Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
“We know who Wesley is,” Spike mutters. “He’s a fuckin’ bad man, Janine. If he wants what you have, it must be worth somethin’.”
“I mean, there is a lot in the safe, I have no doubt it’s worth a lot.”
Jackson shakes his head. “No, it wouldn’t just be worth somethin’, he can get money anywhere. Have you looked through the contents?”
Shaking my head, I offer a sheepish smile. “Not really, because I honestly didn’t want to think about it. I just put it away, a future problem. I guess that problem is here now.”
“Can we see it?” Spike asks.
I nod. “Yeah, okay. It’s at home.”
“Muff doesn’t know about it?” Jackson asks, narrowing his eyes.
“No, when we moved in, I just told him it was a safe with my important things inside. He didn’t ask questions; he isn’t like that.”
Jackson nods. “Let’s check it out before we go any further. See what we’re dealing with.”
The two of them follow me back to my house, and I lead them straight to the spare room where the safe is bolted to the ground. I fetch the key, unlock it, and then enter the code. It’s a double protected safe, so it isn’t something that can easily be gotten into. Opening it, I step aside and let the two men check it out. They immediately get to work, pulling the contents out.
With each bundle of money, I realize just how much is in there.
I never counted it.
Maybe I should have.
Standing back, I watch as they pull out the guns, the diamonds, and the two of them begin inspecting them. More than once, they glance at each other with an expression that tells me they know what the contents are, and they’re shocked, or maybe concerned. I can’t tell. Either way, they’re not saying much, and with every passing minute, I become more nervous.
Once everything is out of the safe, Spike turns to me, a gun in his hand. He holds it up and points to it. “Do you know what this is?”
I shake my head. “Should I?”
“This belongs to royalty. See this symbol?” He turns the gun over, showing me a symbol printed into the steel with a small emerald jewel in the middle. “This belongs to a royal family overseas. How the fuck he got hold of this, I don’t know, but this is worth ... Fuck, a lot of money.”
I’m confused.
How would Derek have gotten hold of something so valuable?
“These diamonds,” Jackson murmurs, holding a bag of diamonds in his hand, “belong to them too. I don’t think you understand what it is you have here, Janine.”
That sentence has me worried. “You’re scaring me.”
“I’m guessing this is all stolen,” Jackson goes on, “but not only that, it’s worth a lot of money, I’m talking a fuck load, more than you’d make off normal gun trade. That gun alone would be worth at least a million.”
I blink. “For a gun?”
“Not just any gun,” Spike goes on. “A royal gun. These are rare, they don’t just make them, they only give them to the family, and they’re considered an heirloom. Whoever your ex was stealing from was powerful enough to crush him like a fuckin’ bug.”
My skin prickles as I consider what he’s saying. “How would he have gotten them?”
“Guessin’ the club was involved with someone over there and Derek was in possession of this shit while they figured out how to move it on. Then everythin’ went down, and it was left behind. Someone wants that shit, and they’ll go to great lengths to get it back. Your brother-in-law knows that, and he wants to sell it off before then.”
“The people who want it back ... They’re bad?”
“Oh,” Jackson murmurs, “they’re fuckin’ bad alright. That’s a family you do not mess with. If they find out you have this ...”
I press a hand to my chest. All along I have been in possession of something so dangerous. “What do we do with it?”
“Give it to him, let them take him down,” Spike suggests, glancing at Jackson.
Jackson thinks on it. “Could do that, but if he sells it and then somehow turns it around on her, she’s in trouble. What kind of man are we dealing with here?”
I cross my arms, swallowing. “Wesley is bad news. He’s without a doubt the kind of man who would bring me down just for fun. He’s evil, and he’s slippery. I don’t think it’s a good idea to give it back to him.”
“If we don’t,” Spike throws in, “he’s goin’ to come after you. That isn’t something you want.”
“Yeah, and if we do,” Jackson growls, “and they go after him, then he could throw her in front of the bus, say she had it and sold it.”
Jackson is right, Wesley would absolutely do that, especially if they came after him.