Page 17 of Bradford (Boston Bay Vikings #18)

brADFORD

Suddenly feeling nervous, I take a deep breath as my dad appears on the computer in front of us.

He looks better than he did earlier today, much to my relief. Florence slips her hand into mine and squeezes. I glance at her before facing my dad.

"Okay," Dodge interrupts. "What do you know?"

Sighing heavily, Dad says, "A few months ago, MacFarlane got into trouble. To get out of it, he needed the warehouse at the docks that I bought.

When it went to me, I started having trouble at job sites—late deliveries, canceled deliveries, and safety issues.

I knew as soon as the trouble started that he was behind it. I couldn't prove it." He pauses and looks directly at me.

“One of my investigators tracked one of MacFarlane’s troubleshooters to Vegas. He was ready to step in when the asshole confronted you, Bradford. In the end, that wasn't necessary, which is why you didn't meet him.

My guy discovered that MacFarlane was in bed with a rough gang. Daniel Dillon is a member."

"Oh," Florence gasps.

Dad winces. "At first, we thought your girl was using you to get to me. But it quickly became clear that wasn't the case.

Now, Daniel is here in Savannah with a crew.

The last communication I received told me to sell the warehouse to MacFarlane or face severe consequences because they're not messing around anymore.

Reyes, the man in Vegas with whom MacFarlane and Dillon are associated is the one who wants the warehouse.

And I say that loosely. I'm sure law enforcement is aware.

I honestly don't know why that warehouse is so important to them.

Dad sighs. "In the end, I told MacFarlane to go fuck himself.

That's when I spoke with Ellison Security. They know what I know, and I imagine they know a lot more by now."

“I still don't understand how Daniel and MacFarlane know each other. Are you sure they're connected? A lot of money belonging to Daniel was found hidden in my apartment. I thought they were two separate incidents," Florence asks.

"They're connected," Dodge says, followed by a low curse.

He doesn't look good as he leans against the wall behind him.

With his eyes closed, he says, "Lance Reyes is in Vegas.

Daniel Dillon is in Vegas, too. Dillon does Reyes's dirty work.

" Dodge meets my gaze. "Dillon is the one who messed with your dad's car, Bradford. "

I swallow the anger in my throat as I feel Florence's hand on my back. My eyes find hers, and I pull her into my arms. “What is the plan?” I ask, looking between my dad and Dodge.

My dad's face is stormy, but he nods at Dodge.

Dodge takes a deep breath but doesn't get to say anything because the door swings open.

A tall man in jeans and a black T-shirt stride into the room, exuding an air of authority.

Dodge immediately stands up straight, his eyes widening in surprise before wincing. I shake my head at the man.

I place a quick kiss on Florence's head, release her, and move to Dodge. I take his arm. "You need to sit down before you fall." I don't give him a choice and guide him to the nearest chair.

The man who just entered, followed by two others, says, "Mr. Winchester, my associate will keep you safe."

"Never mind me. You keep my son and his girl safe."

The screen goes black as the call ends.

"My name is Joshua Ellison," he says to me. "I've been talking to a contact of mine. He's going to bring in his team once we have a place to meet."

"Meet?" Florence asks, her eyes going between me and Ellison.

He offers her a soft smile and says, "I want you to contact Dillon and arrange a meeting with him. Once we have him and his crew, we'll get MacFarlane."

I rub a hand across my brow. "I'm not sure I like that idea." I wince. "Just the first part, that is."

"Let's make contact and take it from there," Ellison says. “Florence, can I see your phone?”

"I dropped it in the arena."

"I have it." I hand it to Ellison and move toward Florence. I wrap my arms around her waist from behind and pull her close. My side only twinges briefly, but my shoulder hurts.

Ellison fiddles with the phone, does something with another, and then passes it to Florence. "Call Daniel and tell him you need to meet with him. Play on whatever feelings he might have for you."

Florence mutters, "Oh, great," under her breath.

Stepping away, she keeps her eyes on me as she calls Daniel and puts him on speaker.

"Babe," he says, making me grit my teeth. "You finally decided to get in touch, huh?" He laughs.

"Why the hell did you hide that stuff in my apartment?" Florence snaps. "That wasn't cool."

“Baby don’t be like that. I was only thinking of you. If anything happened to me, you'd have a nice payday."

"You lying ass! You only ever think about yourself!" Florence hisses. "It wasn't like I knew that money was there. How would I have gotten a payday?"

"You always were a smartass!" The man sighs. "I'm guessing you're not the only one on this call, so let's make it quick.”

“You don’t get to make the decisions after what you did to Bradford’s Dad’s car, you dick!” Florence snaps. “What did you intend to do with me if Mustache had gotten me away from the arena?”

There's a long pause.

“We need to meet.”

Florence frowns. "Danny, what's going on? You don't sound right."

“I know the guy you mean, and he isn’t with me.

He works directly for someone else. Let's leave it at that.

" Dillon curses, and I'm not sure if we're supposed to hear that.

"Head out of the city to Tybee Island. Stay on the 80 until you reach the end, then turn off towards the beach.

Be there in two hours." He pauses. "Florence, it's just you and the guy. " The phone goes dead.

"I'll pretend to be you, Bradford," Ellison says.

I shake my head. "There's no way Florence is going to meet that asshole without me. No way in hell."

"You're already hurt." Florence places her hands on my chest and looks at me, worry evident in her eyes.

I cup the back of her head and lean down to press our foreheads together. "I'm not letting you do this without me."

"Okay," she whispers.