Page 23 of Obsessed Fox

"What do you think it means?" I rubbed my palm along my beard. I didn't know where Nolen was headed with this.

"I'm not sure, but you know I don't believe in coincidences. I get the feeling Matthew wanted to replace these three with people he trusted and found a way to do it."

"I know you have a shit ton of proof, but I still can't believe Matty would do this. The stuff Hendrix showed me isn't the brother I grew up with."

We’d had this same discussion over and over last night before Maisie finally decided she was done and went to bed before dinner. I didn't have the slightest idea how to get her to realize people changed. I knew it was hard to believe, but the sooner she realized the possibility, the better chance we had of figuring things out. If that was what she wanted. She still hadn't told me what she wanted to do.

"Okay, so maybe we look at it differently, then."

Both Maisie and I gave him a strange look but it was me who opened my mouth. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Maybe instead of taking over for Atlas, Matthew's trying to change what the organization does."

"I'm not following," Maisie said.

That made two of us.

Nolen threw his hands up. "Honestly? I'm not even sure what I'm trying to say but you seem insistent that your brother would never do this and I want to believe you."

Maisie gave him a small smile and in that moment I wanted to smash my friend’s face in. I wanted to be the only one who gave her reasons to smile.

"I appreciate you trying. Umm . . . do you think there's something else you could check for me?" Maisie fiddled with one of the chains on her pants while looking down at the table.I couldn't imagine what had her so nervous when she was normally so confident.

"Absolutely." Nolen had his fingers on the keyboard ready to grant her every wish. I rolled my eyes at his eagerness. My friend was such a people pleaser.

"Are you able to see if the sheriff ran my fingerprints?"

Nolen started to type and then stopped suddenly before snapping his head up. "Is there a reason you're asking?"

Maisie looked at me. Giving her a small nod, I told her without words that she could trust Nolen. The man had saved my life on numerous occasions. It was why I felt comfortable sharing the little I did.

"You might've noticed that my last name isn't the same as my brother's."

Nolen leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I did. Not completely uncommon."

"Well, we had the same last name up until I came to Willow Creek and had it changed."

"Go on." I could see the wheels turning in Nolen's mind. He might've looked into Matthew's background but he would never cross the line and search Maisie's unless asked. He was too much of an honest fucker, unlike me.

"See, I thought I needed to change it because I was on the run for a crime, but then Hendrix informed me that wasn't the case."

Listening to Maisie try to explain that she had murdered not one but two men was brutal. She was dragging things out when all I wanted her to do was spit the words out already. Nolen, on the other hand, was the epitome of patience. The man was getting on my last nerve.

"What kind of crime exactly?"

Maisie's gaze was firmly on the table in front of her when she whispered, "Murder."

It was a few seconds and a whole lot of blinking before Nolen spoke again. "I see."

I wasn’t convinced he did.

"Atlas Decker, to be exact." She still had yet to look up; not at all like the confident woman I was used to.

"Oh . . . umm . . . okay. I can confirm what Hendrix said is true. There's no person of interest in Atlas's disappearance and no fingerprints on file for his case. I hacked into the police department and looked into the case file when his name came up with your brother’s. I'm not sure what happened that day, but no one suspects you."

Maisie finally looked up. "None of this makes sense. I left Atlas bleeding out on his living room floor. The knife I used was still in his neck. There's no way my fingerprints weren't all over it."

The shocked look on Nolen's face would have been comical if this was any other situation. But it wasn't. This was Maisie. My Maisie. And there was nothing funny about her resorting to killing a man.

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