“Yeah, that was the plan. I’m thinking about holding the exchange where we originally planned. Merriweather’s place is out in the boonies. The cops don’t patrol out there.”
“You seem friendly with the local law enforcement.”
Something came and went so fast Elias almost missed it. Almost. Satisfaction filled his cousin’s eyes. So, the local cops were in Dutch’s pocket. Looked like Echo and Artemis were lucky to still be on this side of the pokey.
“Never pays to be on the law’s bad side.” Dutch grinned. “You ought to know since you used to be cops.”
“The keywords in that sentence are ‘used to be.’ We aren’t police officers anymore.”
“The people we’re dealing with can smell a cop a mile away. Although you might not work for law enforcement now, you’re so new in the outside world they’ll smell you coming. You look and act like a mixture of cops and federal agents of some variety.”
Elias scowled. “If we look and smell like the police, why would you take a chance on your business deal falling through by hiring us as extra security?”
“I need expendable bodies. You fit the bill. So, are you still interested in the security job, Seth?”
“Only if we set up and run the security for this deal.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“I don’t trust anyone who isn’t a member of my team, and that includes you and every member of your MC.”
The enforcers looked uneasy. “Orders, sir?”
Dutch raised his hand and silenced his men. “I respect that. I’ll tell you the location of the exchange.” He sneered. “To ensure we don’t have any unpleasant surprises, one of your women will stay in our clubhouse with five of my men as a guarantee of your good behavior.”
“No.”
“What’s the problem here, Seth? You say you want to help, but I’m thinking you’re telling me a tall tale since we can’t come to an agreement. If we can’t agree, the man I answer to won’t allow you to take part, and we’ll handle security ourselves.”
“Is that what you want?” Elias glared at his cousin. He was jerking them around and enjoying every minute.
“I want my partner to be happy. He wanted you and your friends to be part of this deal. If you’re not, I’m the one left holding the bag. So, no, I don’t want that to be how this goes.”
“Who is your partner?”
Dutch waggled his finger at Elias. “Nope. That isn’t a piece of information you can know.”
Seth gave a subtle hand signal.
No way. Elias scowled at his team leader. He wasn’t backing off. His cousin had insinuated that he’d take Iona as a hostage. That wouldn’t happen on his watch unless it was over his dead body. Iona was his, and he would never put her life at risk for a man he knew to be a liar and a cheat. Dutch didn’t take care of anything or anyone as well as he did his own hide.
Seth’s hard stare showed exactly what he thought of Elias’ stand. Tough. He’d take the chewing out coming when the Blackthorn Riders were gone, but no way was he throwing Iona to Dutch’s wolves. Yeah, he knew his woman could take care of herself, but she shouldn’t have to do it when he was around. He wanted to do the job himself.
“You know none of us will let one of our women be your hostage. The other four men are married to their Old Ladies.”
“Well, that leaves your woman, doesn’t it?”
“Nope. She won’t be your bargaining chip.”
“She will if she wants you to live out the night.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
IONA FROWNED, HERgaze shifting from Elias to Dutch and back. This wasn’t a pleasant scenario for any of them. “What does that mean, Dutch? Are you threatening to kill your own cousin? I thought blood was thicker than water. Changed your mind about that in the last two minutes?”
Dutch’s cheeks turned red. “What did you say to me?”
Elias shifted to stand partially in front of her. “Unless you’re deaf, you heard Iona. So, cousin, are you threatening to kill me?”
