Page 67 of Vengeance

Shep turns to him. “Better call after this.”

Lily and Phoenix walk in, both beaming, and Jennings nods his head. “We’re all here.”

Ty notices Lex sits next to Colt, which surprises him but also makes him feel like things are finally starting to get back to normal. Except for the hatred between some of the old ladies. Like the daggers Lex shoots Autumn. What the fuck is going on lately?

“Wait, we’re doing this with the women and Tate?” Rocco asks.

“They’re all part of this, too,” Jennings says.

“Besides,” Brock says and walks around to shake hands with Grayson, “I outsourced a lot of this work to Tate. He’s a PI now, you know. Probably needs all the business we can throw his way.”

Grayson laughs and pushes him jokingly. Ty looks to Shep and whispers, “It’s weird to think he went to school with Brock and Colt. Tate always seemed older. Like our age, not theirs.”

“It’s even weirder to see that he actually looks like he fits in this clubhouse since he’s arrested most of us at least once,” Shep whispers back.

“The world must be ending. I guess my worries about Tara are moot because we’ll soon cease to exist. Probably fucking aliens.”

“Shut the fuck up about aliens,” Shep groans and moves away.

He’ll be sorry he didn’t listen to me when they inevitably attack us. I’m the only one prepared.

“Thanks for the business. I’ve been really struggling,” Grayson says and rolls his eyes as he laughs.

“How many cheating husbands have you gotten pictures of?” Colt asks as he pulls Lex from the seat to his left and onto his lap. “And can we get a slideshow put together to watch later?”

Ashley levels him with a glare. “Shut up, Colt.”

“I haven’t taken any cheating spouse cases, but I’ve had a few insurance fraud cases. The biggest ones, though, are deadbeat baby daddies. I have to say... It’s a hell of a lot more fun without the badge. Although it was nice to walk in somewhere and flash it to make everyone cower in fear. Unless it was you guys. You took it as a challenge.”

“We’ve got other cases, but the club business definitely helps,” Ashley says and wraps her arms around Grayson’s waist.

Lex lifts her eyebrows. “We?”

Grayson shakes his head, cutting Ashley off before she can answer. “Here’s what I found.”

Brock takes the folder he holds out, and Jennings asks, “Anyone dirty?”

“Oh, they’re all dirty, but I think we have different standards. But if there’s a link between the Hellraisers and the Slashers, I couldn’t find one.”

Nodding, Brock says, “I didn’t find anything either.”

“Did you happen to look into the situation with Dax’s old lady?”

“No, I didn’t have time. Did you?”

Grayson lets out a small chuckle and looks to Jennings. “Based on what I found, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dax Hartman is your new Psycho. Pre-Lacey Psycho.”

“What happened?” Jennings asks him.

“His wife was in their house as it burned down while he was away on business. I’m not even going to go into what their business was. Anyway, nothing was able to be recovered. From a cop’s perspective, it doesn’t seem as clean and accidental as the cops in Summerville wrote it off to be.”

“Why?”

“Because what was left of the body, which was burned beyond recognition with no DNA to recover and no teeth for dentals, was found in the bed on the second floor.”

Ty looks to the others, and he’s glad to know he’s not the only one confused as he sees wheels turning for most of the men in the room. “Okay, but if it was at night when she was sleeping, is that weird?”

“Teeth don’t disappear in a fire. Where’d the fire start?” Lex asks.

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