“Father said Mia’s shop was vandalized,” Joshua said, sounding as if Aaron placed his phone on speaker. “Is she all right?”
“I’m fine,” Mia said, overhearing the conversation since I’d also put mine on speaker. “Thank you for your concern.”
“You’re Brutus’ wif—” Joshua broke off. “Woman. And therefore, family. You don’t ever have to thank us for being concerned about our family.”
Mia’s eyes watered as she peered up at me. “I-I still haven’t even told my family yet.”
“Come with me, Mia,” my father said. “We’ll call your daddy and let him know everything’s under control.”
I watched my father as he guided Mia a few steps away.
“Brutus,” Aaron said in a tone that let me know it was time to take them off of speaker mode.
“The cops think this was done by some teens with nothing better to do.”
“You don’t,” Josh said, a statement, not a question.
“I took some pictures that I’m going to review and I want to get my hands on the prints they took from the scene. But no,” I answered. “My instincts tell me this is something else.”
The very thought had my free hand flexing again.
“Whatever you need.” Aaron’s voice took on a grim, deadly tone.
Glancing over in the direction my father had taken Mia, I made sure she wasn’t close enough to overhear. “I might need one of those houses you keep empty before all of this is over.”
I looked back at the cracked window in front of me. Something about this read personal. And there was one person I could think of that might’ve had a vendetta against Mia.
“Say it, and it’s done,” Josh commented.
“I’ll get back to you.” I hung up the phone before cracking my knuckles. I would do my own investigation into this vandalization. The police were fine for what they could legally do, but I wanted answers faster than they could provide, given all of the red tape they had to go through.
Before the night was over, I was already planning to have a face to face with Vincent Davis.
CHAPTER30
Brutus
It took a damn week to get that one on one with Vincent Davis. The son of a bitch, who’d been unemployed since the week after the gala, had moved out of his luxury apartment in downtown Williamsport. It took a little effort to discover that he had to move in with his girlfriend on the other side of the city.
I stood in the underground office of Townsend Industries, which very few people knew about. Most of those who did get to discover this part of the building weren’t too happy when they left.
The monitor on the wall, next to the large, metal door, alerted me that Joseph was on his way in with Vincent beside him. A few beats later, the two bells chimed once Joseph disengaged the lock. The door opened slowly.
“What the hell is this?” Vincent demanded, looking behind him at Joseph.
“Don’t worry about him,” I said, standing at the center of the room with concrete floors and walls. I jutted my head toward the wooden table and chair off to the side of the room. “Have a seat.”
“Fuck this. I don’t need anymore of this bullshit,” Vincent barked, his face starting to turn red.
I glowered at him. “You’re talking awfully spicy for a motherfucker who pissed himself the last time he was in my presence.”
His eyes bulged, and cheeks puffed out in embarrassment.
“Sit the fuck down,” I demanded. I followed him with my gaze as he cautiously ambled over to the chair and took a seat. I turned back to Joseph. “Make sure you remind Erik to be on time to get Cole, Victoria, and Diego for their three-thirty pickup,” I told him.
He grinned before peering at his watch. “On my way.”
“This shouldn’t take too long,” I told Joseph. “Be back in about fifteen minutes.”
