Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41627 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41627 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Liam’s stomach knotted at the mention of Gerald. His heart ached at his friend’s untimely death, but he couldn’t argue with Rowe either. If he’d managed to catch Gerald alive, he would have been hard-pressed not to do something violent.
Rowe wandered through the back room and stepped into the main floor of the shop. Liam watched the man as he looked over the displays, stopping here and there to smell the flowers. Everything about Rowe screamed that he was tense, like he was suddenly afraid that he’d break something.
“This is a beautiful place you’ve got here,” Rowe murmured.
“Thank you.”
“Are you equipped to send regular fresh flowers to a business?”
“Yes. I’m still working on establishing some corporate customers.”
Rowe nodded. “I’ll have Marion contact you about setting something up for Ward Security’s reception area.” He waved a hand at the flowers. “I don’t know anything about this shit, but Mel was always on my case about making the reception area more inviting and less like a stinky boys’ club.”
“Mel?”
“My wife.” Rowe’s smile became a little sad and Liam looked over his shoulder at Seth.
“She died in a car accident several years ago,” Seth whispered.
“I’ll mention this place to Ian too. I think he was looking for a florist to supply flowers to both of his restaurants,” Rowe said as if he didn’t hear Seth’s low comment. He then shook his head and turned back to Liam. “But that’s not why I stopped in.” Rowe stepped over to the counter and placed his folder on the top. He reached inside, pulled out a check, and held it out to Liam. “Seth told me about the damage done to the store under his watch. This should cover it.”
Liam held up his hands, refusing to take it. “Really, Rowe. There’s only so much charity I can accept. You’re already doing me a huge favor by loaning me Seth and your tech team.”
“First, it’s not charity. You’re family. I’m helping family,” Rowe said with narrowed eyes, as if daring Liam to argue with him. “And second, Ward Security has a reputation to protect. If my guy screws up and makes a mess, I’m not going to let it get around that Rowe Ward didn’t make things right.” Of course, Rowe’s hard-ass speech might have been ruined by him winking at Seth, who was standing right next to Liam.
Liam sighed. “People don’t tell you no, do they?”
Rowe smirked. “People try to tell me no all the fucking time. It’s just that a lot of them end up wrapped in duct tape for their trouble.”
Liam accepted the check, folded it up a couple of times, and shoved it into his pocket. “I feel like Sven should have warned me about you.”
“You probably wouldn’t have believed half of it,” Seth said, and that only made Rowe’s smile grow even wider.
But that burst of happiness died away as Rowe opened the folder again and pulled out a slightly blurry picture of a man getting out of a BMW. He looked tall and incredibly slender. His thinning hair had been slicked back, making his face look incredibly pointed and angular.
“The man in the picture is Cornelius Weiland.”
Liam frowned at the picture and shook his head. “I’ve never seen him before.”
“Not surprised, but he’s a known associate of these men.” Rowe pulled out two more pictures of three men that Liam did recognize. “The short guy is Bill Capinski. The two meatheads are Buzz Landers and Georgie Peters. Cornelius is one of the biggest loan sharks in Cincinnati, along with a few other disreputable enterprises. The Cincinnati police haven’t managed to get much to stick on him. Mostly bullshit misdemeanors. Bill works as one of Weiland’s collectors. Buzz and Georgie are the muscle.”
“So, Gerald borrowed the money from Weiland,” Seth said. He placed a hand on Liam’s shoulder and Liam longed to leaned into him, but he remained standing perfectly still.
“And he’s not the type of guy you want to owe money. Not that you really want to owe money to any loan shark.”
“But he’s worse?” Liam asked. His voice wavered a little as the panic rose in his chest.
“His name is linked to a lot of missing persons and a few dead bodies that have turned up.”
“Oh, God.” Liam stumbled a step backward, but Seth was right there with an arm wrapped around his waist, steadying him.
“I don’t mean to scare you, but I think you should know the truth.”
“Thank you. I…what do you think I should do?”
Rowe rubbed his jaw, staring at the photos spread out on the counter. They really did look like the who’s who of the Cincinnati underworld. “Realistically, I think you’ve got two options. One is go to the cops, tell them everything.”
Seth grunted. “Yeah, but what can they do? What proof do we have? There are no cameras in here. It’s all hearsay. Maybe they put a wire on Liam and try for a sting, but they put his life in danger. It’s a bullshit answer.”