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“Did it ever occur to all you shits for brains that I earned my spot on that team?” I asked. “Keep going.”
“I’m bleeding to death here!”
“Maybe I should clock you in the other foot—make it even.”
“Shit.” Darby tossed his hands up. “Afterward, you were pushed out, no other team wanted to work with them. They didn’t trust them. I mean after people saw your numbers, they were suspicious of the Frogs, had your back. And for a while, it was just speculation. Then Clive started nosing around.”
“Why did he suddenly care?”
“Clive always had questions about what happened to you.” Darby explained. “He accidentally found out when a few of the Frogs got a little too drunk and their lips got a little too loose. He’s been digging ever since you got on the plane to Thailand.”
“Who killed Clive?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You already saw what happens when you lie.” Storm spoke up.
I’d almost forgotten he was there.
“I don’t know.” Darby stressed. “My job was to get him to back off.”
“How did the Frogs know Clive was digging?” I asked. “Someone had to have told them.”
“I guess it was one of the people he questioned.” Darby replied. “I mean, they came to me, wanting me to talk him down. Clive and I had a conversation. He said he would shelve the story because he couldn’t get anyone to give him a statement on or off the record. Then about a month later, he was dead.”
“Why do they still have you alive?”
“I don’t know.” Darby was thoughtful. “Maybe they aren’t done with me yet.”
“You haven’t answered my first question.” I reminded him. “Why did they want me here?”
“Because they know they couldn’t touch you in the States.” Darby explained. “You have friends there. And if they touched you in Thailand, your American friends would have their asses there too. They wanted you back here because they have connections here. They say you ruined their lives.”
“Funny—they left me for dead and I ruined their lives.”
“I had nothing to do with any of that.”
“I know that, idiot!” I tapped the tip of the silencer against his forehead. “You’re a fucking civilian and you don’t have the fucking good sense the Lord gave you!”
“I didn’t want anything to do with death.” Darby sighed.
“And what precisely did you think they were going to do to me once I returned to Australian soil?” I questioned. “Throw me a party?”
“This is a mess. I was going to just take my money and go.”
“And go?” I asked. “What about your mother?”
He scoffed.
“You sold me out for money.” I scoffed. “How much did my life worth?”
Darby said nothing.
He swallowed nervously while babying his foot.
“I asked you a question.” I growled.
“Two million.” Darby jerked backward.