Page 1 of Deception
Chapter One
Griffin’s Beach
Colt
Colt Nichols holds the door to Tate Investigations open for Brock Bradshaw as they climb the front steps.
“After you, ma’am,” Colt jokes, trying to give off an air of calmness.
The tech genius of the club with the shaved head he’s sported since elementary school punches the blond President on the shoulder before laughing, “Fuck you.”
If he knows Colt’s heart isn’t in the lighthearted air he tries to put on, he doesn’t say anything. Thankfully. Finding out the man they believed to be the serial killer terrorizing Griffin’s Beach may not be the true De-Identifier has kept Colt awake at night.Not because the real killer could take more victims, but because he could be after his wife, Lex.
“It’s still weird seeing you wearing that President patch no matter how much time passes,” Grayson Tate says, standing from his desk to shake hands with both men.
It’s still relatively unbelievable that Colt and Grayson can work together so well after everything in their past. Not only was Grayson a cop, an overall enemy to an outlaw, but he was at one point in love with Lex. Obsessed might be a better description.
Not that Colt blames the man. He’s wanted Lex since he was fifteen, and even when they were apart, he never stopped thinking about her. Now that they’re married, he can admit he’s a bit obsessed himself. He never went as far as dressing women up in blonde, curly wigs to fuck them like Grayson did, though. That was a bit extreme.
“Trust me, I still feel the same,” Colt says and takes a seat in front of the desk while Brock settles into the one next to him. “We’re over a year now, and it still feels like a damn dream sometimes.”
“Except when your wife wears your kutte and nothing but,” Brock says, elbowing him with a wink.
Groaning, Colt leans back and nods. “Thatis a walking wet dream I’ll never get tired of.”
If there are any doubts that Grayson has any lingering feelings for Colt’s wife, they disappear when Grayson leans back and smirks. “I don’t have a kutte, but I do love when Ash walks around in my T-shirt. There’s something delicious about seeing her that way.”
Grayson Tate used to be an officer with the Griffin’s Beach Police Department until they fired him. His relationship with a daughter of the club created trust issues, even though the heads of the department worked with the Drifters for decades before.
Taking a bullet for his now-wife cost him his job. It also cost the GBPD what small thread they had holding their working ties with the Drifters. They’re starting to understand just how big of a mistake it was to piss off the Drifters like they did.
The Chief of Police, Julian Black, continues to tout about cleaning up crime on the streets of Griffin’s Beach, but it’s moved from being an exaggeration to a flat out lie. So much so that the Captain, Travis Hall, approached the club to try and help find the serial killer who evaded every pathetic effort of the cops. And find him they did.
“I personally like when Summer wears her expensive lingerie that shows off everything I love to see. Even only months post-baby, she looks sexy as hell,” Brock says.
“Our women and their levels of sexiness aren’t what we’re here for,” Colt says. “That should be a conversation over beer, not in a PI’s office.”
“See? This is why he’s been doing a damn good job despite his father-in-law hoping to see him fail. The tension with VP and everyone has reached an all-time high, I think. Not even Rush created this much animosity.”
Shaking his head, Grayson sighs. “I still can’t wrap my head around everything I’ve been told. Zane really blames Lex for Lane’s death? Can’t he see how much she helped him out?”
“Zane’s not one to overlook any situation he can blame his sister for. I think it also stings a bit that his wife knew he wasn’t strong enough for what she wanted and had to tag in his sister. The woman wanted to die her way, and Zane wasn’t man enough to put his selfish desires aside for it.”
Lex’s sister-in-law, Lane, received a second cancer diagnosis. She’d beaten leukemia when she was younger, but she wasn’t so lucky this time around. The only treatment option she had left would only prolong the inevitable, and she decided to forgo it. A decision Zane disagreed with.
His hatred for his sister runs as far back as Lex’s birth. Their father moved on with Lex’s mom before Zane’s mom passed away from cancer, and he’s never forgiven his sister for being born. He’s made her life a living hell, and most recently, he tried to kill her.
“I get the impression that VP blames Lex for Zane getting the boot,” Grayson says, his light brown hair longer than he’s ever worn it.
I bet Ash loves the scruffy version of her husband. Grayson almost looks like a different man, with his long hair and stubble.
“Oh, he does,” Brock says. “He’s just as bad as his son when it comes to taking accountability for his actions. He still can’t accept the fact he has no one but his granddaughter now that Zane’s taken off.”
Leaning forward, Colt looks around to make sure Ashley isn’t at her desk behind them. “This doesn’t leave this room, but he’s not even doing a decent job of that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Lex had to get Margaret admitted into treatment last month. VP’s been keeping her away out of spite, and I swear to God, that girl was nothing but skin and bones when I last saw her. Lex realized she has an eating disorder, and she got her into treatment before she could do more damage to herself.”
