food. When I whistled, all three of them looked up at me.
“So I need you all to get up to your rooms and pack a bag because we are out of here in fifteen minutes.”
All three stared at me in shock, and then the balloon of silence burst and they were all yelling at once.
“Shut up!” I bellowed, and I could be loud. “Kurt,” I said, pointing at him. “You are coming with me whether you want to or not, and I’m taking the dogs, my cat, and the boys,” I announced, then, to Thomasin and Brad, “So if you want to fuckin’ be with your kids for Christmas, I suggest you pack. Now.”
“I don’t understand,” Kurt yelled at me.
I pointed at Brad. “To help Thomasin’s business, Brad borrowed money from the wrong fuckin’ people, and there is a contract for a kidnap and ransom on the boys that someone is coming to collect on.”