“Heart attack,” Nic clarified, righting his head and opening his eyes.“Though I’ve ordered an autopsy.”
“That’ll delay the disposition.”
“I’m aware.Pull together what you have on the remaining assets and let’s meet on Wednesday.I can check it against my own records.As soon as the autopsy is wrapped, we’ll proceed accordingly.”
“Look, Nic, there’s something?—”
“Wednesday, Dennis.”He ran a hand over his jaw, realizing he hadn’t shaved.“I’ve got enough on my plate until then.”
“Wednesday,” Dennis confirmed, then added, “I am sorry that you’re having to go through this.”
“We’ve been estranged?—”
“I mean the hassle, dealing with the estate of a man who didn’t respect you.He missed out.You’re one of the best attorneys I’ve had the privilege of knowing.”
“Thank you,” Nic said.“It means more from you than it ever would from him.”
“We’ll get through this, Dominic.”
Just getting through today would be a good start.
Five
Cam was more than a little disappointed.
The press had wanted a show this morning and now that he and Nic were ready to give them one, Vaughn was arriving at SFO’s private terminal.Sure, Cam could have leaked what was about to happen—like someone had leaked the news of Curtis’s death—but their friends also frequently used this terminal.Privacy was part of what they and others paid for here.He didn’t want to violate that expectation for their sake.
Without a crowd of press, the line of suited federal agents with him and Nic standing in front was unmistakable.Which was probably why Vaughn was taking his sweet-ass time disembarking.Cam had offered to storm the plane with his agents but Nic wanted to wait.That, however, was twenty minutes ago and Nic’s shoulders were inching higher.Cam wanted to lay a hand on his arm or back to ease him, but with the agents behind them, he settled for stepping closer and putting their heads together like they were having a tactical discussion.
“He wants to provoke you,” Cam whispered low.“You need to bring back the mask.Be the magician.”
Nic glanced sideways, taking his eyes off the G5.“The magician?”
“That’s what Aidan calls you.”Cam chuckled at Nic’s eye roll, glad for the break in the tension.“I know it’s a mask, but it’s still remarkable how you pull it up on command and keep your cool no matter the situation.”
“That’s not being a magician.That’s being a SEAL.”
“Then that’s who you need to be.”Nic had given him this lecture more than once over the past year, and it had saved him time and again.Kept him in the Agent Byrne mindset when Cameron Byrne, brother and son and former thief had been scratching beneath the badge’s surface.“You need to be Captain and Assistant US Attorney Dominic Price right now, not Dominic Price, son of Curtis Price.”
Nic’s shoulders lowered another notch.“Thank you for coming with me.”
“No place else I’d rather be.”Cam shot him a grin, then stepped back into position as the jet door opened.
Duncan Vaughn appeared at the top of the unfolding stairs.Cam had seen pictures of him—in the press, in their case files, in Mel’s surveillance videos—but they didn’t do the man justice.Headful of coiffed blond hair, a trim, tight body encased in tailored designer threads, and, as he descended the stairs, a bright white smile, the lines at the corners of which were the only indication of his age.
He sauntered over, whiskey-brown eyes locked on Nic.“Dom, so good to see you.”He gave Cam a passing glance, then returned his rapt attention to Nic.“And you’ve brought backup.I thought you didn’t need it.”
“Duncan Vaughn, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Cameron Byrne.”
He checked out Nic instead, in a way that made Cam’s skin crawl.“Have you come to accept my offer, Dom?”
What fucking offer?Cam didn’t voice the sentiment, not in front of a suspect, but that feeling of being ten steps behind became twenty.
“I told you then that I was never going to work for you.”Nic, to his credit, didn’t flinch.The magician back at work.Not that Cam liked his words one bit.Or Vaughn’s that followed.
“And I told you that’s not exactly what I had in mind.”Cam’s stomach roiled.Make that thirty fucking steps.
“Well, you can put both out of your mind for now,” Nic said.
