Page 56 of Volatile Vice
VINNIE
Islam the door to my grandfather’s office. “You fucking son of a bitch.”
He clears his throat from behind his desk. “Good morning to you too, Vincent.”
“Your move, Cobra?You had a man killed and placed in Raven Bellamy’s bed. His throat slit. With a message. Forme.”
He folds his hands neatly in front of him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I cross the office and pound my fists against the wood of his desk. “That’s a crock, and we both know it. It’s probably all over the news.”
“If it happened at the Bellamys’ home? No, it’s not all over the news.” He strokes his chin. “They kept their son’s incarceration quiet eight years ago. It was only on local news, and that was only because a cop was killed. The killer’s name was rarely mentioned.”
“This time it’s not a cop. It’s an attorney. An attorney from here in Austin. So I’m sure you’ve heard the news.”
He looks up at me, his face wholly noncommittal. “And what makes you think I’m involved?”
I roll my eyes. “You really think you’re smart, don’t you? You really think that you’re so big and powerful that no one will ever challenge you. You left a note, Grandpa. You know damned well you left a note. That note was for me.”
“Because it said ‘Cobra?’”
“Yep. And we both know that the only person who ever called meCobrawas Diego Vega, who’s dead. And the only other person who heard him say that wasyou.”
“And your own father,” Grandfather says.
“Yeah.” I stare at him from across the desk. “And I bet it was really easy for him to get out of prison and arrange a hit on a lawyer at the Bellamys’ house.”
He lets out a choking laugh. “You can’t blame me for trying.”
“Were you going to try to get Raven? Except that she wasn’t there?”
He crosses his arms. “Why would you ask me that?”
“Because the lawyer, Brick Latham, was going to the Bellamys’ home to see Raven.”
“And you think he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Grandfather says. A statement, not a question.
“I don’t know.” I slink down in the chair behind me. “I don’t know how your warped mind works, which is a good thing from where I’m standing. Either the hit was for Raven, or there’s some reason you hit this Brick Latham. Did he do something to piss off the family?”
“As far as I know, Mr. Latham was an upstanding attorney at a law firm whose biggest client is Austin Bellamy and the Bellamy Ranch.”
“Yeah. And he justhappenedto be helping Raven Bellamy with a nonprofit organization she wants to start. And he just happened to have a date with her Friday night.”
He smirks. “I’m thinking he’s regretting that choice about now.”
“He can’t regret anything, Grandfather. The dead have no regrets.”
He widens his eyes and claps his hands. “Vincent, that was profound. I like it. I can see it engraved on a plaque somewhere in this office.The dead have no regrets.”
Anger crawls up the back of my neck. “You need to leave her alone. You need to leave the Bellamy family alone. Savannah’s a member of that family now, Grandfather. And if you have any speck of love left for your only granddaughter, leave them the fuck alone.”
He shakes his head. “This isn’t about them, Vincent. It never was.”
“No. I understand that.” I pound a fist against my chest. “It’s aboutme. It’smymove. What if my move is to take you out, Grandfather?”
“You’re not armed.”
“No one gets into this office armed. Do you think I need anything other than my own two hands to squeeze the life out of you, old man?” I raise a fist.