Page 169 of Hidden Ties

Ice nodded toward the door. “Go, Jackal.”

Jackal gave him a warning glare before leaving the room.

“You want my advice, kill Mica and bury him so deep no one will ever find him,” he told Ice grimly.

“I can’t do that.”

“What is Mica to you, Ice?”

“Nothing.”

“Is that nothing worth getting Grace killed? Jackal? Penni? Brother, snuff out the problem before the fire gets out of control.”

“I won’t kill him,” Ice refused outright.

Kent nodded, admitting defeat. “Can you at least sit on Mica until I find someone to get him out of the country?”

Ice raised his folded hands to crack his knuckles. “That, I can happily do.”

THIRTY-SEVEN

Holding on to his briefcase, Kent stepped off the elevator and approached Garrett’s assistant. “Morning, Cheryl. I need to have a quick chat with Garrett. Does he have some time available?”

Cheryl gave him a pleasant smile. “Let me check for you.”

Kent remained standing, unperturbed that Liam and Jeffrey were giving him curious looks as they came of the conference room.

“You can go in, Mr. Bryant.”

“Thanks, Cheryl.”

He opened the door and entered Garrett’s office.

“Good morning, Kent.” Garrett looked up from the folder he was thumbing through. “What did you need to see me about? I hope this won’t take long; I have an appointment at ten.”

Closing the door, he steadily walked toward Garrett’s desk. “This won’t take at long.” Setting his briefcase on the desk, he opened the case despite the angry glitter in Garrett’s eyes and took out the plain file and two flash drives. “You’ll want to look at these.” Kent turned to take a chair, wanting a front-row seat to watch his reaction.

Frowning, Garrett opened the file. As he read, he gradually grew paler. By the third page, he glanced up to meet Kent’s eyes. “Where did you get this?”

“From the file room in a restricted area where no one has access other than you.”

“That’s why you wanted me to give the job to that bitch Sage, and I fell for it.”

Kent looked down at his neatly trimmed nails. “I suggest you take a look at those flash drives.”

Through his lashes, he watched Garrett jarringly install the flash drive into his computer. Garrett grew sickly pale.

Kent gave him a satisfied smile. “The only one to blame for your downfall is the one you’ve been fucking before you talked me into coming to work for you.”

“You bastard,” Jeeringly, Garrett stood to his feet. “I’ll—”

“You’ll sit back down.” Untroubled by Garrett trying to intimidate him, he nearly laughed. The schmuck couldn’t take him down if he’d taken professional boxing lessons. “I’m sure we can come to a mutual agreement where none of your illegal activities, or your adulterous behavior, has to come to light.”

Garrett sat back down. “What do you want?”

“After I leave this office, you’re going to call DA Fisher and inform him of your willingness to give an Alford plea with a promise of full restitution to the defendants. I would get him to agree to no jail time as well, if I were you. I’m sure you’re a good enough attorney; you can manage that with your own ass on the line. Shame you couldn’t have done that for a few of your previous clients.”

“I don’t have enough money to pay out that kind of money,” Garrett gasped.