Chapter 19
COLE
The message comes in as I’m driving home from Baltimore, texts on my private phone, spoofed so it looks like I sent them myself:
Cole Wolf
Perhaps you think I’m bluffing?
I don’t bluff.
My price goes up one million a day.
Next Sunday I go public.
Once I’m home, I study the words, trying to learn more about my opponent.
They write in full sentences, avoiding abbreviations, using punctuation. That would tend to indicate that they’re at least forty years old. Or they want me to think they’re older than they are.
They’re willing to give me another week before they take next steps. They have some patience. Or they want me to think they’re patient.
They think a million dollars a day is enough of a goad that I’ll do what they want. So they either don’t know I’m a billionaire, or they don’t have an accurate understanding of just how much money a billion dollars is. Or they want me to think they’re financially naive.
Fuck it.
I can’t parse the message, not without more information. There’s no reason for me to respond. I won’t give in to their demands—not without a guarantee that they can’t hurt me down the line. And the only guarantee, in this case, is exterminating them.
I lean back in my desk chair, staring at the texts through narrowed eyes. I don’t do wetwork myself. I’ve never even hired someone to take care of that type of business.
But I know I can get a referral—from Braiden Kelly, from Patrick Moran, hell, from my future father-in-law.
If I want to steer clear of the mob but still get the job done, I have contacts at Diamond Freeport.
Sawyer Best, another tax haven client, runs his own private army.
His mercenary force can accomplish virtually any task—for a fee.
Of course, I need to identify my blackmailer first. They’ll make a mistake. Hackers always do. Except for me.
For now, I’ll watch. I’ll wait. And I’ll see what happens on Sunday. The day I’m supposed to get married.
And if my tormentor turns out to be Kate after all? If she found some way past my ability to detect lies? If she’s been digging into my past and pushing all my buttons?
I’ll make her pay.