Page 11 of Hitched

“Maybe it was a crime of passion. Fucked her brains out or something.”

“It says her throat was slashed, Brandy. Last time I checked, people generally don’t cut each other’s throats for pleasure. Maybe a little choking, but no cutting.”

“I wonder how he’s even being detained. I mean, I’m sure he can buy his way out of that, can’t he? He’s probably got the world’s best attorneys at the ready with his wallet.”

“Maybe he didn’t pay them enough of a retainer to be on call twenty-four-seven.”

“That’s bullshit. They’ve got a team of lawyers at the ready, if they have any brains at all, and I know that they do.”

“Why, because Caleb’s da wants you and him to marry?”

“Well, although I hate the son of a bitch, in an ideal world, it would be the perfect scenario. And quit changing the subject.”

“I’m not changing the subject. We’re justifying whether or not they have the brains and/or power to dig themselves out of a murder investigation.”

I take another sip of hangover remedy and wince. “He didn’t do it. But I’m not going to stand on the jury defending him, I’m just saying that he’s not the murdering type. If he really wanted her dead, he would have hired someone to do the dirty work and hired a team of people to hide his tracks.”

“So, you’re saying that it’s possible he didn’t actually do it, but that he’s behind it.” Brandy clarifies.

“Exactly.”

“Well, what would be his motivation?”

“I’m pretty sure if he’s connected to the Ford pretty boys, then he did it to help them out.”

“Why would he do that?”

“To protect his investment.”

“And why wouldn’t they just hire someone to off her?”

“Because they were too busy trying to skulk their way out of the paternity suit. I don’t think that they’d go that far. To have her killed. Their attorney hadn’t even finished ironing out all the details as far as I know.”

“You make my head spin sometimes, you know that?”

I chuckle. “Why?”

“God, Laney, do you know their preference in briefs? Perhaps the name of a childhood pet? My God, where do you find the time to stay on top of all this shit?”

“Don’t patronize me.” I tell her, bored. “It’s part of the process, Brandy, and you know it as well as I do. Nobody goes to bed with anyone in this business unless you know everything and anything there is to know about a person.”

“If that’s the case, how come you didn’t already know about Dougall Harris’s plan to marry you and Caleb up?”

“That’s about the only sacred ground. What they say to each other.” I explain. “Anything they say in public or otherwise is fair game. It’s common knowledge that anyone with our kind of bread would have eyes on everything.”

“It’s creepy if you ask me.”

“Please. Like you don’t keep tabs on people.”

“Only on my ex, and I don’t even have to do that anymore.”

“Then you’re a fool. With all the money you have. Don’t come crying to me if you get rolled.”

She snorts, unconvinced. “Don’t think I haven’t already. Look at the goddamn alimony I had to give to my scum-sucking ex-husband.”

“Well, again, that’s your stupidity. With your income, you should have had a prenuptial agreement.”

“What are you? The billionaire rule book?” She whines, unimpressed and irritated.

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