Page 99 of Durango

I roll my eyes but don’t fight them. The truth is, I’m out of ideas on what to do, and they have dealt with worse men than Tyler, I’m sure.

“I should check in and see if my employer has reached out yet.” Samantha grabs her phone. “Nope. No messages.”

“Didn’t they suspend you for a week? You have a few days left.”

She sighs. “If they want me back, they’ll call me in advance. If not, they’ll wait and tell me the last day.” She scrolls through her phone. “Holy shit.”

“What?” I ask, then pop the last bite of my breakfast sandwich into my mouth.

“Tyler is dead.”

I nearly choke but manage to get the food down. “Look, I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

She turns her phone to face me. “I’m not kidding.”

A news story is pulled up, and the headline reads, “Heir to the Bentley Fortune Shot Dead.”

I grab her phone and scroll through the article. “Tyler Bentley was shot while walking in New York City. No further details have been provided.” I can’t believe what I’m reading. I hand her phone back and pick up mine, immediately searching for Tyler Bentley. Several hits and all state the same thing.

“Was he mugged?” I ask.

“Who cares? This is great news,” Samantha says.

The guys walk in from the back.

“Tyler’s dead,” Durango says.

“We know,” Samantha says. “It’s all over the news.”

Durango walks up behind me and reads the headlines from over my shoulder.

“Our guy, Trip, confirmed it and called us,” Axel says.

I stand up, feeling the need to move. “All it says is that he was shot.” I turn to Samantha. “He could have been mugged or maybe those thugs found him.”

“Thugs?” Axel asks. He turns to Durango. “Does she mean the men you told me about?”

Durango nods. “Yes, those two men Tyler named in that video.”

“Do you still have a copy of that video?” Axel asks.

“I do,” Samantha says.

“Who all knows about it?” Axel asks.

“Just Willow and me. Well, Tyler knew, but he’s dead now.”

Axel and Durango share a look.

“I doubt Tyler told anyone about the video,” Samantha says.

“How can you be sure?” Axel asks.

“Because Tyler was secretive. Besides, if anyone in his family knew, they’d be in charge of deliveries, not his niece.”

“I agree,” I say. “Tyler was all about having secrets. I mean, I never knew he had a family. I’m certain they never knew about me.”

Durango pulls his phone from his pocket. “I’m going to ask Trip to dig in further and see if he can get a copy of the police report.” He steps into the living room as he’s typing.

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