Page 32 of See You There

“I’m fucking serious.” James sounded angry.

Luke rolled his eyes. His twin took everything so seriously.

“I’m just messing with you. She has a boyfriend anyway. I’ll cover tomorrow, and you’ll be 100% by the day after. I’m just looking out for my sickly little brother.” Luke smirked when James let out a foul curse. James hated when Luke pulled their five-minute age difference.

A sharp knock at his door drew his attention. He looked through the peephole at the two men on the other side of the door. They both held up their badges.Fuck.

“Hey, James, I gotta go. GBI is at my door.”

“What the fuck?” James was suddenly alert.

“I’ll call you as soon as they go.” Luke hung up before his brother could object. He opened the door with a confident smile. “Luke Bloom at your service. How can I help you?” Luke kept his expression bland, though he suspected he knew exactly why they were there. Elliott Keller.

“Can we come in?” The older of the two men asked.

“Sure.” Luke stepped back, allowing the men to enter. They strolled into the main room with a relaxed gait, but Luke didn’t miss how their eyes scanned the room. He doubted if they missed a single detail. “Can I offer you something to drink?”

“No, thank you.” The younger of the two gave him what obviously was intended to be a disarming grin.

Luke sat on one of his leather sofas and gestured to the matching sofa across from him for them to take a seat. “How can I help you today?”

“Agent Adams.” The older man introduced himself. “This is Agent Perez. Georgia Bureau of Investigation.”

They waited for Luke to say something, but he recognized the tactic and stayed silent.

Agent Perez’s lips lifted, but the good humor didn’t reach his eyes. “You’re a defense attorney, so we won’t beat around the bush. Broughton Township Police reached out to us.”

“About the fire at Dr. Keller’s house?”

Both agents nodded. “They’ve completed the autopsy on Dr. Keller.”

Luke’s entire body was suddenly alert. “He was murdered.”

Agent Adam’s eyes sharpened. “That sounds more like a statement than a question.”

Ah, so that’s why they are here.

“Let me save you some time. You’re here because I was with Elliot Keller a couple of hours before the fire? I’m sure the home health aide told you. I identified myself to her. It wasn’t a secretI had been trying to get a meeting with Dr. Keller, and that it might be contentious.”

Agent Adam’s bushy eyebrows hit his hairline. “It’s interesting you say that. When we notified the man’s son that you had been at the house that day, he was extremely concerned. He implied you had been harassing his father.”

Luke clenched his jaw. Of course, Chris had implicated him. Now that he was involved with Courtney, Chris was probably the one who pressured Keller not to talk to him. “I don’t see eye to eye with Chris Keller on a lot of issues.”

“Well then, in the spirit of laying our cards on the table, where were you when the fire broke out?”

“I was arranging for a notary and a court reporter to come back to the house with me to witness a statement from Dr. Keller. I have their names, as well as a receipt from the rideshare company that picked me up from Dr. Keller’s house and brought me back to the house.”

“That’s convenient.”

Luke’s lips quirked. “As you said, I’m a defense attorney. When I returned to the house and saw what happened, I knew I would need an alibi.”

“Why?”

“Because it wouldn’t take long for anyone investigating to find out that I am convinced Dr. Keller was involved in my father’s murder.” Luke could practically hear James’s voice in his head telling him to shut up.

The agents exchanged a look. “That would be David Bloom? I read he died after a short illness. Why do you think your father was murdered?”

“Dr. Keller ruled it natural causes. But, I’ve come across information since then that leads me to believe that wasn’t the case. Dr. Keller indicated he was willing to discuss it.”