Page 10 of Bait and Switch
You never did like things easy, Chance. Peter was easy.
Thankfully, Gabe was well-versed in keeping his mouth shut when absolutely necessary. He didn’t speak another word until the coffee was done brewing and had been poured into the two mugs he’d gotten down.
“You can pour your own,” he told Ranger Man. He carried the filled mugs into the living room. Handing one of the cups to Elton, Gabe made himself comfortable on the couch with the other.
With a steaming mug of java in his hand, Lundin stalked back into the living room and occupied one of the chairs at Elton’s table. They both stared expectantly at him. It was slightly unnerving. Gabe swallowed a sip of the still molten coffee and contemplated where to start. He let his attention wander outside the window behind Lundin to where the cars were parked, trying to best frame what he was going to tell them. It was like preparing to tear a bandage off a partially healed wound. Might as well do it fast.
“Peter and I gamed the wrong crowd. Lazy research. We thought the Andersons were stupid frat bros wanting to make fast cash—and they were—but it turned out that their uncle is Larry Colavito, the head of Seattle’s homegrown version of the Mafia. They must’ve gone crying to him when their investments didn’t go as planned. Larry has deep feelings about his family being made to look stupid.”
“And?”
“And? And what? We destroyed any evidence. Deleted the files. Moved the money. That was”—Gabe rolled his eyes up to the ceiling—“five or six, maybe eight weeks, ago. And was also the last time that Peter and I talked.”
“Did you give the money back?”
“What?” Gabe drew his eyebrows together. It was as if Lundin didn’t know him at all. “You’re familiar with the phrase ‘a fool and his money are soon parted’? Well, they are fools, andwe kept their money. They can mark down the cost as learning a lesson.”
“And it looks like your ex got a final lesson, doesn’t it?”
When he put it that way.
Gabe’s share of the cash was tucked safely away in Elton’s closet. Considering he’d abandoned his new SUV and last home address, Gabe didn’t have any qualms about keeping the money. But he did need to consider Elton’s safety.
“What exactly happened that brought you here to Heartstone?” Elton asked. “There must have been something that scared you.”
If the question had come from Ranger Man, Gabe probably would have flipped him off. But this was Elton, the first genuine person in Gabe’s life. Ranger Man was probably bona fide too. But since he pissed Gabe off, he didn’t get an automatic pass, and besides, he was too sexy for Gabe’s own good.
“I’d already packed up to leave, knew it was time. Probably past time. I’d been feeling twitchy for a week or so, like someone was watching me, following me. I headed over to Beacon Hill and left my car in an alley, picked up Heidi’s. Just had the feeling that Peter and I had overstayed our welcome. But before leaving town, I drove past an address we’d been using and ended up being chased by a dog and shot at. The rest, as they say, is history. I got rid of my cell phone, ditched the credit cards. The plan was to lie low for as long as possible.”
Lundin snorted. “How long did that last for you? A few hours?”
“Fuck off,” Gabriel retorted, but there was no heat to the two words. Lundin had a point; he hadn’t done a very good job of avoiding the limelight. If Ranger Man had just let one night at Fort Hood slide, Gabe might have been successful. Maybe if he hadn’t done that background check.
Silent for a moment, they all sipped at their cooling coffees. Gabe didn’t know what Elton and Lundin were thinking, but he was trying to figure out how to spin his relationship with Peter and Gabe’s recent relocation to Heartstone Island when he talked to the cops.
Before he came up with much of anything, his phone vibrated. Dragging it out of his jeans pocket, he glanced down at the screen. It wasn’t a number he recognized. He read it out loud.
“That’s the Sheriff’s Office,” Elton said. “Rizzi said Spurring would call.”
Gabe glanced at Elton and then across at Casey. And when had his brain decided to start using Lundin’s first name anyway? Ranger Man suited him just fine.
“The sheriff?” Gabe repeated with a roll of his eyes. “How much are you willing to bet they want me down at the station right now?”
Elton shook his shaggy head. “Not taking that bet. The odds aren’t looking good, kid, might as well cooperate. Casey and I have your back.”
“Well, fuck,” Gabe said glumly, while also amused that Elton was calling him kid. Whether Ranger Man had his back or not was an entirely different discussion.
“I’d say that about sums it up.” Elton pushed himself to his feet. “Might as well find out what they want to talk to you about.”
FIVE
Gabriel
The Monday that just won’t stop Mondaying
The Twana CountySheriff’s Office made its home in a low-slung brick building located just across the slender isthmus that connected Heartstone to the peninsula. Years ago, the structure had probably been painted some shade of white, but the color hadn’t aged well. Nowadays, it was an off-putting mossy-greenish hue that made Gabriel think of milk that had gone bad. Or a decomposing body. The deputy he’d talked to earlier met them in the lobby.
“Thank you for coming in on such short notice, Mr. Karne,” Deputy Eagan greeted him, her expression carefully blank. “We’ve got an interview room set up down the hall. Do you need water or anything to drink?”
