Part 12 (2/2)

He sneered and took a step closer, bringing his face inches from mine when a voice called his name from the back of the house. Like a startled animal, he jumped back and looked in the direction of the noise.

”Get out.”

I dug in. ”I'm not going anywhere until we figure this out.”

He rolled his eyes and disappeared at the sound of a crash in the hallway. ”Ma. Are you all right?”

”Yeah. Who th' f.u.c.k is in there?”

Ma sounded like she'd swallowed a box of nails soaked in vodka. The loud rasp of her voice made me reconsider my decision not to leave.

I scanned the room quickly, desperate to find something, anything, that could help me get to the bottom of this. The dining room table was covered with paperwork and mail. I pushed through some of it until I spied a piece that had been opened. A check in the amount of over ten thousand dollars made out to Trevor. The envelope below it showed it had been sent from an investment firm in Texas, a name I didn't recognize.

I heard Ma stumbling through the hallway, their voices getting closer and louder.

”I don't want no f.u.c.kin' strangers in this house. How ma'y times I gotta tell ya?”

”I didn't bring her. She just came in. She knows Blake.”

I froze for a second. f.u.c.king Trevor had dimed me out to his crazy mom. I left the check on the table and stuffed the envelope into my pocket just as they emerged into the living area. Ma was a heavyset woman in her forties dressed in a tracksuit. Her blond hair was dyed with grown out roots and matted slightly. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot as she jerked out of his grasp. I took a few steps back as she approached, shaking her fist at me.

”Lil' b.i.t.c.h. You think you can come here, waltz right in. You tell Blake he can come here and face me!” Her eyes were glossy and crazed with emotion.

She lunged at me and I back away quickly. She lost her balance and stumbled. Trevor rushed to her and she cursed again, swinging her arm back at him.

I couldn't talk to either of them. The situation was spiraling beyond my control so I slipped out the door and ran down the path toward the Escalade.

Clay jumped out and opened the door for me.

”Drive,” I ordered, glancing over to see Trevor's mother making her way down the path, Trevor chasing behind her. She was hurling slurred expletives that I couldn't make out as Clay pulled away, leaving them in the rearview.

”Do you want to tell me what the h.e.l.l you're doing?”

I could tell by the quality of the call that Blake was calling me from the plane. That he'd bother while he was still in the air was a testament to his hyper concern over my safety, but I bristled at the fact he was scolding me when he was the one who'd got us into this mess.

”Blake, for once in your life, shut up and let me talk.”

”I've only been in the air a few hours and Clay's telling me you're getting chased out of someone's house.”

”I'm getting to the bottom of a situation that you have been ignoring for far too long,” I snapped. ”You can hear me out before you start flipping out.”

I was still high on adrenaline, ready to fight with anyone who crossed me. If Clay hadn't already dropped me off, I would have strongly considered giving him a piece of my mind for tattling on me to Blake. I'd be like a Chihuahua barking at a bullmastiff, I realized, and filed that scenario under never-going-to-happen.

”Brian Cooper's brother, Trevor, is running M89.”

He paused. ”How do you know that?”

”Before his bat-s.h.i.+t crazy mother came onto the scene, he basically admitted it to me. And that they'd both be eternally happy to witness your ruin. You might be right about the not negotiating with terrorists thing. He didn't seem open to making peace.”

”So you've probably just p.i.s.sed them off more is what I'm hearing.”

”What he's doing is illegal. Can't we just call the police and get his things confiscated?”

”He's running a virtual operation. If you think he doesn't have fail-safes in place to cover his a.s.s, especially after what happened to Brian, you're crazy. Now that he knows you're onto him, I wouldn't hold out much hope for the authorities resolving this for you.”

I muttered a curse under my breath before I remembered the envelope. I pulled it out of my pocket to study it again. ”Have you heard of AcuTech Investments?”

”No, why?”

”He's getting checks from them. Like, huge checks.”

”Send me the info. I'll look into it while I'm out here.”

”Okay.” I calmed down a bit and immediately regretted that Blake was already hundreds of miles away. The past forty-eight hours had been intense in more ways than one, and we'd done nothing but bicker through most of it. ”How long will you be gone?”

”Hopefully just a couple days. We'll see how things go.”

”I miss you.” I worried my lip and fought to keep my voice even. Blake hearing me upset would only add to his frustration at being gone.

He sighed on the other end of the line. ”I know, baby. I miss you too.” His voice was lower, softer. ”Can I ask you a favor?”

”Sure,” I said quickly, anxious to occupy my thoughts with something other than missing him terribly.

”Can you check in with Heath while I'm gone? Maybe grab lunch or something. I'm sure he'll be fine, but he hasn't been back long. I want to make sure he stays on track.”

”Of course.”

”Thanks. I'll call you later, okay?”

”Okay.”

”No more crazy stunts either.”

”Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. I hung up, collapsed onto the bed, and gave myself over to sleep before the sun had even gone down.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

Risa seemed confused when we climbed into the back of the Escalade. We both wore tailored black suits and heels, and for once I felt I'd put as much effort into pulling off a look this morning as she did.

”Who's he?” she whispered as Clay settled in behind the steering wheel.

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