Page 47 of Six
“Would you be willing to testify against DePalma, the Fogartys, and most likely your wife?” Six countered. If he was, she could arrange for protection. The Feds wouldn’t do it because he wouldn’t qualify for the Witness Security Program, butshecould arrange it.
Julian started breathing hard. A bead of sweat that had been hovering near his hairline dripped down his temple, then flew off as he rapidly shook his head. “I won’t do that. I’d rather die or, I don’t know, take my chances.”
Six sighed. At least she’d tried. “Then it doesn’t matter who I am,” she said, rising from her seat. Gavin rose, too, keeping her hand in his. “What does matter is that you’re right. You may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but the days of Shanti Joy are limited, and DePalma probablyisout to kill you. In fact, we happen to know he’s in Keene right now.” She paused and watched Julian. More beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he started rocking back and forth in his seat. He didn’t look as if he was going to pass out again, though, so she continued. “The only thing you need to know about who I am, is that I am the person who will burn the whole operation—including the company your wife built—to the ground. And I will make you all pay for what you’ve done.”
Julian’s attention shot to Gavin, but Gavin just grinned down at the man. “And she’s Italian,” Gavin said. “When she’s says she’s going to burn it to the ground, there won’t even be any ashes left.” Julian swallowed, and Gavin’s grin turned into a feral smile. “No need to get up, mate, we’ll show ourselves out.”
Chapter Twenty
Six ledthem out the door, then to her car. Rather than get into the driver’s seat, she circled to the passenger side. “I want to check in with everyone and make a few calls,” she said by way of explanation. With a nod, Gavin climbed in behind the steering wheel and adjusted the seat.
“I honestly don’t give a shit if DePalma kills Julian, but as an officer of the court, are you bound to report this to someone?” he asked, starting the Tesla.
“It’s a gray line,” she replied as she started a text. “We have a pretty damn good guess about what might happen, but I have noactualknowledge of an impending crime or harm. Arguably, we don’t even meet the burden of reasonable belief since we have no hard proof that DePalma was involved in Jeremy’s death. Still, you’re right, and that’s why I want to get the name of the FBI agent, or team, that was already looking into the DePalma family. Once I have that, I’ll send them an email.”
Gavin chuckled as they made their way back down the winding driveway. “And by the time you get the name, send the email, the agent reads it, then investigates whether to respond, it will likely be too late.”
Six flashed him a smile as she finished her text to Devil asking for her to identify the best FBI contact. “Bureaucracy can be such a bitch.”
He started to laugh, but when the sound abruptly cut off, Six looked up. “Get down!” Gavin barked.
Ignoring him, she kept her eyes on the road and the black Escalade making its way toward them. “Is that DePalma?” she asked. The car was too far away to allow them to see inside. But even if they’d been closer, the windows were tinted dark enough that they wouldn’t be able to see the driver.
“Wasn’t Cyn going to send you coordinates for him?” Gavin asked. She didn’t miss the way he scanned the road and the area around it. There were woods on both sides, but the driveway was wide enough for the two cars to pass. With the size of the Escalade, it would be tight, but they could make it. Glancing down at her phone and letting Gavin navigate the passing, she saw a text from Cyn that had come in while they’d been talking to Julian. She read the message, then looked up at the black SUV forty feet in front of them and its visible license plate.
“Yeah, that’s him,” she said.
“You need to get down,” Gavin said.
“Why on earth would I do that?” she shot back, pulling a small but very powerful gun from her ankle holster. She wasn’t anticipating trouble—she firmly believed DePalma was there to take care of Julian—but it never hurt to be prepared.
“Because he knows who you are. Remember, he had his goons follow you from Jeremy’s apartment?” Gavin shot back. “Our best chance of getting away without engaging with him right now is for him to think I’m on my own. If we want to engage with him later, that’s fine, we can decide to do that, but I’d rather do it on our terms and not his.”
Six frowned. As much as she hated to admit it, Gavin had a point. Not that she wanted to begrudge him good ideas, she just didn’t like the idea of hiding. Then again, if that meant that she could then set the rules for their next encounter, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.
Sliding down into the space in front of her seat, she contorted her body in a way that would keep her from DePalma’s line of sight but still allowed her to use her phone. As she ducked down, she handed Gavin the gun. “Just in case,” she said. Without a word, he took the weapon and rested it on the top of his thigh, his large hand completely covering it.
Leaving Gavin to deal with DePalma, she shot off a few texts to her friends. She had a plan, but they’d all have to act fast. Once the messages were sent, she pulled up her email app and started composing a message to Heather.
It had only been four days since Jeremy’s murder. Six hated having to ask Heather to focus on anything other than the funeral in two days, but she trusted that not only would Heather understand, but that she’d be grateful for the opportunity. With the courts closed over the weekend, they’d have two and a half days to get everything together to file the suit Jeremy had planned all along. They’d need every hour of those two and a half days to get it done, but with Six, Gavin, and Heather all working on it, she believed they could do it. And if they could get the suit filed on Monday, a spotlight like nothing Shanti Joy had ever experienced would shine on the corrupt company and its behavior. Six wondered if more women—and more stories of horror—would arise once everything was out in the open. But even if they didn’t, going public with the information they had was the best way to protect everyone involved.
“You can get up now,” Gavin said.
“Anything interesting?” she asked as she unfolded from her position.
“I’m pretty sure he recognized your car. The guys who tried to run you off the road probably gave him the description, and he looked closely but didn’t stop. He did slow down enough to make sure I continued on my way, though. You okay?”
She nodded as she stretched a kink from her hip, then buckled her seat belt. “Head into town,” she said. “We have a car to pick up.”
“A car?” Gavin asked but did as she directed when they came to the end of the driveway.
“I figured he’d recognize this one, and you confirmed that. You also said we need to engage on our terms, and so that’s what we’re going to do. Cyn is tapping into the security feeds to get a bead on DePalma’s movements around the property. She won’t be able to see inside the house itself, of course, but when he leaves, she’ll know. In the meantime, we’re going to pick up a car that DePalma won’t recognize.”
“And the plan is?”
The Newcrosses didn’t live far from town, and they were already coming up on the outskirts. “Turn here,” she said, pointing to the road on her left. “The place is a mile down the way. And as to the plan, we’re going to follow him. If possible, I’d like to put a tracker on his car and, if we can get close enough, a bug inside it.”
Gavin slid her a look but to his credit, he didn’t say anything. Yeah, she wasn’t sure yet how they were going to do either of those things, but a woman had to have goals.
