Oh, sure, she thought he’d decide after the opening, but he’d already made up his mind. If Lily still wanted the job after working with him for two months, it was hers.
A big black Cadillac complete with a set of steer horns on the grill pulled into the parking lot beside his truck. And for some reason a chill of foreboding crept up the back of his neck. He stepped outside.
A man got out of the SUV’s rear door. There was somebody else behind the wheel, but he couldn’t see too much of the driver because the windows were tinted so dark. The passenger who’d got out wore dark sunglasses so you couldn’t see his eyes. He had male-pattern baldness and a shiny blue suit that said “money.”
“Ethan Brand?” he asked. His voice had an irritating scratchiness to it. Not the kind you got from a cold, the kind that was permanent.
Ethan nodded once. “That’s right. Who are you?”
“I’m the man whose messages you’ve been ignoring.”
“Only messages I been ignorin’ were the ones that sounded like scams. You the feller offerin’ to list the place on Google, or the one offerin’ free accountin’ services?”
“Angus Silver.” He offered a hand. Ethan didn’t take it. “I’m the one offering to buy it for twice what it’s worth,” he said.
“Oh, that Angus Silver.” He’d done a little checking after Willow had mentioned that the guy so eager to purchase Manny’s from him was a small-time criminal. Apparently he aspired to be big-time like his older brother, but he just wasn’t very good at criming. “I didn’t ignore your messages. I replied that I wasn’t interested in selling.”
“I e-mailed you three more times.”
“’No’ is a complete answer. Or so the womenfolk tell me.”
“You have a lot of those around, don’t you? Womenfolk?”
The way he said the word was mocking. Ethan didn’t reply, but he did take a step closer, spine straight, shoulders square, eyes mean.
The smaller man averted his eyes. “So you’re making changes to the place?” he asked.
“Yeah, so it’s closed to the public. You understand.”
“There’s a second part to my offer,” he said.
“There’s nothing you can do?—”
“There’s something I could…not do. I could not inform the FBI about the previous owner’s money laundering deal with your late father.”
“I’ve already talked to ‘em,” Ethan said. It was a bold-faced lie.
Angus Silver pushed his sunglasses up on top of his head, and looked Ethan right in the eyes, as if he could tell whether or not he was lying. Ethan gazed right at the feller’s blue and bloodshot eyes, unblinking.
He lowered the sunglasses again. “Well, that was only off the top of my head. There’re other things I could not do.
“That sounds like a threat.”
“People don’t say no to me.”
“We both know that’s a lie, as I’ve said no to you multiple times now.” Ethan leaned sideways to get a look at the guy’s license plate. Silver-1. Of course it was. He straightened again. “Look, lemme save you some trouble. My father is Garrett Brand?—”
“Your father was Vince de Lorean.”
“Sheriff Garrett Brand. And my uncle’s his chief deputy?—”
“And your pretty cousin Willow’s his rookie. One of your womenfolk. I know ‘em all. Make it a point to know about the families of the men I deal with. Especially their women.”
Just then Ethan saw motion at the far corner of the cantina. He didn’t want to look and give anyone away, but he had a strong feeling someone, maybe one of his cousins, had been watching all this go down.
“That redheaded veterinarian, Maria,” the criminal droned on. “And sexy as sin and barely legal Drew. That hot little nurse-turned-bartender, Lily?—”
Ethan had the guy by the front of his shirt before he could finish the sentence. The car door opened, and the driver stepped out, put his hand inside his coat and said, “Let him go.”
