Page 87 of Nothing to Beat

Half a smile and a shrug were Tripp’s answer.

“Where did the woman come from?”she asked, still impressed by just how magnetic he could be.“How do you pick up a woman without leaving the suite?”

“Tripp never reveals his secrets.”Breck went to block his brother’s view of the TV just as Tripp picked up the remote.“What do you know about Ricardo Whey?”

“That wasn’t subtle,” she said, fighting to strengthen her jaw.“You ask just like that?”

“It’s Tripp.”

And they trusted Tripp.

Sighing, she sat beside him.“Okay, what do you know about Ricardo Whey?”

“Lots of stuff.”

“I know things about Ricardo Whey,” Roxie said, joining them.Oops, it hadn’t occurred to her that anyone may be within earshot.“Why do you want to know?”

“You know things you can’t tell anyone, Rox Out,” Tripp said.“You know the rules.”

“The frustrating rules.”

It didn’t help that people knew things if they couldn’t share them.

“Is he trustworthy?”Breck asked.“When it comes to crunch time?”

Roxie examined her nails.“Ask his wife.”

Okay, that was telling without telling.So he was a philanderer, that didn’t mean he’d flake on them at the last minute.He couldn’t anyway.If he didn’t see through his side of the deal, Ackley would have no choice except to prosecute him.That would look good on a resume, a juicy scandal to feed the press at reelection time.Look at him, unafraid to go after power… Except that power may be exactly what stopped him from doing what was necessary.

“Does Whey have friends who can hurt us?”she asked because they had to know which direction to keep an eye on.

“Yes,” Tripp said.

Roxie’s smile spread.“But they won’t…” And the beat that followed felt like a lifetime.“Because you have friends who can hurt him more.Hurt him personally, and in the wallet, which he really cares about.”

“Rox Out…” Tripp’s tone of warning deepened her curiosity.“If you’re going to talk—”

“I don’t need to talk.I won’t say a word.”In innocence, the woman showed both palms in surrender.“If it becomes necessary, they should know, we have their backs.”

“Of course we do, but you have to check your pocket before making promises others will have to keep.”

“If it comes to it, they’ll do what’s right.You can’t honestly want him to screw over your family.”

Not that this helped much when they couldn’t leverage whatever their friends had without knowing it.

“I’d never let that happen,” Tripp said.“But that’s my deal.You don’t have to get involved.”

“When it comes to people I love…” Roxie asserted, “I get involved, every time.”

“How do we use this?”Breck asked, proving himself one step ahead.“You can’t reveal what you know.”

“Just remind him that your brother has powerful friends.Some hold certain cards that Whey would rather the world didn’t see.”

“Won’t he just counter that he’ll hurt us back?”she asked.“The Breckenridges have powerful friends, yes, but so does Ricardo Whey.”

Lowering her volume, Roxie leaned in.“I have a very big microphone and I’m not afraid to use it… or share it.If you want him broken, we can break him.Nothing he might have on us comes close, none of us.We can bring down his whole world.”

And there was just enough of a thread of glee in that statement, would Roxie relish the chance?