For some reason, that’s what makes me believe him. Judy drops to my side. “Who is it?”

Yanni has another puff of his joint and takes his time letting his exhale out. “These new kids always think owning a nightclub will be easy money. Too bad for them.”

“Who is it?”

“Carson Alexander. The kind of guy you want to stay clear of. You try with him what you tried with me, and they’ll be scraping parts of you out of the brickwork.”

“And you think he’s got Colin?”

“Carson doesn’t let a hundred K go easily. If he’s got Colin, he’ll be long gone.”

“Then …”

Yanni doesn’t sound at all sympathetic. “You’ll never know. He’ll be the ghost that Carson is.” Yanni chuckles. “I tried to warn Colin. He got too big for his boots.”

“You tried to warn Colin?”

“Yep.”

“Why? If he’s gone, then this is an easy way to get rid of Saint Clare’s.”

Yanni sighs and scrubs the lit end of his joint against the bricks. “You’re not listening, little boy. I don’t give a shit about Saint Clare’s. Colin wanted to play the game though, and this is what he gets.”

“Because he borrowed some money?”

“You don’t want to owe someone like Carson. Colin should have kept to himself.”

I swallow, grip tightening on Judy, trying not to picture what the fuck Colin has gotten himself into and how much St. Clare actually knows. Is he really that blindly in the dark, or was this whole thing a lie? Did they send me here to get rid of me? Why? If Carson really is after St. Clare and Colin, then wouldn’t St. Clare want more people on his side?

“Let me throw a hypothetical at you,” I say, tucking Judy away. “If Colin made a deal with Carson that his brother didn’t know about, would Carson then go after the both of them? Or only Colin?”

“From what I know about him—and I’m no expert—he focuses on the person he has a contract with. If he’s having trouble finding Colin though … maybe. Unlikely, but maybe.”

Well, I now know a whole lot that I almost wish I didn’t. It sounds like the first step for me would be finding out how much St. Clare really knows. Colin is still withdrawing money to pay for these debts, so if he’s paying up, would Carson be after him at all? Did St. Clare just go along with all of Colin’s plans, or was he actively involved in them?

“Wouldn’t know where to find Carson, would you?” I ask.

Yanni eyes me. “You don’t want to do that.”

“Not sure I have a choice.”

“You have a very good choice. Get the fuck out of this mess. You don’t want it.”