Page 76 of Coff

“Can I talk to you?” Duke asks me.

“Sure.”

He nods his head down the hall, indicating he wants to be away from his sister. I follow him into the bedroom where he slept.

“Your brother is going to ask me to give up Nelson and his entire family, isn’t he?”

I lean against the wall. “I really don’t know what he wants from you.” It’s the truth. I could speculate, but there’s no point.

“Can you call him? I want to know so I have time to think about it.” Duke sits on the bed, but his bouncing leg tells me he’s not comfortable with this situation.

I grab my phone from my pocket and call my brother.

“Logan, what’s up?”

“Duke wants to know what you want from him. He’s right here. Ready to talk?”

My brother sighs. “Sure, put him on.”

Instead of handing the phone to him, I turn on the speakerphone. I need to know what Brian is requesting because I also need to know if he has a plan to get us out of this mess any time soon.

“Hey,” Duke says.

“Duke? Am I on speakerphone?”

“Yes.”

My brother is silent for a moment. “Glad to talk to you. Has Logan told you about the charges pending against you back home?”

Duke nods, then realizes Brian can’t hear him. “Yes, he did.”

“I can get you out of those charges, but you’d have to make a deal with the FBI.”

Duke runs his hand through his hair. “What kind of deal?”

“I need to know everything about Nelson and his family. By everything, I mean their business associates, where they pick up their product, and anything else you can tell me.”

Going after Nelson’s family now. Interesting. “Are you offering him and Delaney protection in exchange for this information?” I ask.

“Maybe. If that is something they are interested in, I can see if that’s a possibility.”

Duke frowns. “I told you I can’t turn on Nelson.” Duke’s brow shoots up. “I mean, I told your brother, Logan.”

I watch the man. He’s clearly lying. Has my brother approached him before about Nelson’s family? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. With Rocky out of the picture, Nelson’s family would probably win Brian more praise to take down at this point.

Duke clears his throat. “Protection? Would it be for life because friends of Nelson’s family would never stop coming for me?”

Delaney walks into the room but doesn’t say anything.

“No, but we can keep you protected until all the big players are in prison.”

Duke laughs. “You think them being in prison will keep me safe? Jesus.”

“You’re not safe now,” Brian says.

Duke jumps up and walks out of the room.

“He left the room,” I say.

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