Page 128 of Broken Wheels

Dixon would be better off with someone else.

Maybe it was time Josh faced that reality. He knew this was on him. If he’d released the info years ago, they’d never have gotten to this point.

A moment later, Gary’s arms were around him, but it didn’t help. It did, however, make him cry harder.

“Listen to me,” Gary wheezed. “And make sure you hear what I’m telling you, okay? You know about Eric and how he died. When that happened, I was certain my life was over. If it wasn’t for CrossBow, I would have crawled into a hole and let nature take its course. So what if we’d had a dream? I’d have given it up in a heartbeat.” He squeezed Josh’s shoulders. “Then I met this man, a scattered genius, who encouraged me to make that dream a reality, and he wondered if I’d allow him to stand beside me. Of course I said yes. What idiot wouldn’t?”

Josh blinked away tears. “Is this supposed to make me feel better?”

“What?” Gary chuckled. “No, this is just me giving you some off-the-cuff remarks.” He paused. “Keep one thing in mind, though. Dixon has been trying to get you to notice him since he started here. When we were in the military, he was a hardass motherfucker. He took no shit, even from those of a higher rank. When he was told he had to go, he did, but on his own terms. He started working here, and he kept to himself. He was great at his job, but even I could see he had no real connections to anyone.” Gary let him go and retook his seat, facing Josh. Gary looked him in the eye. “Until he met our resident genius, who tripped every trigger Dixon had. From that moment on, it was his hope that he could get you to see the world around you—and maybe him too.” He held his hands up. “You’re free to think what you want, of course, but I guarantee you without a shadow of doubt that if you could never leave the apartment again, he would be right there with you.”

“But I don’t want that for him,” Josh retorted. “He’s too big, too giving. He needs someone who can take him out and show him off.”

Gary snorted. “Have you ever known Dixon to want to be shown off? Do you have any idea how long he’s been taking care of you? On nights you stayed late, he followed you home to make sure you were safe, since you wouldn’t sleep at CrossBow. He asked the kitchen to whip up your favorites every day, just so he could bring you something he knew would put a smile on your face. Does that sound like a man who’s going to walk away?”

Josh averted his gaze, conscious of his warm cheeks. “Well, when you put it that way, I—” Something on the screen caught his eye, and he leaned closer. “Wait a sec.” He scanned the page again.

Gary’s phone rang. “It’s Dixon.” He swiped a finger over the screen, then pressed a button. “I’ve got you on speaker, so no sweet talk.”

Dixon’s snort was loud. “As if, Cross. You’re not my favorite redhead.”

Gary smirked at Josh, as if to say, “See, told you.” Josh gave him the finger. “What’s up?” Gary asked with a chuckle.

“The government boys are crawling up our asses, trying to get information on your whereabouts, but there’s something strange. With the sheer number of people they have at their disposal, this is more like a skeleton crew. They’re telling us what they want, but they’re not really making an effort to find it.”

“They’re probably trying to flush me out,” Josh said. “Honestly, I don’t think they want to take me in—it’s more a case that they want to take me out. My guess is Kathy’s leaving with the laptop has changed their timeline, and for them to move forward, they’ve got to get rid of me.”

“That won’t happen,” Dixon snarled. “I swear to God, I will kill Spencer myself if I have to.”

“I’ll help you,” Gary promised. “But why are you calling?”

“Oh, sorry. I wanted to let you know Kathy’s information checks out. Between what she has on the computer and whatever she’s put away for safekeeping, she’s definitely going to be on Spencer’s hitlist too.”

“Excellent,” Gary said. “So we have her stuff and her testimony if we can get enough to take Spencer to trial.”

“Which is my job,” Josh added. “And I thought I saw something….”

He let his gaze wander over the page again, trying to find the needle in the haystack that would cement the case against Spencer. If only he could find?—

And there it was, in glorious black and white.

This has to check out.

His fingers danced over the keys as he searched for the link he believed he’d just found. And when he found it, neon lights couldn’t have been brighter.

“Gentlemen, have either of you ever heard of Dynatex, Incorporated?”

Both Gary and Dixon said they hadn’t.

“Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve come across the name, but I’m only just now realizing what it means. Dynatex was a failed company, owned by Spencer, that shut down operations in 2020.”

“Funny you should mention that year,” Dixon remarked. “Kathy says that’s when Spencer first started making noises about his intention to run for office. Except he didn’t share that with the public until this year.” He let out a growl. “So he has been planning this for a while.”

“Tell us more about this company,” Gary asked.

“It’s linked to each of the towns where the attacks took place. After Spencer’s people had gone in to do their cleanup routine, Dynatex swooped in and bought up the land for pennies on the dollar, then built on it.”

“So you think Spencer caused the attacks in the first place, removed the people—in other words, killed them—then bought up the property?” Dixon sounded incredulous.

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