Page 52 of Illicit

He motions to the bag. “Open it. I need to make sure you’re not trying to fuck me over.”

My stare is heavy and never shifts from him. “You think I’m going to walk in here surrounded by your people and try to fuck you over?”

“Open it,” he stresses.

I rip the zipper open and spread the bag to prove I came with actual cash. The short guy reaches for the bag, but I’m quicker and put a hand out low to stop him. “What the fuck kind of deal is this? I’ve got your payment. Give me the information, and it’s yours.”

Jules crosses his arms and rocks back on his heels. “She must be the sweetest pussy in the land. No one I know would do this.”

“She is,” I confirm. Hell, I don’t know that for a fact, but in my most erotic imagination she is. My thoughts run wild when it comes to Teagan. “Consider me whipped.”

“I’ll say,” he drawls. “Have you even met her pawpaw?”

“Nope,” I tell the truth. The more truths I can tell, the more I can keep my story straight. “He disappeared before I moved here. I know he’s old, has health issues, and Stella wants him home. Is this an interrogation or a deal for money?”

“Trying to see if I trust you as far as I can throw you.”

The lanky guy laughs.

I do not.

I don’t take my eyes off Jules. “Are you backing out of our deal? If so, I’ll take my money somewhere else.”

Jules scoffs. “Fuck, man. You’re standing unarmed, surrounded in a dark warehouse by men who are very fucking armed, and you’re carrying ten Gs. You’re desperate enough to be here. You’ve got no one else to turn to.”

I shrug like it’s no skin off my back, which it fucking is. I’ve had my skin burned off once. It’s damn important to me. “I’ve got the name of the travel agent who booked his ticket. I’ve got airport security in Nigeria that has footage of him deplaning. And I’ve got a hotel in Mozambique confirming he was there the day before he disappeared. Guess how far the US dollar goes in Africa? A long fucking way. But you’re my fastest option. This is your last chance. Do you want my money, or should I take it elsewhere?”

He narrows his eyes and massages his jaw like he’s contemplating his choices.

“Your call,” I demand. “I don’t have all night.”

He must have thought he was my only option. I mean, it’s not like my supervisor is going to approve an op plan in Mozambique, so he is my only game in town at this point.

But he doesn’t know that.

Finally, the thought of me giving the money to someone else must be too much for him. “The old man is in Nigeria.”

“Don’t fuck with me, Robichaux. I know his plane landed in Nigeria. Where exactly is he in Nigeria.”

“Last I heard, prison,” Jules says with a tip of his head like he delivers this news all the time. “He got caught.”

I narrow my eyes. “Caught doing what?”

He looks at me like I’m the idiot in the room. “What do you think? Transporting product. Sometimes they get through, sometimes they don’t. He fell into the wrong category.”

I’m here and plan on getting my ten grand worth. “You paid Hayes to mule drugs for you?”

“Nah, man. I don’t work that shit over there. I make the contacts here and sell the information. I did my job. Not my fault he got caught.”

From what Teagan told me and listening to Stella, I cannot imagine this old man went out on his own to look to make money transporting drugs.

“How did you find him?” I ask.

Jules throws his arms out like he’s exhausted. “I told you where he was. That was the deal. If you don’t hand over the money, my guys will take it. Because you haven’t tried to fuck me over, I’m going to do you a favor and suggest you do that because you don’t want to experience the other.”

“How did you meet him?” I push.

This time both the skinny and the stocky guys close in at the same time.

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