Making good on his promise, Brantley changed the subject. “Did you talk to Max?”
Z relaxed in his chair. “I talked to Courtney. Told her to have Max call me.”
“Did you tell her why?”
He nodded. “High-level, but yes.”
“You think he’ll agree to meet with us?”
“I figure he’ll be too intrigued not to. If he doesn’t already know about Hartwood, he’s gonna want more details of a potential rival lookin’ to make waves down south. She did say Max was busy today, but she’s anglin’ for tomorrow at the latest.”
Brantley had only met Courtney Kogan once, and it had been here in the office. If he hadn’t already been aware the woman was married to a mobster, he never would’ve guessed it. However, after a few minutes in her presence, he’d understood all too well what her appeal would’ve been to a man with power like Max Adorite. She certainly wasn’t a wallflower.
“Max has been makin’ some strategic changes to his organization,” Z explained. “When he stepped into the role after his father … died, he’d been lookin’ to take their businesses legit.”
“How’d he die?” Brantley asked, curious.
Z cocked an eyebrow. “How do you think?”
Brantley glanced at Reese, wondering if that was a trick question. How the hell was he supposed to know?
“His family took him out,” Reese muttered. “Although no one speaks of it.”
Ah. So not a cohesive unit. Good to know.
He turned his attention to Z. “Did it work? The legit business avenue?”
“In some ways, yes.”
Brantley found the whole thing fascinating. The fact that a straight-laced family like the Kogans could embrace their daughter’s mobster husband proved that true love did exist.
“However,” Z continued, “goin’ legit only gets the Feds off his back some. It doesn’t stop the other syndicates from wantin’ to take him out at the knees. After Madison’s attempted kidnapping, Max snapped.”
Brantley didn’t take his eyes off Z. He pretended he wasn’t thinking about the night Reese had been shot. He’d watched the security video so many times, the scene was imprinted on his brain. But it was theafterthat still stuck with him. Namely, the fact that Reese had nearly died and Z hadn’t bothered to call him to let him know.
Z was watching him when he added, “He’s takin’ drastic measures to gain control and to protect his family.”
Could Z read his mind? Could he sense the animosity Brantley felt for not being told?
Beside him, Reese squirmed in his chair. “If we could talk about somethin’ else…”
Z glanced between them, then his eyes flared as though he had just realized he was carrying on about a sore subject. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Brantley assured him.
“I’m still tryin’ to figure out why y’all think Max might be able to help,” Z said, relaxing in his chair.
“We don’t know that he can.” Brantley sighed. “But we’re at a loss here. Tuggin’ on this string’s the only thing we’ve got right now.”
Z sat up straight. “That reminds me. I did a little research on my own, found some property that I think belongs to Toby.”
“Youthinkit does?” Reese asked.
Z typed something on his keyboard, then turned the monitor so it faced them. “I’ve got one of the techs lookin’ into it more because I honestly can’t tell you how I got to it, but I think it’s tied to him.”
Brantley knew all too well how easy it was to go down a path that had nothing to do with your objective. It’d happened to him many times, but not following up on the lead was stupid because you never knew when you would strike gold.
“That’s midway between here and Austin,” Brantley noted, looking at the map on the screen.
