Page 46 of Ms. Fortune

“No proof. I wasn’t around when he made the order. And he went off campus to order it, too, since none of our surveillance picked it up. I’ve only been there a few short years. I’m not part of his inner circle yet, so he doesn’t totally confide in me. That takes years, if not decades. Something we don’t have.”

I gaze at Brandon, and I imagine him getting hurt for the simple reason he started dating me, and my stomach churns at the thought. It’s because of my father that he’s involved in this, and it isn’t fair to him. He shouldn’t have to risk anything for me, even if he doesn’t care about the money. I do. I care about all of it. The best I can do is cooperate and get Calnetta out of our lives for good.

“So, if Victor was paying Calnetta protection money, who was he protecting him from?” Taylor pipes up from behind me. I’d almost forgotten he was there; he’s been so quiet.

Frank, too, must have forgotten him because he starts a little at his question.

“The Mamana family. He wants to use this money to buy his way in with them and merge power. Otherwise, he’d never come up with this kind of cash, and he’s about bled dry paying them off too.” He shrugs. “Honestly, if we don’t get him now, the Mamana’s might take him out before we do.”

“Don’t the Mamana’s own the Bliss casino on the strip?” Taylor asks.

“They do indeed.” Frank starts counting on his fingers. “They also own two casinos in Reno, one in Biloxi, and a few in Atlantic City. And now they’re getting into real estate in New York of all places since the money laundering is harder and harder to cover up in the casinos nowadays.”

Brandon turns away from us, leaning his hands on the desk, his head down. He’s deep in thought, but I think he’s coming around to seeing that this is the best course of action for us to take if we want to see Calnetta gone from our lives.

“Isn’t this entrapment?” Brandon asks, not lifting his head or turning to face us.

I hadn’t thought of that. Of course, I don’t know much about this kind of thing anyway.

“No, sir.” Frank is confident in this. “This was all his idea, and he has no clue I know about it. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to do any of this. Like I said, the gears are in motion already. I’m just letting you in on it.”

The realization of it dawns on me. Holy shit.

“So, you don’t even need my cooperation, do you? This is going to happen to me whether I agree to it or not, isn’t it?” Terror shoots through me, pinning me in place. I grip the arms of my chair so tightly that I might break them.

Frank goes pale but nods his head from side to side. “More or less, yeah.” He at least has the decency to look ashamed about it, but that doesn’t appease me. “But bringing you in on it is cooperation in the eyes of the government.”

“And, what? You wouldn’t ‘guarantee my safety’ if I didn’t cooperate?”

“I didn’t say that….”

“You didn’t have to.” I look to Brandon, still leaning away from us, his head down. He’s not saying anything. Why isn’t he saying anything? This affects him too, doesn’t it? Does he not have the money or something? “When is this happening? And where? Who is going to do it? How long will they have me? What are they going to do with me?” The words rush out of my mouth before I think about what I’m saying. With every beat of my heart, another question pops up. My throat is tight, and I’m getting a bit dizzy.

“Breathe, Ms. Blake,” Taylor says softly, putting a hand on my shoulder. It’s enough to ground me and pull me out of my downward spiral. For now, at least. It also pulls Brandon out of his, and he turns around to face us.

The violent storm of outrage in his eyes is something I don’t ever want to see again. And I most certainly don’t ever want it directed at me. He looks downright unhinged. Frank physically cringes beneath the weight of Brandon’s fury.

“Answer her fucking questions.” The muscles in his jaw tremble as the words are forced out. He is not taking any shit from this man.

“Day after tomorrow. Here in the morning, since you come in by yourself way before everyone else. I’ll be on the team, so don’t worry about that. Nothing will happen to you. The ransom demand will come a little later after some fear sets in for you, with payment arrangements made for that afternoon, so prepare for several hours of roughing it.” He meets my eyes for what feels like the first time, though I know it’s not. “It’s not like I’m a lone wolf here, the entire FBI is behind this, and there will be other agents ready to move in when the time comes.”

The words feel hollow to my ears, even though I know they should be comforting. Nothing about this is comforting.

Brandon is staring daggers at Taylor for some reason, practically seething, and I have no clue what that could be about. There’s no way Taylor could have known about any of this, is there? Maybe it’s just a safe place to direct his rage.

Frank works himself out of his chair and glances around at us.

“I’m not the bad guy here.” He takes another business card out of his pocket and hands it to Taylor for some reason. “I have a feeling you’re the guy who’ll need this.”

He only nods as he takes it, his eyes tight with frustration.

Once Frank leaves, we sit in heavy silence. Each of us ruminating on what just happened and trying to sort our scattered thoughts.

I’m going to be kidnapped. I’m going to let myself be fucking kidnapped. What the hell is wrong with me?

I actually came back to Vegas to put my life in danger. I should have stayed in New York, where it was safe. Away from all of this insanity. There is no guaranteeing my safety, but that can be true anywhere at any time. And like Frank said, this would happen if I knew about it ahead of time or not. At least now I can prepare myself for it.

How do you prepare yourself to be kidnapped?

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