Page 10 of Hitched

“Don’t pull out of any deals, my man. Don’t jump the gun. Wait until the investigation is underway and see what comes of it. I love you, buddy, but I think you’re blowing this way out of proportion.”

He sighs. “Chas is having a fucking cow. Dale and Bryn are staying with him.”

“What, while you freak out?” I say with a soft chuckle. “It looks like you’re the one that needs to be watched over, if you ask me.”

“I’m fine. I just…this is shit that we’re not up for.”

“Your other brothers have had their share of trouble, too, man. It doesn’t end.”

“God, do you know everything?” He practically growls, but it’s sort of a half laugh, and a half ‘I really don’t know about you’.

“It’s my job to know everything, Beckett. And if you’re smart, you and the other four Fords will double up on your security measures, and on your eyes, if you want my advice. You guys are prey to many now. Hell, I can loan you some of my eyes or we can make a deal, but either way, you’ve got to get better backup for shit like this.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s about time we protected more than just our fucking assets after this shit. The last thing we need is someone pegging one of us as a murderer.”

“That goes double for me. My da spares no expense for eyes. Never has. There isn’t a social security number we haven’t checked, a body we haven’t followed, or a background we haven’t fully investigated since da’s bank account reached seven figures, and I was just a tyke then.”

“And you swear that’s how you knew about Rachel.” He says flatly, checking.

“I swear to you, man. On everything I own and love.”

But as I say this, we both hear my security panel sound, and as I check my phone, I see two police cruisers in the monitor, waiting to be let in. “Who’s coming over to visit you at this time of night, Caleb?” Beckett asks, but from his tone, we both know well enough who it is.

“You called it, my brother. It’s our boys in blue.”

“Care to take back anything you said to me in the last ten minutes, man?” He asks, levelling with me.

I hesitate only for a second, before saying. “Not one fucking word.”

Chapter 4

Laney

Although I may come off like I can drink my da under the table, I pay for it dearly the next day, and today is no exception. As I stand in my kitchen, sucking down an Advil, and da’s hangover remedy, which consists of raw eggs, lemonade, Tobasco sauce, and an entire bottle of Gatorade, I scroll through my phone, and I have to blink twice. “Shit.” The first person I call is Brandy, since, well, she’s usually in the know about way more than me, so it’s sometimes a race for us to call each other.

“Did you see it?” She asks, voice dripping with satisfaction, without so much as a hello.

“I did. Holy shit.”

Plain as day, sure, it’s an article from some rag, but it states that Caleb Harris has been held for questioning in a murder investigation. It also states that Chas Ford is being detained as a person of interest in the same investigation.

“Who’s the chick?” I ask, checking out the photo of the dearly departed, clad in a cheap Armani suit and knockoff Manolo Blahniks. Her bottled-blonde hair is iron-straightened and tied back so tightly, she wouldn’t have needed a facelift for years.

“No idea. Probably his latest conquest.” Brandy states, unimpressed. “Maybe that’s really the reason why he was at the bar last night.”

“I don’t think so. He could pick any bar and he picked the one that I was at? Not buying it. He didn’t kill her.”

She laughs out loud. “How would you know!”

“Why would he risk everything for a slut like that? Think about it.”

“Maybe she threatened his billions.” I can almost hear her shrug.

“Do you know how many people do that?” I snort. “He’d be a goddamn serial killer.”

“True. But, still. You don’t think he did it?”

I frown. “Na. He doesn’t have that vibe. I would have picked up on that straight away.”

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