“I’ve got chocolate iced donuts.” Chester held the box out the car window, a smile stretching across his face like a hungry shark. “Your favorite.”
Logan tasted bile in his throat. Not once in his childhood had the man brought home donuts unless they were left over from his office. How he knew what variety Logan preferred was a mystery.
“Just talk to me now and you can leave.”
Chester’s smile faded. “I can’t. I need to speak to you privately. It’s a matter of life and death.”
“Whose death?” Logan asked.
“Mine,” he choked.
Logan was considering whether he should tell his stepfather he didn’t care. But Chester’s next words chilled his stomach into a ball of ice.
“Also yours. And your mother’s.”
With wooden fingers, Logan pushed the button to open the gate.
CHAPTER 22
“Hold on,” Cole said, his video call image obviously moving to a different room in his house, probably seeking more privacy. “Let me get this straight. You think you need to back out of the Phantom partnership to protect us from some mafia-type guy with a vendetta against your stepfather?”
“I know it sounds crazy, but for once Chester wasn’t lying. I could see it in his eyes.”
“What did Chester do to make that kind of enemy?”
“He went to the Central African Republic to make a direct deal on some diamonds.”
“Blood diamonds?” Cole’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes,” Logan said. “A few months ago, he purchased ten million dollars’ worth of diamonds. In the process, he cut this Russian guy, Dimitri, out of the deal. Turns out Dimitri didn’t take kindly to it. The guy who made the deal was found dead a few days later with signs of torture. Then Dimitri came after Chester. I’d say he was getting what he deserved, but the threats were against his family.”
“Who did he threaten?”
“Chester and his wife are separated right now, and their kids are living with her at her parents’ house. So Chester gets a manila envelope in the mail, full of photos. All candid shots. The kids on the front steps of their school. His daughter in the grocery store. His son riding his bike.”
“That’s vile!” Cole looked physically ill, probably imagining if his own daughters were threatened.
“Now you see why I think you should keep your distance,” Logan said, a shiver racking him, a result of the pervading chill of fear that had blanketed him since his stepdad’s confession the previous day.
“Did he contact the FBI?”
“He should’ve, but he didn’t want to implicate himself in the diamond deal. I have a feeling he smuggled them into the country.”
“Still seems like a leap for this Russian dude to come after one of us at Phantom,” said Cole. “Why didn’t Chester pay him off? He may not have scruples, but he’s got plenty of money.”
“He did. He got a phone call with explicit instructions and wired funds to some offshore account.”
“That didn’t end it?”
“He thought so, at first. After he sent the money, it was radio silence for a while. Then his father-in-law died in a freak car accident—went off the road and hit a tree. The next day, Chester gets another manila envelope. This one had a picture of his father-in-law’s car in a parking garage. And a note demanding more money.”
“So it escalated. Dimitri actually killed someone. Or at least he claimed credit for it.” Cole’s expression still held more anger than fear. He obviously wasn’t convinced of the danger to his own family and friends. “I assume he hired someone to look at the envelope, right?”
Logan nodded. “I asked the same question. Chester has a security company on retainer. They couldn’t find any prints on the envelope or photos. Calls were from a burner phone. The top firm in Houston, and they got nowhere.”
“Not the top firm in Houston.” Cole’s jaw tightened. “That would be my firm, E-Force Security. My brother-in-law Mack runs it with his three brothers. I’d put our operation up against any security company in the country.”
“I didn’t know about your firm, but I’ll gladly hire them.” Relief flooded him. Cole’s firm would take the threat seriously, even if Cole didn’t. At least the Phantom men and their families would be protected. “I need them, because the latest envelope Chester got had pictures of my mother. And pictures of Allegra driving through my security gate.”
Cole flinched, his eyes widening.
“I’ll get Mack on this right away. We’ll get a protective team on all three of you.” His green hand came up and pushed his hair off his forehead.
“I’ve already moved Allegra into the estate.” Logan groaned, remembering her elation at the news. “I may live to regret it, even though she’s in her own bedroom in the guest wing.”
Cole looked hopeful. “Does this mean things aren’t going well between the two of you?”
“Our relationship is civil now, but that’s the extent of it. She hasn’t quite accepted that we can’t be more than friends. I’m not as angry as I used to be. In fact, I’m grateful she broke off the relationship when she did. If she hadn’t, I’m pretty sure we’d be divorced by now. And I never would’ve built up my own business, or created all those apps, or partnered with Phantom.”
“And you never would’ve met Ellery.” Cole’s penetrating stare made Logan uncomfortable, even across the video call.
“That’s right,” Logan admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.
“You’re in love with Ellery, aren’t you?” A broad grin stretched across his face. “Sorry, but all of us were rooting for her. Have you talked to her? Told her how you feel?”
“I was going to. But then my stepdad dropped this bomb on me, and I realized the best way to protect Ellery was to keep her away.” Logan’s heart twisted. “I just pray I can win her back when this is all over.”
