Page 134 of Broken Wheels

“And nothing,” Chalmers snapped. “I’m not going?—”

Dix didn’t have time for this. He turned and smacked a hand over Chalmers’s wound, eliciting a shriek of pain. Jazz snickered as she rushed from the room.

“You motherfucker!” Chalmers snarled.

Dix locked gazes with him. “You’re useless to us like this. Go get fixed up so you can get home and figure out how to patch things up with Grady.”

Chalmers stared at him in obvious bewilderment. “What?”

Dix snorted. “I’m no idiot. I see the way you look at him. You’re so fucking in love with him, it’s killing you. That’s why you did this.”

“Not the only reason,” he groaned. “Carson has covered for me plenty of times. The one where I grabbed the waiter’s ass? That wasn’t the worst. I owe him, you know?”

“Then you can owe him by surviving so he can slap you himself. Don’t make this into a fight you can’t win.”

“Fine,” he huffed. God, he was pale. “I’m gonna pass out.”

Of course he was. Adrenalin was great at keeping you moving, but once it stopped? You were down for the count.

Dix took the key from Chalmers’s hand and unlocked the cuffs. Carson was a mess, but he managed to murmur his thanks before he sank into unconsciousness.

He’ll live.

He had to. They needed him.

Chapter 40

Josh looked around the safe house.

So is this how it’s gonna be from now on? The thought depressed the hell out of him.

Coby took that moment to jump onto his lap, and he picked the fluffy ball up and held her to his chest with a sigh.

“Looks like you and me are going to be doing a lot of this in the future, Cobes.”

The kitten cocked her head, then stood and bumped against Josh’s chin. Not for the first time, he could feel the tears welling up. This was all such crap, and it was his own making. If I’d just gone public all those years ago, we wouldn’t be here now. For one thing, he wouldn’t have been accused of mass murder on national television.

Gary and Michael said they’d have the CrossBow lawyers look into it, remember? While Josh did appreciate the thought, he had his own lawyers who were already working the case, and they’d already confirmed it for him. Yes, he could definitely sue Spencer for defamation, but they all agreed the cat was out of the bag. Even if he won, even if Spencer was proven to be the guilty party, Josh’s life was well and truly over.

Okay, they hadn’t said it was over in so many words, but Josh wasn’t dumb. He gave an internal snort. Well, apparently sometimes. Spencer had screwed him big-time, and not in the fun way. Despite what everyone—his own lawyers included—had told him, Josh knew his life was going to undergo a drastic change, and he’d have to adapt to that, as much as he hated the idea. But there were so many people—CrossBow, government, especially Carson, lawyers—who were out there, trying to give Josh at least a semblance of his life back. His lawyers were contacting the news stations, demanding to know why no one questioned Spencer when he made his bogus pronouncement, why they’d all just let him tell lies and didn’t call him on it. Not to mention they were threatening lawsuits against the stations. In fact, there was so much litigation flying, it made Josh dizzy to think about it. If they won, a lot of animal charities around the country would be receiving hefty anonymous donations.

Coby began to knead Josh’s chest, her nails piercing the shirt a few times. It stung, but the bite of pain helped to keep Josh focused too, not quite as gently as his alarm, but it served a purpose.

“You’re telling me to go back to work, aren’t you?”

Coby bumped his chin again with her head and the kneading continued.

He went back to the files. It wasn’t a surprise to find Spencer was engaged in a lot of dirty dealings—deceptive practices that weren’t much different than a hundred other companies, definitely not enough to topple his empire—but every little bit helped.

He’d found as many online videos of Spencer as he could, and one of them had proved hopeful. It had been an interview, with Spencer appearing confident and relaxed.

The interviewer chuckled. “How do you do it? I mean, you have a multinational company to run, plus you are out here helping to clean up after disasters. When do you find time to be yourself?”

Spencer smirked. “I have a great personal assistant. Without her, everything would fall apart. To that end, I take notes and dictation on my phone, and then she transcribes it so I can look back in our records to see what’s happened.”

So many thoughts tumbled through Josh’s head at that part.

And what do you think of your great personal assistant now? He prayed Spencer’s meticulous habits would prove to be his downfall.

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