“Jared will pay millions,” he said.
And he meant it. He knew that Jared would pay whatever it took to get him back.
“We can’t do that,” V protested. “He knows too much about us.”
“Not that much,” Mr. Z said.
“And I’ve no incentive to talk,” North said. “If I do, I’m sure you have blackmail material on me. Things you can release.”
“Indeed we do,” Mr. Z said. “Enough to put you away for a long, long time.”
Yeah, that’s what he’d figured.
“He could talk for immunity,” V said.
Jeez the asshole had a real hard-on for killing him.
“If you kill me, Jared won’t stop until he finds you. And he has some strong allies. Have you heard of the Fox?”
It was a risk. A big risk. If the Fox found out he’d used his name, he could slit his throat. Mr. Z might contact him and the Fox could deny any sort of tie to Jared.
Yep, a big risk.
But he was desperate here.
Wanting to live was really quite inconvenient.
“The Fox?” Mr. Z said.
“Of course we’ve heard of him,” V added. “We don’t want the Fox’s attention.”
“No, we don’t,” Mr. Z said with a frown. “You realize I can verify Jared’s tie to him.”
“Go for it,” he bluffed.
“Bartolli will just pay the ransom, then leave us alone?” Mr. Z asked. “Won’t he come after us anyway?”
“Not if it’s part of the bargain. Ask for your millions and release me on the basis that we forget your organization exists. Jared will do what I want.”
Another empty-ish boast.
But he’d do his best to keep Jared clear of these guys.
Mr. Z and V left without a word.
Fuck.
This could all very well blow up in his face. But he had to do whatever he could to get back to Jared and Angie.
“You need to eat something, baby,”Jared told Angie as she sat on the sofa and stared at the TV. It was turned on to a news channel but she wasn’t really paying any attention.
She stared at him tiredly, shaking her head.
They were in her old room at Zander’s place. It had its own attached bathroom and a small living area. So it was more like a suite than a bedroom.
It still felt like the walls were closing in around her.
She felt so helpless.
