Читать книгу Sex, Lies and Mistletoe - Tawny Weber - Страница 8

“I’VE MADE THE ARRANGEMENTS. Everything is in place.”

As the assurance echoed through his speakerphone, Tobias Black leaned back in his Barcalounger, shifted an unlit cigar between his teeth and grinned.

“That was fast. I didn’t think you’d pull it off.”

A lie, of course.

He’d known once the challenge was issued, it’d be impossible to resist. Just as he’d known that the person he’d challenged had the power to make it happen. Tobias Black only worked with the best. Even when the best’s main goal in life had once been to arrest him.

Tobias looked at the pictures framed and fading on his study wall. A gap-toothed trio of schoolkids with wicked looks in their golden eyes and hair as black as night.

Damn, he missed them. All three had turned their backs on him eight years ago. Caleb because he rejected what his father stood for. Maya out of disappointment. And Gabriel? Tobias gave the photo of his middle child, his youngest son, a worried frown. Gabriel in fury, determined to prove that he was twice as good and twice as clever as his old man.

They’d all felt justified in leaving.

And Tobias felt justified in bringing them back. A man spent his life building a legacy, he needed his children to hand it down to.

“You’re sure you can handle your part?”

Tobias laughed so hard the cigar fell from his lips. Him? Handle a part? That was like asking if the sun was gonna rise in the morning.

“I’ll play my part like Stevie Ray Vaughan played guitar.”

Silence. Tobias rolled his eyes. Maybe it wasn’t so farfetched to ask if he could handle the part if he could so easily forget who he was talking to. “Let me rephrase that. I’ll play my part like Babe Ruth hit the ball.”

“If you’re not careful, cockiness could be your downfall.”

Tobias almost brushed that away like an irritating bug. Then he sighed. Only a stupid man ignored a fair warning.

“There’s a fine line between confidence and cockiness. I’ll watch my step.” He glanced at his eldest son’s photo. “Caleb will take the bait. He won’t want to come home, but he will. Loyalty is practically his middle name.”

“You think he’s loyal to you after all these years?”

“To me? Absolutely not.” And that hurt like hell, but it was the price Tobias paid for ignoring his kids to feed his own ego. “But he’s loyal to Black Oak.”

Tobias was gambling everything on Caleb caring about Black Oak. A small town in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Black Oak was in many ways the same as when it’d been founded a hundred years ago. A quaint and friendly community.

And now it had a drug problem. Tobias might have no problem skirting the law—or hell, laughing in its face—but he was a man who had zero tolerance for drugs. Especially when those drugs were being dealt in a way that conveniently pointed the finger his way.

It would be smarter to let the locals deal with the drug problem. If the evidence kept pointing at Tobias, they could be more easily … influenced. Because the sad truth was, there were still a few outstanding crimes that Tobias could be arrested for, with the right evidence. And there were hints that whoever was pulling off this drug ring had access to the right evidence. So bringing the feds in was a huge risk.

Someone was framing him. And they had enough dirt to do the job well. And it looked as if they were planning it all here in Black Oak.

That little bit of info he wouldn’t share with the feebies.

Because he knew he had to offer up a big enough lure to get the FBI’s attention, but not so big that they’d insist on coming in and playing it their way.

He wanted control of this venture.

“This is a huge undertaking, Black. All indications are that the drugs moving into Black Oak are yours. And now you’re planning to play your family, who know you well enough to see the game. You’re talking about playing a townful of people, many of whom depend on you. And more important, you’re going to have to play the FBI, who, as a general rule, want nothing more than to arrest you.”

He wanted to point out that he’d played them all, quite successfully, many times before. But bragging was rude. More important, ego was the first nail in the coffin of a good con.

“And your point is?” he asked instead.

“My point is, you’re not as young as you once were. And you’ve been out of the game for a while.” There was a pause, then a soft sigh that made Tobias’s smile drop away. “You’ve got a lot on the line. Are you sure you’re willing to risk it all? Because if this goes bad, the FBI is going to reel you in and toss your ass in jail for a good long time.”

Tobias rolled the cigar between his fingers, staring at the unlit cylinder.

He considered what he’d built here in Black Oak. After a lifetime of running cons, he’d settled down and gone legit five years ago. He’d been quietly making reparations over the years, but paying back a few hundred grand wasn’t going to stop the FBI from nabbing him if they had a chance. He could opt out, let someone else take point. The risks were huge.

But then, so were the stakes. And every good con knew, it was the high-stakes games that were worth playing.

“I can handle it.”

“And your kids?”

Tobias sighed, pushing to his feet and pretending his bones didn’t protest at stretching quickly in the damp winter chill. He tossed the cigar on his desk and strode over to stand before the pictures.

Caleb, Maya and Gabriel.

Smart kids. Good-looking, shrewd and nimble-fingered, even as little punks. Once, they’d thought he’d spun the sun on the tips of his fingers and carried the moon in his back pocket. Once, they’d believed in him. Once, they’d been in his life.

Now? Now he’d settle for one out of three.

“I can handle it,” he repeated.

And before this game was through, he’d know who was behind the drugs, who was trying to set him up. Whatever fledgling crime ring was forming would be busted.

If he won, his kids would be a part of his life again.

And if he lost? At long last, his ass would be locked up in the federal pen.

But Tobias Black didn’t lose.