Page 92 of Axe-identally Married
He stared ahead vacantly, his jaw slack. “She said her name was Amy.”
“And you met her at the Moose that night?”
He shook his head. “No. I met her at the dojo last year.”
“Dojo?”
He patted Ripley’s head, still shellshocked. “Yeah, I’m a brown belt. Been studying martial arts for years.”
That was news to me. Though it was so like Jude to take up an intense hobby and get really good at it but tell no one. “Do the guys know? Debbie?”
He shook his head. “Just Noah.”
Of course. “You told him with your psychic twin connection?”
He turned and glowered at me. “No dumbass. On the phone. Well, over text, I hate talking on the phone.”
“And you met this girl there?”
“Yeah. Sensei does free self-defense classes one Saturday a month. I help out sometimes. She came in, introduced herself as Amy, and we chatted. She was pretty and nice and that was it.”
“And then?”
“A month later, she’s at the Moose. I was playing that night, but after, we talked, and things progressed.”
“You had a one-night stand with her.”
He glared at me, pushing his glasses up his nose. “I’m a single thirty-two-year-old guy. I’m allowed to bring girls home. You’re getting judgy now that you’ve wifed up.”
“Sorry.” I shrugged. I guess I was, but I didn’t care. I was delighted to be wifed up, thank you very much.
“She was incredible. I would have loved to hang out with her again, but she slipped out while I was sleeping and didn’t even give me her number.” He put his head in his hands. “And now she’s missing.”
I patted his back. “The feds are on it, and it may not be related to what happened to her brother. It could be a misunderstanding.”
He looked up at me, his dark blue eyes blazing. “It’s all related. And it all comes back to our fucking father.”
Dammit. We’d never be free of this. We’d forever live beneath the cloud of our father’s crimes. The fucker had been behind bars for more than a year and yet, horrible stuff kept happening.
While I sat with Jude, I closed my eyes and replayed every moment of the meeting I’d had with Parker Gagnon. She believed I could somehow help. Was she right? Or was I only wasting her time? Deimos Industries. Business connections,deposits and withdrawals. My thoughts bounced from one to another, then back again.
When I left Jude’s, I headed straight into town. I’d promised to do my part, but I’d been too distracted to really put any effort into it.
This would never end unless we put a stop to it ourselves. How many years had the fucking feds been lurking? And Chief Souza was useless. Year after year, this town had been in danger. We’d been living with criminals in our midst. My dad had taken the fall, but he was clearly only one cog in a bigger wheel.
My family needed me. My brothers and their wives and my niece and nephew. And Willa. The thought of her being pulled into any of this made me sick to my stomach. This had to end. And Parker was our best shot.
My contributions may not be major, but I had to do something. I needed to get to the bottom of this shit.
Chapter Thirty-One
Cole
“So good to see you, son.” The mayor’s smile was blindingly white, almost as white as his hair.
I shook his hand and gave him an easy smile.
“So I take it you’ve considered my offer?” He arched a brow. “To join my staff?”
