Page 112 of Almost Beautiful (Beautiful 3)

Travis frowned. Brandon had insisted he attend a health and fitness convention with him in San Diego, and we were both trying to hide how worried we were. Two solid days of quality time with Brandon wouldn’t end well.

He hugged me. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“I know, but … You should go with me to Keaton’s anniversary vigil tonight.”

“What if it upsets people? What if it causes a scene?”

Someone knocked on the door, and Travis let go of me to answer it. Toto joined him, waiting patiently for who it might be.

“Mr. Maddox,” a woman said.

I moved so that I could see past my husband.

The woman was wearing a gray fitted suit, a button-down shirt, and tall, black high heels that still didn’t put her above 5’5”. The man was dressed similarly, but with a tie. He was taller than her, stocky, his jaw squared and clean-shaven. They were Feds.

The woman flashed her identification at Travis. “I’m Agent Val Taber. This is Agent Joel Marks. Can we come inside and speak with you for a moment?”

I swallowed.

Travis turned to me, looking nervous. “Uh … sure. Come on in.”

I watched them sit on the sofa, while Travis sat on the love seat with me.

We held hands. All of my fears bubbled to the surface. What if they were there to arrest him and last night was our last night together? We were so tired, we both practically passed out. We didn’t cuddle much less anything else. More importantly, how could I stop it from happening?

Agent Taber smiled. “We’ve come to inform you, Mr. Maddox that we’ve concluded our investigation of the Keaton Hall fire, and there is insufficient evidence to pursue legal action.”

Travis and I met eyes, then he looked back at the agents.

“Uh … thanks?” he said.

I breathed out a laugh. “Sorry, this is just a little strange. We’re not sure how to react. We know we weren’t there, so this is ... validating, I suppose?”

Agent Taber managed a dry smile.

“You came all the way here to inform us?” I asked.

“No,” Agent Marks said, shifting in his seat. “The investigation of Adam Stockton is still ongoing. Are you aware of anyone else involved in this underground floating fight ring? Someone who sent out the texts or helped Adam with the money?”

Travis slowly shook his head.

I started to squeeze his hand, but the tiny movement garnered the attention of Agent Taber, so I relaxed.

“Anything you remember, or may have heard might be helpful,” Marks said.

“I’m sorry, I’ve got nothin’. But if I hear of anything I’ll let you know,” Travis said. He stood. “Anything else? Would you like a water or something?”

The agents stood, too.

“We have somewhere else to be. Congratulations, Mr. Maddox,” Taber said. “That’s pretty incredible luck that you just happened to elope the same night as a big fight.”

“Love’ll do that to ya,” Travis said, winking.

The agents saw themselves out, but I held my finger to my mouth, then looked to Toto. “Wanna go outside?” I asked him. He wagged his tiny tail, and I grabbed his leash, and then Travis’s hand.

We didn’t speak until we reached the street. Travis sighed as if he’d been holding his breath the whole time.

“Do you think they’re telling the truth?” I asked. “What if they don’t have evidence and they’re hoping to pick something up in our conversations at the apartment? They could be thinking we’ll get sloppy if we’re not under a microscope.”