Page 206 of The Forbidden Note

“No. Should I have?”

“They were duds,” Finn says quietly.

My eyebrows climb.

“None of the numbers line up with the student IDs from six years ago. The receipts check out for real events the school was hosting. In other words, we didn’t find anything shady in them.”

I set my water on the counter. The smile is gone now.

No one speaks, but the quiet in the kitchen is damning.

I swing my head around to face Dutch. Looking into his dark eyes, I read everything I don’t want to know.

“This is a dead end, Zane. It’s impossible to take anything from those boxes except for the evidence on Harris’s corruption.”

My heart sinks and I almost feel dizzy.

“You want to abandon Grey’s investigation.”

“We have bigger things to worry about,” Dutch says. His voice drops low. “Like Hall.”

“The guy’s about to pack his bags and head outta town,” Sol says.

“How do you know that?”

“I followed him,” Sol answers brazenly.

My eyes narrow.

He lifts both hands. “I didn’t do anything to him. I just watched. Saw him packing his suitcases and driving out to his lake house. The guy knows he screwed up and he’s spooked as hell.”

“It’s not just Hall,” Dutch grumbles, setting a hand on the counter and leaning over. “If dad really is running for governor, that means we’re in deeper crap than I thought. He’s not going to let up when so much power is on the line.”

“Dad is never getting that governor seat.” I lift my chin, the darkest grin on my face. “And I’m going to make Hall bleed for what he did to me. That’s not a question.”

“No,youaren’t going to do anything,” Dutch says.

I stand straight and go toe-to-toe with my brother. “Want to bet?”

Finn comes to stand between us. He doesn’t have to say anything, but we know he’ll kick our butts if he wants to.

We both back down.

Sol laughs. “Nah, let them go at it. They need to get it out of their system.”

My nostrils flare and I try hard not to show my disappointment. “Why’d you make that kind of decision without me?”

Finn’s expression is carefully blank. “Dutch is concerned about Cadey. He doesn’t want to bring a baby into a situation where dad has an even tighter grip on us. We need to focus on what’s important.”

“And who I want to protect isn’t important?” I hiss.

Dutch folds his arms over his chest. “We know you like Miss Jamieson, but…”

“But she’s not my wife so she can go to hell?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“Screw that!”

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