Chapter 55

55

It had worked flawlessly. Dale had to hand it to Kurt, the nephew he hadn't always liked as a teenager had come in rather handy as an adult. The boy would do anything for money…or a thrill.

Even if it was against the law. Some of Michelle's relatives had the morals of…well…criminals. He had always known that. Her grandfather hadn't exactly been a fine, upstanding citizen. But he had been a rich one.

"Any problems making it happen?" Dale asked.

"No. Other than he had his girlfriend with him."

Dale hadn't counted on that. The girl… "General Talley's youngest daughter?"

"Yeah. The weird one. Hot, though. Grew up seriously hot. Going to enjoy that." Kurt was practically licking his lips. Dale fought the urge to smack him like he had when he was a boy.

He knew what Kurt was implying. "Absolutely not. You aren't going to touch her."

He hadn't intended Gerald Talley's daughter be harmed. That girl's sister was involved with the damned FBI. That could bring more trouble than he wanted to think about. But that wasn't something he could fix now. Unless…he made the girl disappear completely. But how would he explain that?

If her body wasn't ever found—Gerald Talley would be completely relentless. And Talley had enough connections to be damned difficult. It would be best if she was found dead. With an inarguable reason. "She's going to have to die, just like the boyfriend. But we have to make it believable. You rape her, and it won't be believable that the boyfriend was responsible, you idiot."

"Whatever. As long as I get the money I'm owed, Uncle Dale, I really don't care. Plenty of other pieces of ass out there. With what you promised me and what I'll get from that rich bitch's jewelry in Texas, I should be able to buy the car I want. It's sweet."

What a shallow excuse for a human being. Some of Michelle's relatives left a lot to be desired. No denying that. Kurt topped that list.

"Just get them both inside. Without bruising them up too much. We need to make this look good." Dale looked at the building behind them. The boys used it as a drop off or loading space for runs to Texas. The parking lot was big enough for semis to maneuver. It was going to be perfect for what he wanted, and was just far enough away from town that no one could stumble right into it in time to play heroes.

He was a master strategist, after all.

"And that's why you're here supervising? Don't you trust us?" Kurt asked, smirking.

"After your screw up in Texas with Barratt's parents, what do you fucking think?"

"I don't know. That just happened. Not like we planned it. Trey went off the rails over that bitch cop Heather. And he wanted that Barratt girl or something. Little bitch wasn't worth it, at all. But he had a boner for her or something."

No wonder Michelle had been practically beside herself. She was stupidly fond of this nephew. And he had almost gotten caught by the damned Texas State Police. Just like Steven had weeks earlier. Only this time it had been in Brandt Barratt's parents' living room. With Barratt's twin sister.

Now, Dale was going to try to make that connection work in their favor. He had to do something. Everything was getting just too damned close. Bruce Tyler was making sure of it.

Dale was going to clean up this mess with Barratt, and then…Bruce Tyler's days were numbered. Dale just had to figure out how to catch that bastard. He'd gotten another photo of Sierra that morning.

Bruce Tyler was getting closer.

Dale had to do something to fix this. Now was his only chance.