Page 41 of Devil's Claim

CHAPTER 10

Kruz

“You certainly know how to make a mess. Am I going to find myself in the US to clean it up for you?”

I wasn’t in the mood for Jago’s twisted sense of humor. Tonight had been worse than a shit storm. “Very funny, Jago. Not my problem. Not my party.”

“I think that’s where you’re wrong. There’s a good chance you were the target. At least from what you told me. Any police? Any injuries?” he asked.

“We managed to get out in time. I can’t say that for a number of guests. No police yet, but I’ll handle them if they make an appearance.”

“Try not to start an actual war. I don’t mind telling you that there are only a few people you can trust in Miami. I can make a couple calls, but without soldiers to back you, the best thing to do is get the hell back here. I assume there weren’t any complications.”

I’d called Jago just to keep him informed, surprised he’d returned the call only thirty minutes later given the time difference. The man never slept. I had no idea how he kept his relationship going other than that his wife was a badass herself.

I glanced over at Christine. Her jaw was tight and she was staring out the windshield. I took the exit leading to the street where she lived, forced to slow down.

“Unfortunately, I have one.”

“One you can deal with?”

“I’m working on it.” What the hell was I going to do with her? I couldn’t leave her with what she’d seen. I didn’t hurt women, had certainly never killed one and wasn’t about to start now. Yes, I’d meant what I’d said to her. She needed to stay calm and obedient. I’d never put myself in this kind of situation before.

I could smell the fear on her. Being front row to several brutal murders could do that to a person.

“Whatever it is, get rid of it,” Jago told me. “What about Fassi? Any sign of him?”

“I think it’s fair to say Fassi has left the city, likely the country. His mistress was of little help, although there was some recognition.”

“Which means she could have tipped Fassi or his men off.”

“That’s a stretch given the timing. I’m not even certain the two were extremely close.” I was doing my best to keep from relaying too much information with Christine sitting right next to me. Tonya had been somewhat hard to read, but I doubted the alliance with Malcolm was by their choosing. Perhaps Tonya hadbeen playing a dangerous game with Fassi as well. A clear reason for why she’d ended up dead.

“Maybe just a goddamn wild goose chase. He wanted to see how stupid we were.” Jago cursed under his breath.

Stupid wasn’t the word I’d use. Fassi was clever, but he’d made enough mistakes it would be difficult for him to regroup. We had to flush him out before he rebuilt his army.

“We need to play this carefully. I think there’s more going on that we don’t know,” I told him.

“I’ll be eager to hear your thoughts.”

What role did the lovely woman sitting beside me have in the mess? That was the question with seemingly no answers.

Nothing about Christine surprised me any longer, including her resilience, but the way she slowly turned her head toward me confirmed she was anxious. She glared at me with a combination of terror and remorse.

I expected to see tears in her eyes, but her look was one of determination.

And anger.

She was furious with me. She hadn’t felt that way when I’d roughed up her ex. I should have killed the bastard when I’d had the chance. While maybe not appropriate, I smiled. She was more than a handful.

“And did you have a chance to talk with her before the party ended so abruptly?” Jago asked, pushing me out of the moment.

Now I sensed Christine was paying attention to every word. Her grip on the dashboard was white knuckled.

“No. Not before she was killed.”

Christine’s breath skipped. I’d been right.