Page 11 of Contested Crown

We probably did, but I didn’t want to risk the chance that Rick would figure out who Cade was, and given the number of people after us, the more time we spent with him, the more chance we would be found or that one of his guys would get smart to the bounty on my head.

“No.” I shook my head.

Rick walked over to the window, using his finger to move one of the venetian blinds. “That car you brought in, maybe we make a trade. That plus the favor I owe you… well, we can call it even.”

“That doesn’t make us even,” I said, even though it was as close to grace as Rick was going to give me. “You don’t owe me that much, Rick.”

“No,” Rick agreed. “But I have a feeling that Declan isn’t going to be my problem for too much longer, and I would prefer if you remembered who helped you when you needed it.”

I blinked, my mouth falling open slightly. I stared at Rick and swallowed, clearing my throat.

“You would bet on me against Declan?” I asked.

Cade shook his head, a small smirk in the corner of his mouth that was gone as quickly as I saw it.

Rick laughed, the sound enormously loud in the small space. “Are you kidding me? Declan is a psychopath. You’re less of a psychopath. Yeah, I’ll back you.” Rick opened the door, whistling at one of his guys. “The Nissan, the one with the swapped VINs, get it good to go.”

The mechanic nodded, glancing at me with interest before turning back to the cars.

“I better go make sure.” Rick drank the last of his wine, putting the cup back on the desk. “You know what they say about good help.”

He was out the door, speaking rapidly in Spanish.

“Do you trust him?” Cade asked.

“As much as I trust anyone,” I said, considering the scene through the open door.

“If you thought he was going to give you up, why did you have us come here?” Cade asked.

I looked at Cade and raised one shoulder in a shrug. It was nice to see him interested in his own safety, and I wished that I had a better answer.

“Because we don’t have any money, and we’re running thin on everything else. We need to make a move fast.” I stared at Cade, tracing my eyes over his face. He looked tired, bags under his eyes and a grayness to his skin that hadn’t left since we fled House Bartlett.

“You didn’t think he would support you against Declan?” Cade asked.

“I’m just the muscle. I don’t think he’s supporting me so much as throwing a wrench in Declan’s plans. He doesn’t care if I win or die, but it will disrupt Declan’s operation for a while if I try.”

Ricardo Perez was smart. He knew that the stranglehold Declan had on business was a stranglehold on his own outfit. He could never grow any bigger, he could never do anything else without kissing Declan’s ring, and Rick might be willing to work with him, but he wasn’t stupid enough to put himself under Declan’s control. That sort of foolishness was for desperate kids like I had been.

Rick came back in, shaking his head.

“This guy is killing me. He’s my wife’s cousin, and you know what they say about hiring family.” He filled his glass with the wine, throwing himself into his desk chair.

“It’s a bad idea?” I took another drink.

“Happy wife, really expensive mistakes that I end up having to pay for out of my own profits.” Rick shook his head.

“Speaking of Declan,” I started. “What’s going on with him?”

“Well, thankfully for you and me, Declan has been lying low. I haven’t even heard from him in weeks.” Rick considered Cade before turning back to me. “I’ve just been dealing with that inbred JD. When you take over, promise me that he’s gone.”

“I doubt he would stay if I was in charge,” I said carefully. I took a sip of my wine, glancing at Cade. He hadn’t touched his. “Are you sure Declan is still alive?”

“JD says he is. I heard around that Declan is just lying low because the mage houses have it out for him. Apparently, there was a poisoning at one of his clubs. Bad news for him, messing with a mage house. I can’t believe he would be stupid enough to do that. He might be a sociopath, but Declan has always been smart.” Rick squinted up at the ceiling. “Is Declan dead? No. Because that would mean JD is running his operation, and he barely has two brain cells to rub together. No way is Declan out of the picture entirely.”

“Hey, cuz.” One of Rick’s employees came to the door. “You want plates on the car?”

Rick closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “Yeah, I want plates on the car.”