Page 23 of Hitched

“I guess it sucks that you can’t go back to Scotland again until the cops give you the say so, huh.” Beckett observes.

“I was just there. No big deal. This will be over soon, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Our dad would have hit the fucking roof, man. You’re lucky.” Chas scoffs, pulling at the lace on his dress shoe. “He had zero tolerance for any trouble.”

“Yeah, and he didn’t even threaten us with the military. He shipped us there, anyway, so we were terrified of what he’d do if we ever really fucked up.” Beckett volunteers.

“My da isn’t much better, boys. To be truthful, I think he’s holding out. He wants me to focus on this Laney thing and then he’s going to hammer on me for this.”

“But you’re just being questioned.” Chas states. “And I still don’t understand why. I mean, did you know Rachel?”

I shake my head. “No. Never met her. I’m puzzled, too, boys.” They exchange a look that I can’t decipher. “You believe me, don’t you? Like I told you, I was with someone when she was killed. She just won’t talk because she’s married. But it could take a long time for this case to be dealt with, since Rachel had so many people coming in and out of that house of hers.”

“I’d like to find out if she was truly pregnant. The bitch.” Chas mutters indignantly.

Beckett pats him on the back. “We’ll never know, brother. And at least you know that if she was, that it wasn’t yours.”

He shrugs. “Okay, are we done here?” Chas says. “I’d like to get off this subject and get the hell out of dodge if it’s okay with you.” He looks at his brother.

“Sure, man. But we can’t go to the goddamn ranch like we wanted to. We’ve gotta lay low in the good old state of North Carolina in the meantime.” Beckett reminds.

Chas all but shudders. “Okay, I’m outta here.”

Beckett follows his brother out, as I give them both brief handshakes. I want to ask Chas if he’s okay, but I think better of it. And then I consider how creepy this whole situation is turning out to be, especially for him, and I decide that I’ll put a little less of a personal touch on things, just until everything calms down some.

…but it doesn’t.

…and it all explodes in my face.

Laney

Da gives me a peck on each cheek as I walk into his office. “You wanted to see me?”

Da’s face is impassive, which means that there’s something on his mind. When he’s smiling, he’s looking for input from me, but when his face is set, he’s playing up in his mind what he’s going to say. Da is a very calculating man. He never says anything that he doesn’t mean. So, I wait and say nothing else.

“I assume that you know about the latest Harris scandal.” He starts with.

I nod once for emphasis. “Yes, I do.”

He twiddles his thumbs together. “Caleb wouldn’t be stupid enough to actually go through with something so cold-blooded, no. He’d hire someone to do the work.”

“Are you saying that you think he had something to do with it?”

His face changes. “You think he didn’t.”

“Well, I…I don’t believe he’s a murderer, if that’s what you’re implying.”

“Caleb Harris is no saint, Laney. Don’t kid yourself.”

“Just because Dougall Harris is relentless doesn’t mean that Caleb is.”

He tilts his head apprehensively. “Why do you defend him, darling?”

“I’m not defending him, da, I just don’t think that he’s a killer. I don’t get that vibe from him.”

He lifts a brow. “You’ve seen him.”

My heart starts to pound. I know full well that Dougall Harris would feed his offspring to the lions for the good of his company, however, my da would burn bridges to protect his children. Da has never had a good word to share about the Harris family. We are longtime rivals. In fact, da loves nothing more than to hear about the latest trials that the family is undergoing. We’ve gone as far as to lay bets against them for entertainment at dinner parties with family and friends.

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