“Hopefully my testimony will be enough to leave them out of this.”
“Maybe, but you’re still forgetting one important thing.”
Chris shifted in his seat, bracing himself. “What is it?”
“The will itself. Robert and Kimberly Mitchell were in their fifties when they died, perfectly healthy as far as we know. Why would you blackmail someone about a will that you’d only get to enjoy decades from now? Unless, of course, youplannedon killing them.”
Chris shivered. If the judge suspected he had anything to do with their deaths, things would quickly escalate out of his control. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, physically and mentally drained. “You’re right. It doesn’t make sense, and Robert could have told me he changed his will without doing so.”
Mickey nodded sympathetically. “I’m sorry to say, but the only way to dispute this will is by going deeper into the minds of everyone involved. I doubt that even you know the full picture behind Robert’s reasons.”
“Then I have nothing.” The realization was crushing.
“You have protection around the clock, and I have people who are looking into this. If there’s a legal loophole, we’ll find it.”
And if there isn’t?Melissa and the twins would be back home in a few days, back in the midst of danger. He couldn’t let that happen. When Dylan and Nicky were born, Chris swore to never let anything bad happen to them. Every parent must have sworn the same thing, but how many had experienced human cruelty in its ugliest form? If his boys were in danger, Trevor had noidea what bloody storm was heading his way.
Chris pulled his next words from a dark part of his soul. “Do you think that Oscar might know people who can... take care of problems?”
Mickey crossed his arms, a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. “I wondered when you’d finally go there. Took you long enough. Oscar is out of town for business, but he should be back in two days. I’ll let him know you’d like to see him.”
Chris rubbed his face, doubts creeping in. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Nothing happened yet. If it does, you’ll do what you must to protect your family. We are all animals at our core, and it’s time for you to become a predator, or you’ll end up the prey.” Mickey watched him closely. “Are you the prey, Roberts?”
“The hell I am.”
*
“I’ll go with you to speak with him,” Jay said as they waited for Ethan and Anthony to join them in the restaurant.
“You sure?”
“You don’t want me there?”
“I do, but it will be harder for you to claim ignorance if things go south.”
Jay shrugged. “In that case, I already know too much,so I might as well be there when you talk with Oscar.”
Chris crossed his arms and leaned forward on the table. “Do you think I’m being too rushed?”
“No. And you’re going to talk to the man, not sign a contract with your blood. We’ll listen, discuss our options, then think about it with clear heads.”
Hearing it laid down like that untangled some of the knots in Chris’s chest. Ever since his meeting with Mickey, he couldn’t think of anything else, let alone concentrate on work.
“You’re right,” Chris said. “Thank you.”
“Thank me with more steaks.”
“And mashed potatoes?”
“Yep, and don’t forget to milk those coconuts.”
Chris laughed and drank from his water. It still felt strange having Jay as his confidant considering their dark history, but hadn’t Chris himself hurt the people he loved and was granted forgiveness?
Ethan and Anthony entered the restaurant and joined them. Chris hadn’t planned on meeting them this evening, but Ethan had offered, and Chris figured it would be better than boiling in dread at home.
“I barely recognized you now that you’re an office guy again,” Jay said after they ordered food and drinks.
