Page 91 of The Kings of Kearny

My hands curled into fists beneath the table. If the Jokers didn’t get rid of Redding, I would, whether or not I had Jakob’s help.

A man passed by us on the sidewalk. He wore jeans and a T-shirt and had one of those forgettable faces that would be hard to pick out of a lineup. Nick watched him closely, close enough that I turned my head back around for another look. I just caught the subtle hand motion he made before he passed out of sight. Frowning, I turned back to Nick.

“Get ready,” he said. “Redding’s on his way in.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

The bell over the doorof the café rang, and Spencer Redding strode in as if he owned the place. Like Nick, he wore a suit, only his jacket was unbuttoned and he wasn’t wearing a tie. The top two buttons of his dress shirt were undone, revealing taut, suntanned skin and the elegant muscles of his neck. He had the kind of good looks that spoke of silver spoons and old-world money.

The girls in the back sighed again, and this time I wanted to turn toward them and yell “Run!” If we’d had more time to get ready for Redding’s arrival, I would have paid them to leave, but of course he would be obnoxiously early to this meeting. Maybe he’d wanted to scope the place out first like we had. He must have had some ulterior motive for being here so soon because he looked annoyed to see that we’d beaten him.

Or maybe that was just his face.

Behind him was a tall white man with silver hair and broad shoulders. I’d gotten Redding here by telling him I wanted to sit down with our lawyers in a neutral place and try to deal with these charges outside a courtroom, see if we could come to some other agreement. Nick was posing as mine. The older gentleman must have been Redding’s. He smiled good-naturedly when Nick and I rose from our seats.

“Howdy,” he said, coming right over to us. He spoke in a twangy baritone and had the kind of “aw, shucks” look about him that made me think he called other men partner.

He extended his hand when he reached me. “Winston Beaufort, pleasure to meet you.”

I shook his hand. “Krista Evans.”

We let each other go, and Nick introduced himself to both Winston and Redding. I slipped my hand into my purse while the men were distracted and turned my phone back on. It had been off for several hours.

Come on, Jakob. Don’t let me down.

“Can I get you fellas anything? Coffee? A bagel?” Nick asked, turning his megawatt smile on the men.

“No,” Redding said and sat.

Winston shot Redding a sideways look, brows furrowed slightly, as if he was confused by Redding’s rudeness. Guess he didn’t know his client that well. It made me wonder if maybe he worked for Magnolia Hills and not for Redding.

The lawyer’s confusion only lasted a second, his expression brightening again when he turned back to Nick. “I’ll take a coffee, please. Cream, two sugars.”

Nick nodded and strode toward the counter. I retook my seat, careful to keep my back to the window. Winston sat across from me and pulled the pocket square from the slit in the front of his suit jacket, using it to dab at his forehead. Beside him, Redding stared at me like I was the only person around. I wanted to crawl out of my skin. Nick just confirmed he was a rapist, and now here he sat, close enough to reach out and touch me. Close enough that I couldfeelhis stare like a slimy caress along my skin. I nearly gagged.

“Can you believe this heat?” his lawyer asked. “It’s going to be one scorcher of a summer if we keep on like this.”

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