Page 5 of Bait and Switch (Subtle Deceptions #2)

FOUR

Gabriel

Still Monday

Shit .

Peter was dead. Gone forever dead, not just on a pleasant vacation in Jamaica and dead to Gabe. Gabe didn’t know what to think. He didn’t want to think about it. He’d hardly begun to process his mother’s death and now Peter was gone.

Too much death.

“Why do you think Peter stopped by the marina last week?” Elton asked, keeping his attention on the road.

Gabe would have offered to drive, but for one, Elton wasn’t giving up the truck’s keys unless he was drugged by a professional and Heartstone didn’t have much traffic this time of year. And two, even though it was only a few minutes’ drive, Gabe didn’t want to be behind the wheel. He was too shaky.

“Honestly? No idea. I have no clue how Peter found me. Like I said, we haven’t spoken for weeks.

” He sucked in a breath like he was eight years old and about to tell his mother he’d done something she’d specifically told him not to.

“We got into hot water recently, and I decided it was time to lie low. Sans Peter. That’s the real reason I came out here.

And I was curious what my mother had left me. ”

If being chased by an armed man and a guard dog counted as a deciding factor, then that was it. Gabe had been planning to leave town anyway, but it had happened a tad more dramatically than he’d intended.

“I figured it was something like that, son. Are you thinking that the trouble has followed you?” Elton should have sounded more concerned. If he’d had all the facts, maybe he would have been. Gabe was keeping as many of those facts to himself as long as he could.

“Honestly, I don’t see how it could have.

” Gabe sagged back into the comfort of the Ford’s passenger seat.

“I ditched my cell phone and my car—the Honda was Heidi’s— and I haven’t used any credit cards, just my stash of go money.

I didn’t even know Heartstone Island existed.

If I didn’t know where I was going, how would they? ”

“Hmm.” Elton tapped the steering wheel with his thumb as they eased into the spot in front of his house. “You know, Casey ran a check on you. Maybe the search triggered something?”

Yes, Gabe did know Ranger Man had checked his background, but he’d put it out of his mind because he still had to pay that fucking trespassing citation and thinking about the ticket pissed him off.

Opening the truck’s door with his elbow, he slid to the muddy ground, landing with a squelch.

Was it possible that the Colavitos had found him via Lundin?

He shook his head; it seemed outrageous, and yet Peter was dead.

“Maybe? But how would it? It’s not like I’m on an FBI watch list—at least, I don’t think so.

” Gabe said, waiting for Elton to slowly extricate himself from the Ford.

“So these people, whose names I am not speaking aloud if I don’t have to, possibly found me because of Lundin’s background check?

That seems far-fetched, very Jason Bourne, and really, I’m a tiny fish in a very big sea.

Was a tiny fish because I’m not diving back in.

I suppose it’s possible they could have had somebody watching for any mention of me, but what a waste of resources. ”

The idea was outrageous. Yes, the Colavitos wanted him dead, but Gabe felt like it was more of a You’re dead if you return to Seattle and we see your face rather than a We will hunt you down and take care of it ASAP kind of dead.

“You know you’re going to have to explain your relationship with the victim to Eli Rizzi.”

Gabe opened his mouth to agree that yes, he figured that, but also maybe he could cut a few corners, when Lundin’s Wagoneer pulled in and parked beside Elton’s truck.

“Let me get the coffee started.” Elton started for the kitchen.

“Nah, you just got back from the dentist, take a load off. I’ll start up the coffee, I need something to do anyway,” Gabe announced.

Elton didn’t argue. He was definitely feeling the effects of the dental work. Taking off his jacket and hanging it up, he headed for his recliner instead.

Gabe stepped into the kitchen. A bonus to making the coffee was that the hospitality might stall the inevitable questions he knew were coming his way.

What else could he tell them? Nothing. Knowing more about the Colavitos than they already did wouldn’t do Elton or Casey any good.

Gabe couldn’t even dig up a pithy comment from his dead mother.

But even Heidi would agree that it was time to be a bit more honest—murder was serious.

Something soft brushed against his leg. He looked down to see that Bowie had followed him into the kitchen and was snuffling along the tiled floor like a doggy vacuum cleaner.

Gabe should have realized that retreat was useless; Lundin had joined them and was now leaning back against the doorframe.

He fought a scowl and reached into the cabinet for the whole beans. He didn’t normally have the urge to strangle someone while also wanting to jump their bones. Gabriel frowned at his thoughts and then gave a mental shrug. Most likely this was a Ranger Man-specific reaction.

“Well,” said Ranger Man, crossing his damn arms over his stupid chest again. The flannel had been shrugged off, and his long-sleeved t-shirt strained under the responsibility of keeping him covered. Asshole.

“That’s deep.” Gabe dumped a handful of beans into Elton’s grinder.

There was a long, annoyed silence. Gabe enjoyed it.

“This is not the time to fuck around, Karne.”

Gabe held down the power button, forestalling his reply for a few seconds longer. Unfortunately, Lundin was still there when he lifted his hand off the grinder, eyebrows raised in expectation. Dammit.

“It’s always time to fuck around. Maybe that’s your issue, you’ve never been given permission to just fuck it.

” Neither had Gabriel, but he didn’t let that stop him.

“What do you want to hear from me, Ranger Man? That I’m a con man?

That Peter and I grifted people? That the con is what I learned growing up on my mother’s knee? ”

It’s con artist , Chance.

One thing about Heidi, she did have pride in her work.

Leaning back against the counter, he faced Lundin. “I don’t know what to tell you that you would be willing to accept. Believe. Whatever.”

“Tell us about these people who you think killed Peter. We can’t fight shadows.”

Well, fuck. When he said it like that.

Gabe didn’t think the Colavitos killed Peter, he knew they did.

At least as much as he could without having witnessed the murder.

He just didn’t know how they’d done it. Someone must have followed him to Heartstone, however impossible that was.

Which hinted that the family was, in fact, not willing to drop their vendetta as long as Gabe stayed out of Seattle.

He pictured the second go-bag stuffed in the closet in Elton’s spare room.

He still had money, he could take it and disappear.

Except that disappearing didn’t feel comfortable the way it once had. Almost as if he’d disappeared himself so many times that the real Gabriel Karne was starting to vanish. Fading a bit every time until he was eventually going to evaporate to nothing if he kept it up.

He rubbed his belly, trying to rid himself of the hollow feeling in his stomach.

“Casey, give Gabe a chance to sit down with his coffee before you interrogate him,” Elton called out.

“Yeah, what he said.” Turning back around, Gabe poured grounds into the waiting filter, sucking the earthy scent of roasted beans into his lungs. There was almost nothing better.

Lundin didn’t immediately respond to Elton, so Gabe glanced over his shoulder and—dammit, maybe there was something better than fresh ground coffee beans.

Ranger Man continued to glower, his arms still crossed.

And Gabe still wanted to jump his bones.

He wished he could blame his reaction on being accused of murder, some kind of weird dopamine thing.

Something to distract himself from reality.

But why this guy? Why some angsty, semi-feral guy ten years younger than him who possibly hated his guts?

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, and we 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.”