Page 138 of A Quick Buck

“Yes.”

“You’re going to let me have my phone back?”

“Yes.” Alistair’s lips twitched into a little smile. “I still have a very large amount of illegal drugs stashed in your car. You’re quite welcome to call the police, but I don’t think you’d look particularly fetching in orange.”

“Ah.” Noah finally took it, but he didn’t immediately check for notifications.

Sadly, he realized there probably weren’t any. There was probably not a single person who had called or texted to check on him since he’d been without his phone.

Except Landon, he recalled with a grimace.

“This gift comes with a price,” Alistair said. “I would like you to try and contact your uncle. Perhaps you would be successful where we haven’t been. Let him know I do not believe he’s guilty, and that you’re here with me. I want to talk. That’s all.”

“But if you decide he did it, you’re gonna kill him. You’re asking me to get Uncle Patrick here and maybe murder him.”

“The chances of that happening are decreasing.”

“Until it becomes officially zero, I’m not a real big fan of this plan.”

“Should you refuse, I will happily take the phone back.”

“Doesn’t that make me an accessory? If I do this and you kill him?”

“Only if a crime is committed.”

“Fuck.” Noah stared down at the phone in his hand. “Okay. Yeah. I’ll do it.” He eyed Alistair. “But only because I want to talk to him my damn self and get this shit figured out once and for all, okay? I want to end this.”

“And what do you mean by ‘this’?” Alistair asked carefully.

“The potential murdering of my immediate family, duh. So, don’t you think that I’m not fuckin’ warning him.” Noah tensed. “Because I’m going to.”

“Say whatever you feel is right,” Alistair said. “Being honest is always a good plan of action.”

Noah finally tapped the screen of his phone, noting there were lots of missed calls and texts. They were all from Landon. A quick skim made his gut twist.

hey man u ok

hey man im getting really worried hope ur ok

hey i just wanted to say that i really like being your friend means lots

u ok?

i dont even care about the money, just call me man

Noah would deal with that later.

He immediately dialed Patrick, but the call went straight to voicemail. Clearing his throat, he waited for the beep and said, “Hey, Uncle Patrick. It’s Noah. Please call me back. Worried about you. Lots of weird shit going on. So, uh, you know, call me.” He hesitated. “Love you.” He promptly hung up and sent him a text with the same general message.

After another pause, he typed a quick text to Landon.

im sorry

He set his phone over on the bedside table, sighing heavily. “Now what?”

“We wait.” Alistair brushed Noah’s hair back. “Unfortunately, there is very little we can do now. The testing will take time, as will questioning the staff from the party.”

“Could really use a fuckin’ drink,” Noah muttered. “Don’t suppose you got some secret stash somewhere?”