“I just did.”
When she spoke again, he heard the smile in her voice. “Okay, I’ll let you go.”
“You leave the house, you’re never outside of touching distance from Bobby, got me?”
“Got you,” she replied readily.
The tension left his body. “Later.”
Then he heard her voice going soft and breathy like it always did when she said it, “Bye, babe.”
And like it always did, he felt that soft, breathy word in his gut before he flipped the phone shut, turned back to the room and found Seth Townsend staring at him.
Something had changed. Hector couldn’t put his finger on it but he knew, before Seth spoke and confirmed it, that whatever it was, it was big.
“I was like you,” Seth told him, voice hard, eyes active, body taut. “Just like you.”
Hector’s eyes narrowed.
“I doubt that,” he replied scathingly.
“You’re wrong,” Seth returned then, voice still hard but his words were soft, “Just like you.” And then he went on, “You fuck her over, I’ll kill you.”
Vance moved, it was almost imperceptible but the threat was not. Hector put his hand up toward Vance because he knew Seth had just given in.
Seth crossed his arms on his chest.
“You know about Mickey, what else do you know?” he asked Hector.
“That you avenged your wife by bringin’ down Luther, who ordered the hit, and taken’ Mickey out altogether. The Balducci boys didn’t forget and have been tryin’ to chip away at you for a long time. With you out of commission, they went after Sadie.”
Seth’s only reaction to this was lifting his chin then he said, “Tell me your deal.”
Hector glanced at Vance then back at Seth. “Jerry isn’t your soldier anymore. He’s pissed about me, he’s pissed about Sadie and he’s pissed about your instructions to look after her. In doin’ so, forcin’ him to put himself at risk with Lee, somethin’ no one does of their own free will. Somehow he knows about the Caymans accounts and that Sadie’s the only one who can get to the money. He’s struck a deal. He’s workin’ with Donny now. You’re playin’ right into their hands. He’s obeyin’ your orders until Sadie gets the account information. She knows about the accounts, she’s fucked. They got options, they could roofie her, they could threaten her, whatever. They take her to the Caymans, sedated or under duress, she hands them the money. They don’t have use for her anymore and they either play with her, take her out or both. In the meantime, whatever power you got left takes another hit without that cash. You’re weak, the Balduccis avenge their father’s murder and you’re as fucked as Sadie.”
Seth did not look happy and asked, “I thought you boys had Donny on tape torching her gallery?”
“We’re after him, the police are after him but he’s proving difficult to find,” Hector replied.
At that news, Seth looked even less happy.
“What’s the deal?” he ground out.
“You back off, let me handle it. That’s the deal.”
“You must be joking,” Seth returned.
Hector shook his head.
“That’s not a deal,” Seth snapped.
“Only one you got,” Hector shot back.
“You want me to stand back and –”
“No, you tell me everything, everything the Feds didn’t find. The location of your safe house, any other property you own, where your money’s comin’ from, what soldiers you got left workin’ for you, where I can find ‘em. You keep tryin’ to contact Sadie but, you get hold of her, you don’t fuckin’ tell her shit.”
“And what, you hand this over to the Feds?”
“No, the boys go huntin’. The Balduccis are hidden, we figure Jerry’s helpin’. They’re usin’ your own resources to fuck you.”
“This doesn’t make any fucking sense. The Balduccis want my business. They can’t waltz around Denver being the big men now. They fucked up, got caught on camera committing arson, Ricky’s –”
“Seth, they don’t want your business. They don’t intend to stay in town. They get your money, they live off your back for the rest of their lives knowin’ they got everything you had, including bringin’ Sadie low.”
Seth stared at Hector then his mouth got tight.
“God damn it,” he muttered.
“We got a deal?” Hector pushed.
Seth kept staring at Hector, his gaze sliced to Vance then his eyes cut back and locked on Hector.
“Deal.”
Chapter Twenty-Five