Page 36 of Tainted Truth

My lips press flat. “Something isn’t right.”

“Dustin, before you go, do you know why you were tasked with getting rid of those files?”

“No.”

“I lost a very prized possession. She slipped through my fingers, and I’ve been doing everything in my power to get her to make the right choice and come home. She’s proven to be more stubborn than I originally believed her to be, but the things keeping her here won’t be a problem much longer.”

“I—I don’t see how?—”

“I’ve had my eye on this prize for the last seven years. For four of those, she was mine. So, when my flower ran away to New York, I tore apart this whole damn country looking for her. She took something of mine when she left, and when I finally found her, I kept a close eye, with help, of course; I’m a busy man.”

“Uh. Are you talking about art or a?—”

“Don’t interrupt me, you insipid, spineless man. After all my hard work trying to find my missing piece, I wasn’t going to let something like a few trivial police reports ruin everything. I have a spotless record, and it needs to remain that way.”

“Okay? Well, you’re in the clear.”

“Yes, I know that. But do you honestly believe that I bought your pathetic story? A shoplifter?”

“You need to get better at lying,” Pierce chimes in. “But it’s too late for you to develop that skill.”

Another crackle comes through the speaker.

“Let me go! I didn’t tell them anything!”

“We know you didn’t—you don’t know enough to say anything. But now that you’ve seen us, we can’t let you leave.”

BANG! BANG!

Two shots snap in the air.

“Shit,” I mutter.

Rio states the obvious. “Well, he’s dead.”

“Can you believe he actually thought we were going to let him leave?” Pierce laughs. The sound grates against my nerves. “Spencer’s boy toys obviously got to him.”

“Don’t call them that. They’re nothing to her.”

“If you say so.”

“What’s that bump under his shirt?” Anthony asks.

A rip of cloth echoes in my car.

“Shit! He’s wearing a wire.”

“That’s our cue.” I throw the car into drive and peel out of the parking lot.

Asher isn’t going to like this.

CHAPTER 14

ASHER

Brewing a cup of coffee, I rub my eyes and accept that the little sleep I got earlier is the only rest I’m getting tonight. Nightmares of Rachel plague me. I used to miss her and how she made us feel. I’ve mourned her and moved on, but finding her hanging in my closet is a sight that will never leave me.

My body drops onto the couch, and I scan the contents of the coffee table in front of me. Crime scene photos, autopsy reports, and Post-It notes litter the dingy cedar wood. It’s like a morbid vision board.

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