Page 31 of Junior Has a Secret

“Happy?”he asks, when he joins me, holding out his hands to indicate his gift to me, which isn’t his departure, but his arrival.

“Why am I here?”I demand.

All his cool arrogance slips away.“It washim.I know it was him.And he’s trying to please you, Lilah.You.My daughter.”He pokes at the spot in his chest that is supposed to have a heart, but I suspect there is only a black hole.“He’s fucking with me, trying to destroy me, before I’m even sworn in.”

He’s so over the top, out of his head right now, free from all composure, that I know with certainty, he didn’t kill that man, or order it done.“Ghost doesn’t play games unless he’s paid to play games.”

“He’s devoted to you.”His arm flies in the air, as if that makes some point, and then he points at me.“Youdid this.”

“You’re not making a case for me to help, just in case you didn’t figure that out,” I say, but in that moment, I have clarity where Ghost is concerned.“It’s not him.Ghost just killed his biggest competition.That’s all that has been on his mind.Hunting.Killing.And he won.He killed her and now he’s number one again.Ghost isn’t sloppy or an amateur.Whoever killed that man inside, thinks he’s a pro, but he’s not.”

“I was a sheriff a long-time time, Lilah.There was a bullet in his head.That’s an assassination.And the hands—”

“It’s not Ghost.I’ve barely had time to analyze the crime scene, but I think it’s someone trying to throw us off.”

“Ghost.”

“Stop,” I bite out.“I get it.Your finger is hurt.”

“Broken.It’sbroken, Lilah.”

“Do you know the victim?”I ask.

“No,” he says firmly.“I’ve never seen that guy before.Ghost—”

“Enough already.It’s not Ghost, and if it were, he’d have to be paid and paid well by someone to torment you.”

“He was there last night for you.”

“Unless he wasn’t.I repeat, the only way you hire Ghost is to pay him big money and if it requires a level of activity that might get him the wrong attention, he still declines.”

“If not Ghost, who?Kane?”

Chapter Twenty-Four

I almost laugh at the accusation against Kane.“My husband pulled that man off me on the beach, Father.If Kane decides you’re dead, you’re dead.And why hire him for security if you thought any differently.”It’s not a question.It’s a statement of reality.

“Maybe he just wants to ruin me and I foolishly handed him the golden ticket to do it.He yanked all of his men off of my detail last night.That’s part of why I decided to come here.I need the extra security this place was supposed to represent.”

Wait, I think.What?Kane halted the security detail he was offering my father and did so right before a dead body showed up?

There are no coincidences, I repeat yet again in my head.The timing clearly indicates, something is going on here I don’t know about, but Kane must.Considering what he was dealing with last night and how tired he was when I left, I doubt anything to do with my father’s backup security detail felt important.Or, perhaps too important to take on while I was leaving.He did ask me to stay.“His father paid me a visit last night,” I finally say.

His eyes widen.“What happened?”

As if I share anything with him.“I didn’t kill him is what happened,” I say.“Occasionally, if I dig deep, I find Mom’s restraint, but ever since that night on the beach, I favor your deviant behavior.”I move on, changing the subject.“It’s highly unusual for a governor not sworn into office to claim residency.Who knew you were coming here?”

“A handful of people.No more.”

“When did they know?”

“Last night about midnight when I made the decision.”

“Text me that list.”

“You think someone inside my operation tried to set me up?”

“I have no clue at this point and you know it.You’re a former sheriff, after all.”