Page 34 of Cowboy

“I was helping Constantine with the women and children, and he was paying us well. When he started giving away his millions, I knew what he was doing. He was planning for his death with Annette. He couldn’t stand to be without her. But that meant I would be without a job.”

“So, you decide the best way to deal with that is to work for the competition?” frowned Cowboy.

“No. Not at first. Dimitri wanted Constantine to transport girls from one city to the next, but he refused. In fact, he refused to even speak with him. Dimitri would show up and try to talk to him here or at the airport, and Constantine would just walk away from him. It pissed Dimitri off. He doesn’t like to be ignored.”

“I’ll make a mental note of that,” frowned Cowboy. “You’re running out of time. What is the fucking pack he’s talking about?”

“I’m not sure,” he said, shaking his head. Moose started toward him, and Christopher held up his hands. “I swear! I swear to you, I don’t know!”

“Make a guess,” said Cowboy. “Did he give you something to carry?”

“No. I never took anything from him to put on the plane. If he did that, he had one of his men put something on the plane. But I swear, I never saw anything on that plane. He met with Constantine the week before. He’d been driving him crazy and causing problems here at the casino. Then he started threatening Annette, and that was the last straw. So, Constantine had him come into the office.”

“What did they say?”

“I don’t know. They both made the bodyguards stand outside the room. They were in there for about two hours. Then Dimitri came out and left. That’s it.”

“That’s it?” frowned Mo. “You better come up with something better than that, asshole.”

“I don’t know what they discussed,” he said, shaking his head.

“Did Constantine take anything from him?” asked Cowboy.

“No. There was nothing unusual on his desk, and he didn’t ask me to carry anything for him. I would have known had he done that.”

“You would have known had he wanted you to know,” said Cowboy. “Maybe he didn’t trust you as much as you think. Maybe he already knew you were screwing him over. Smart men have a way of sensing these things.”

“Dimitri won’t stop,” he said, looking at the men. “If he thinks Autumn has something that belongs to him, he won’t stop. He once cut the fingers off a man who accidentally took his overcoat at a dinner party. They had identical coats. It was an honest mistake. But Dimitri didn’t see it that way.”

“Sounds like it runs in the family,” said Cowboy. The others nodded in his direction. “Who is Dimitri doing business with right now?”

“Everyone. He doesn’t discriminate. If they have the cash, and he can make it happen, they’re business partners.”

“Has he said how big this pack is?” asked Cowboy.

“Look, I told you. I don’t know anything about the pack. I went back to the plane and got Constantine because I couldn’t leave him there. I thought I could just leave him there, but I couldn’t. He was too good to me. I felt like shit for leaving Autumn, but I wasn’t lying. I did go back for her expecting to find her eaten by bears or something.”

“You son-of-a-bitch!” growled Cowboy. He slammed his fist into his nose, the man flying backwards over his sofa. Moaning, he came to his feet, wiping the blood from his nose. “Why did you have the magazines?”

Christopher knew he was fucked now. He never thought anyone would see those or figure out what was in them.

“I believe my friend asked you a question,” said Moose. “What the fuck were you doing with the magazines, and why were there old flight plans in them?”

“I-I picked them up from the air traffic controller. Dimitri wanted to know who was making regular routes to his major markets, so he would know who to target for transporting the girls. He was going to pay them some serious cash. I forgot about them, but he didn’t seem to care. He was more worried about the pack, but I don’t know what that is.”

“I should throw you out that window right now,” said Cowboy. “You put Autumn in danger, and that psycho is after her. If anything happens to her, anything, I will come for you. Don’t you dare try to run and hide. If you hear anything, see anything, you’re going to call me and let me know. Clear?”

“Clear,” nodded the man.

Back on the main floor, Ethan was waiting for them. He’d gotten the girls to safety, and the city police were going to help them get home. They knew about Dimitri but hadn’t been able to stop him on their own.

As they stepped out into the blistering Las Vegas sun, they heard glass shatter and looked up to see the body of Christopher Sephones hurtling toward Earth. When his body hit the concrete fountain in front of them, they stepped back and looked up, not seeing anyone. Cowboy looked at the other men, shaking his head.

“Well, that won’t look suspicious.” Moose just frowned, staring at his friends.

“I’m hungry.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

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