Page 24

Riley

“ T he plates belong to a Carrie Wallace. She reported her car stolen yesterday.”

“Fletcher?” I ask Tucker.

Odie Landers survived and was being treated at the local hospital while we returned with Jules to her grandfather’s estate. Dylan and Tucker spent most of the morning adding additional security to the six-thousand-square-foot house while Bradyn cleaned up the area where the bullet grazed my side.

Thank God it was just a graze and no stitches were required.

“Nope.”

“How do you know that?” Bradyn questions.

“Because Ian Fletcher was found dead this morning. Two hours before the funeral.” He pulls up an image on his computer. Crime scene photos of the hired killer after he was hauled out of what appears to be a lake.

“How long has he been dead?”

“Coroner thinks at least a week.”

“Which means he was killed after he stabbed Jules in that motel room.”

“Whoever hired him was likely not happy he kept failing.” Bradyn crosses his arms. “And now we have a second killer and no ID.”

“We’re back to square one.” I run both hands over my face. There’s a knock at the front door, so I cross over to check through the peephole. The woman on the other side wears a friendly smile.

I pull open the door. “Melody?” I ask.

She nods. “Yes. You must be Mr. Hunt.”

“I am. Please, come in.”

She steps into the house, a clipboard in her hand. “This is a beautiful home.”

“It’s not mine,” I tell her. “It belongs to a friend. She’s currently napping upstairs.”

“Understood. Where would you like me to start?”

“This way.” I head up the stairs, and Melody follows.

When we reach the top of the stairs, I ensure that Jules’s door is closed.

The last thing I want is her getting woken up when she’s already had such an insane day.

I push open the door to Jules’s grandfather’s study then step aside so Melody can go in.

She studies the space, specifically eyeing the bloodstained carpet. “We’ll have to cut this portion out, but I have a match for it in the van.”

“You do?”

“I do.” She makes a note on her clipboard then sets it aside and retrieves a measuring tape from the purse she’s carrying. After measuring the stain, she writes something else then slips the tape back into her purse. “I can have it fixed in an hour or so.”

“Thank you. And you can do it quietly?”

“You won’t even know I’m here,” she replies with a smile then leaves the room. I study the stain on the floor, recalling how wide-eyed and wild Jules had looked, kneeling there just last night.

She’d been in a frenzy. And if she wants things back to normal, then the best thing I can do is give her that. Maybe then, she can find some peace.

“I’ve got that information you asked for,” Tucker says, holding up his cell phone the second I get downstairs. He and Dylan are in the dining room, but Elliot and Bradyn are nowhere to be seen. Probably out checking the perimeter of the house.

“On Glen Dodger?”

“Yeah. And I have to say, there’s some pretty interesting things I discovered once I dug just a smidge below the surface.”

Crossing my arms, I lean back against the wall.

“Who’s Glen Dodger?” Dylan turns away from the window he’d been staring out of.

I don’t keep things from my brothers. We tell each other everything, but this feels too personal. And until I know it has something to do with the case, I decide to keep quiet on the specifics. “He’s a pedophile with ties back to Jules’s grandfather.”

“You left that part out at first,” Tucker replies. “You should also know that he’s preparing to announce his candidacy for governor.”

“What?” I demand.

“It’s all here.” Tucker shows me his phone. I scan through the images, noting quite a few of the doctor alongside children overseas. My stomach churns. How many innocents have suffered at his hands?

About halfway down the page, sure enough, is the doctor’s announcement that he’s considering running for governor.

And then things really start to make sense. “If you were running for public office and were worried your darkest, most evil secret would come to light, what would you do?” I ask, handing Tucker back his phone.

“Tie up all loose ends,” Dylan offers.

I glance toward the stairs. Was the killer hired to kill Jules, and her grandfather got in the way? Or does Glen Dodger believe that she told her grandfather everything?

Furthermore, how much does Odie know? Was he a target too? And if so, why did it take so long to get to him?

“Looks like we get to pay the doctor a visit after all,” I say, a savage smile on my face. “I, for one, am looking forward to it.”

After ordering pizza, the six of us are sitting around the formal dining room table, plates in front of us. For the most part, my brothers have kept the conversation going, though Jules has been quiet ever since she came downstairs.

Romeo lies at her feet where he’s been since the moment she took her seat. He senses she’s upset, and as she absently reaches down and strokes his fur every few minutes, I have to imagine his presence is bringing her at least a bit of peace.

I haven’t had a chance to show her the repaired study flooring, but my hope is that it will ease a bit of her pain, knowing things have been put back into order in that room.

“Any update on Odie? Is he safe?” she asks.

“I spoke with his security guard about an hour ago. He’s stationed at his door and will notify me if he sees anything suspicious.”

“That’s good.” Her tone is level, lacking all emotion. She takes another bite of her pizza.

“We’ll be heading back to the ranch tomorrow,” Elliot says. “After the meeting with Dodger.”

I could kill him for the look that name brings to Jules’s face.

“Dodger?” Eyes wide, she looks from Elliot to me. “What do you mean, ‘after the meeting with Dodger’?”

I glare at Elliot. He at least looks a little flush. And since I didn’t go into specifics with any of my brothers about who he is and what he’s done, I can’t exactly blame him. It’s not as though he would have known to expect a reaction from her.

“We have reason to believe he might have something to do with this.”

“No. Absolutely not.” Jules shoves up from her chair and storms out of the room.

“Jules!” I call out then get up and head after her. “ Bleib,” I order Romeo as he stands. Stay.

“Sorry, man, I didn’t know,” Elliot says as I walk past him.

“It’ll be fine.” I rush up the stairs after her, making it to her door right before she readies to close it. “Jules, will you hear me out?”

“I trusted you,” she growls, emerald gaze full of fire. “I’ve never told anyone other than Odie about what happened, and I trusted you. It’s been less than a day and you told your entire family!” She starts to shut the door in my face, but I slam my palm against it.

“First of all, I didn’t break your trust. I didn’t tell them a single part of what you told me, aside from the fact that I wanted information on him because he was a friend of your grandfather’s and also a pervert. I told them nothing about your past with him.”

A bit of the anger dissipates from her face. “You didn’t.”

“No.”

She releases the door and takes a step back, so I move just past the threshold. “Then why are you going to see him?”

“He’s gearing up to announce his candidacy for governor. People who do that don’t want their secrets coming to light.”

I can see the moment the realization dawns on her face. Her eyes widen in horror, and she covers her mouth with both hands. “You don’t think—but my grandfather didn’t know.”

“He doesn’t know that. For all he knows, you told him.”

“No. No. He and my grandfather still saw each other from time to time afterward, Riley. He wouldn’t have suspected anything.”

“Then maybe your grandfather found out about it somehow.”

“He would have told me.”

“Would he have?” I ask her. “If he believed you’d moved past it, why would he want to bring you right back into it?”

She opens her mouth to respond then shuts it again.

I take a step closer. “The last thing I want to do is hurt you, Jules, or throw you back into the viper pit that is your past. But my gut tells me he has something to do with this. And if he does, we need to know.”

“And if he doesn’t, then you’ve just faced off with my own, personal boogeyman.”

“He doesn’t scare me.”

“He terrifies me,” she replies instantly.

I move in even closer, stopping only when I’m about a foot away from her.

“He won’t ever touch you again, Jules. And I’m going to tell you right now that, if I can find a way to get him locked up for the rest of his life, I will.

Even though he deserves so much worse for everything he put you through. ”