Page 156 of Coff

Duke sighs. “Well, thanks for letting me know. And to answer his question, no, I’m not an agent. I’m an informant. Or I was until Dad was killed. That screwed up everything. That’s why I was so angry with Logan.”

I close my eyes as I try to process what he’s telling me. “Duke, this makes no sense. You were all about the business. How could you be an informant?”

“You were miserable with Nelson, and it was my fault. I had to do something. But really, I blamed our father for all of it, too. After what they’d done to you, I wanted to make them both pay.”

I don’t remind him again that it was his actions that got me into that mess with Nelson.

“I approached Brian and told him I’d give him information as long as he could guarantee our father and Nelson would go down.”

“He guaranteed that?” Coff asks.

“He did.”

Coff shakes his head.

“But when Dad died, I had no choice but to take over everything. Brian told me he couldn’t keep up our deal if I was running things. Before I had a chance to do anything about it, Nelson set me up.”

My mind goes back to a few times I’d walk in while Duke was on the phone, and he’d react strangely. The morning of my dad’s funeral stands out the most.

Coff stands up. “This is why Brian was intent on keeping you safe, too?”

I turn on the speakerphone and set my phone on the coffee table.

“Yes,” Duke says.

Coff’s hands go to his hips. “I thought it was because you were Delaney’s brother, and Brian was doing it as a favor to me.”

Duke laughs. “It’s the government. You think he can justify the expense of security for me as a favor?”

Duke doesn’t know that Brian somehow got Coff a new identity as a favor. But he doesn’t need to know.

Coff sits back down. “Then tell me once you had security, why did you risk it all to fly back to try to kill Nelson?”

“That asshole was trying to destroy our lives. I couldn’t let him get away with it. Besides, I knew if I went there, you guys would follow, and between all of us, someone would take him out.”

“You left in the middle of the night. What if we’d all slept in?”

He laughs again. “Why do you think I chose a connecting flight with a four-hour layover?”

I’d just assumed it was the earliest flight he could get. But he’s saying he planned it that way?

“You used us,” Coff says.

“I’m sorry, but it had to be done. You should be thanking me. I released Delaney from the prison he had her in.”

My hands go to my temples as I try to massage away the headache coming on. He’s right. Nelson was never going to let me go alive. “Duke, what does any of this have to do with the explosion?”

Duke doesn’t answer.

“Duke, are you still there?”

“Yeah. You aren’t going to like this, but it had to be done.”

“Tell me.”

He blows out a breath. “The mayor couldn’t get away with trying to have you killed, Delaney. I talked to Leo about it, and he suggested we take out all of our problems at once. It was brilliant, really. He called a guy in Mexico who can make things happen. Then he invited everyone to the warehouse to talk business. Then boom.”

“Uncle Leo took out everyone trying to take over the family business?”

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