Page 39 of Hot Stuff
“No one would believe you weren’t by his side when he ended up in the hospital,” Blake adds. “I’d definitely go with getting together after that.”
“All right. I’m having dinner with him tonight and we’ll go over both our movements for the last twelve months to see when we were in the same place.”
“You’ve been up there a lot,” Cami says. “You could easily have been spending time with him.”
“Exactly. Now the other problem is that Cantrell is up to something. I’m not sure of the exact details but I’ve given Walker those pictures to remove Kristina from his life, and they’ll work just as well for Cantrell.”
“Is it a contract clause?” Nat asks. I can see she’s madly tapping away on her keyboard.
“I think so. He was set to announce his retirement today but from what he said that’s on hold until he meets with Cantrell,” I explain. “He also needs to tell his sister and he’ll be telling Gannon Byrd at the same time.”
“You didn’t tell him we’re looking at Byrd, did you?” Blake asks.
“No. I also didn’t tell him what the PI discovered about his best friend and little sister.”
“Good call. He’ll find out when they want him to find out.” Cami nods. “We shouldn’t play god with that info.”
I arch an eyebrow at her. “Since when do you know what’s in the PI reports?”
“I might not want in on the day-to-day decisions but I know what’s going on. Well, as much as I’m able to when I have a job outside of the company.”
“Companies. Plural. We have two now.” I grin.
All three of them match my smile.
“We certainly do,” Nat murmurs. “Oh. I think I found what the problem with Cantrell is. Was Walker planning to make his retirement announcement himself?”
I’m nodding before she finishes speaking. “Yes.”
“Whose idea was that?”
“Not sure but I think Cantrell told him yesterday to go ahead and announce.”
“Oh, that fucker. Can we take him out with the info we have?” Nat asks.
“Not yet.” I’m shaking my head now. “Let’s see if Walker can get himself clear first.”
“Good idea. We don’t want our hands in too much muck before we even get blades on the ice,” Blake adds. “I can maybe get Dad or one of my brothers to do the dirty work there.”
“Let’s see how things go. Oh, and I’ll probably be here a few more days. I’m not sure how long yet. It will depend on when Walker can get himself clear of the Knights and I get his sig on our contract.”
“Take all the time you need. We’ve got everything handled down here and if we need an extra body, I’ll drag Cami’s ass in,” Nat says.
“Hey!”
“You’ll do it.” Nat glares at the screen.
“Of course I will.” Cami rolls her eyes. “I’d rather not but I will if I have to.”
“Good. All right. I think that’s it for now. I’ll keep you updated.”
“By phone. No messages or emails.” Nat reminds us all that what we’re talking about needs to remain between us.
“Let me know when Walker is ready to talk players. I’ve got something in mind that we’ll need to get on right away,” Blake says.
“Will do.” I look at the time. “I need to make a few calls to our designers. I’ll be emailing you all some of the photos from yesterday’s shoot. I think we might have a small issue with the full suit.”
“Oh?” Nat pulls her attention away from whatever she was doing back to me.
