Page 90 of Claiming Ours
“Fucking finally,” Juno said, her grin now genuine at the mention of her friend. “You fixed her little problem, I take it.”
“It wasn’t a problem,” I grumbled, hating the way I felt my cheeks heat since everyone was listening to our conversation. “Not like Aiden and his bird fetish.”
The man tossed both hands in the air in fake exasperation. Before we could start trolling him again, Oliver and Hudson walked in with Brandon right behind them, shutting the door hard. Oliver took a seat beside Finley, who shoved at his shoulder and started talking a mile a minute about nothing, while Hudson leaned against the far wall, brows pulled in tight as he studied the floor.
That couldn’t be good.
“Amy made waffles,” Brandon said, sounding exhausted, but the lift of his lips hinted that it was the kind of exhausted that made him happy, similar to how I felt. “So let’s get this meeting done quick so I can get back home and eat.”
“Lucky Amy,” Finley chirped with a wide, goading smile that earned her a blank stare from Brandon. “Sorry.”
Dax shoved her shoulder and mouthed, “What the fuck?” but Finley actively ignored him, even turning in the chair to put her back to him.
Her best friend. I narrowed my eyes at the pair. What was going on between them? They were normally thick as thieves, but the gap between them today felt cold.
Brandon held up a hand quieting everyone and regaining their attention. “You’ve all been informed on what Liam, Memphis and Baylee discovered on their way to Caper, butbefore we address that, Liam, tell us how the rescue assignment went.”
Clearing my throat, I leaned forward, pressing both forearms to the table, and rattled off everything that I accomplished, also acknowledging Memphis’s hard work while I handled the manual labor side of things.
“All in all, we made a good team for that kind of assignment. He would be an asset to have on board with Uplift. Langston can’t always be here, especially during the summer when most of his fishing and water activities are booked solid.”
Brandon nodded, taking notes as I spoke. “I’ll see what we can do about getting him on board. If that’s what you want.” He eyed me for a long moment, waiting for me to give him my all-in on the stranger.
“It is, and it’s what our community and Anchor Bay need. We can’t always depend on Dr. Dipshit at The Nest to be available.”
The corner of Brandon’s lips curled upward. “I heard about your failed excursion yesterday.”
“Only failed because someone didn’t mind their own business.”
Oliver lifted both hands in surrender. “Just trying to keep you out of jail, buddy.”
I huffed. “Like I would’ve gotten caught.”
“Enough. We have more important shit to discuss like the body you found,” Hudson cut in with a hard glare at me and Oliver. “As Brandon mentioned, I know you’re all aware of the body Liam, Baylee, and their friend came upon while on their way to Caper. She was a hiker here for the Soul Trail but thankfully had a dog with her who actually led them to her body. I know we’re all assuming this is related to the suspicious disappearances along the trail but we’re keeping all options open, considering she was found so far off the actual trail itself. As far as cause of death goes, we don’t have the autopsy resultsback yet. We did have a chance to inspect the few pieces of evidence collected at the scene. The only thing we think might be related is the silver necklace with a large feather charm that was found close?—”
“What the fuck did you just say?” Miles stood up so fast, his chair toppled behind him. The former SEAL pressed both palms to the table and leveled a death stare at Hudson, who, to his credit, didn’t shrink back. Probably because he was a former SEAL too. Who knew who would win if they went at it.
“We found a necklace—silver, it seems—caught in some brush near the body.”
“Let me see it,” Miles said, shoving off the table and storming around the chairs, everyone cursing and yelling as they shifted out of his way.
Hudson nodded and pulled out his phone. Tapping the screen a few times, he turned it to face Miles, which put it right in my line of sight. The picture was a labeled evidence bag with the necklace we found inside.
Miles leaned in closer, squinting for a few seconds before cursing and standing tall.
“That,” he rasped, pointing at the picture, “is Caroline’s.”
I swear you could’ve heard a fucking cricket fart, it was so deadly quiet in the meeting space. No one even breathed aloud as we all absorbed that information for several seconds before the room exploded in a cacophony of shouted questions. Half of the room was now on their feet, hands slapping to the table, demanding to know what the hell was going on.
A loud, high-pitched whistle cut through the chaos, quieting us all down. “Shut the hell up and let us think,” Oliver shouted, his commanding tone making everyone do just that. “Fuck.” He pinched the bridge of his nose before grabbing his uniform hat and launching it across the room. It hit the wall hard, the bill snapping from the force of the contact. His chest heaved as hefought for control over his emotions and turned to Miles. “Are you sure?”
“I am. It was a gift from her mother a long time ago. She was always fiddling with the damn thing.”
“Her birth mom or stepmom?” I asked, making everyone turn to me, various confused and shocked expressions on their faces. “It was news to me too.” I explained what Jasper told Memphis and me the day before. “He said he told your dad, Oliver, but maybe he thought it wasn’t relevant because that was over two decades ago.”
Oliver’s face had grown redder and redder as I spoke. “Did he now?” he hissed through gritted teeth. “Seems like I need to have a chat with good ole dad. And Jasper, for that matter.”
“I’m right behind you,” Hudson said, turning to follow Oliver out the door.
