I grinned at him. “I will destroy you.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he took a few more steps back. “You know, when you say it with a straight face like that, it sounds more like murder.”

“Your time is ticking away.”

“Bastard.” Tex turned on his heels. “Give me thirty. I want to shower.”

I tapped the watch on my wrist. Tex groaned as he ran up to his apartment.

I headed back toward the car and reached for a pack of cigarettes. Tex’s phone buzzed and rattled in the cupholder, stopping me in my tracks. A single glance at the screen showed his father’s name.

Anger blossomed in the middle of my chest and seeped to my fingertips. If there was a man I wanted to hurt more than anything in this world, it was Henry Caster. He’d played a hand in nearly bringing my family to ruins two years ago. Benito had forced Gin and me not to return the favor. He could easily be forgotten as an old man forced to retire and live out his days in agonizing pain and always wondering if we would come back for him after the bullet in his leg. It was punishment enough, but that wasn’t his only crime. The one that was above all was the harm he’d done to Tex.

The phone vibrated in my hand. I was oblivious to the fact I’d picked it up in the first place. I hit the green button. Air clogged my throat, making it impossible to talk as I brought it to my ear.

“Boy, you have lost your damn mind.” What sounded like a woman in the background pleaded for him not to get angry. Something about his blood pressure getting too high.

“Kate, let me handle this,” Henry growled.

I picked out the sounds of an engine and knew they were in the car.

“Are you high again?”

My stomach twisted

“Gregor called, said you quit. There you go fucking up a good thing. Everything has been handed to you, and you continue to mess it all up. The fact that the Chief of Police offered you detective was your one moment of luck, and you pissed on it.” He cleared his throat. “Anything to say for yourself?”

I looked up in time to see an old burgundy Cadillac had pulled into the parking lot. As clear as day was Henry Caster with the phone to his ear and a woman beside him, crying.

“You’re doing that shit again, aren’t you?” he growled over the line. “You made your mother cry. We aren’t going through this shit again.”

I said nothing. He hadn’t noticed me yet. I slipped the rest of the way out of the car and gently closed the door. I kept the phone close to my ear, listening to him.