Hale's Taken Target

One Hale Carver

One

Hale Carver

Taking a puff from the Cohiba I’d just lit before Linc Shephard—the head of the Mississippi branch of the Southern Mafia—showed up, unannounced, in my office, I studied him.

He looked ready to put a bullet in a man, but then he scowled like that often, so it might just be the fact that it was fucking one hundred degrees outside.

“Don’t figure this is a random visit,” I drawled, motioning for him to take a seat across from me on the leather sofa. “I was bored anyway.”

Linc took the worn cowboy hat off his head and tossed it on the leather before sitting down beside it. “There’s a dead fucker still walking,” he snarled.

I took the cigar from between my teeth and held it. “I got more of these. Want one?”

He paused, and for a moment, I thought he might cave, but he sighed and shook his head. Since he’d found out he had a little girl and moved her and her momma into his house, he’d not smoked. Trying to lessen his chances at an early death or some shit.

“Suit yourself,” I replied before placing mine back between my teeth.

“McKenzie is building a case against us,” he spat angrily.

“Vilmer?” I asked, thinking, surely, I hadn’t heard him right.

His expression, however, said I had.

“We put that fucker in office,” I raged in disbelief. The piece of shit wouldn’t be in DC if it wasn’t for us. “How did we find this out?”

“Bane put a tracker on him and bugged his flat in DC, along with his office. Just to keep tabs on things. He just brought me the evidence this morning, but Vilmer’s not doing this for his purposes.

He’s doing it for someone else. That’s what we need to find out.

He’s being very careful when he speaks to them on the phone.

We need to get a tracer put on his cell.

That’s being handled.” He said the last part through gritted teeth.

“But we can’t sit and wait. Whoever he’s working for needs to be fucking scared. We move now. Which is why I’m here.”

He didn’t have to elaborate. I already knew.

“You want me to go to DC,” I finished.

He nodded. “Figured you’d want to see Opal anyway. Include her in this.”

My only daughter lived in DC and handled covering up things for us internally in the government.

“Yeah, it’s been two months since I laid eyes on her. Wouldn’t mind getting out there for a bit to spend some time with her.”

Linc leaned forward, resting his elbows on his bent knees as his brows lowered with a severe expression. “We don’t want them dead. Yet. We want them alive and brought in for questioning.”

I nodded. “I don’t like getting my hands dirty anyway. Too old for that shit.”

A sadistic chuckle came from Linc. “Sure you are.”

The corner of my lips quirked. I’d just sliced a fucker’s thumb off last week, but he’d deserved it. He’d stolen three fucking bottles of my best whiskey from our distillery.