“Maybe your dad and Violet will want to come,” he suggests.
“Yeah, they might,” I agree. “I’ll take some videos and send them to Rena too. She’s missing La Lune Noire chaos.”
“She’d love that. She’s looked forward to this festival since we started it, when she was barely a teenager. I still can’t believe she’s a mom.” A smile blasts across his face. “I’d like to take Remy to see the Human Hungry Hippo competition. Maybe you can even get your father to bring Adam and Anna. They’d probably love it too.”
I don’t have a chance to tell him that Eden barely allows me to be around them, so that will never happen, because the phone trills with an encrypted call.
Maddox answers via the vehicle’s Bluetooth, his booming tenor blaring through the cab. “Miss me already?”
“Always. Got something,” Liam sings. “Axel filled me in on some straggling details that had a bunch of things clicking. I think we can get this whole shit show called off.”
A sigh bursts out of me. I’m not sure I even realized how tense I was, but the thought of this ending has me opening my eyes to the beautiful twilight haze of the passing forest.
Maddox squeezes my thigh. “Give it to me.”
“We didn’t have a name for Vincent Lund’s grandson. He has nine. Only four are connected to his business. Or seemed to be. But Axel and I did some digging on the others. He had ahunch about something, and it panned out. Shane Graham—one of Lund’s grandsons—went to college with Hunter and—”
I huff in disbelief. “Shane went to college with Hunter? The same Shane? I guess it makes sense that I didn’t know that, but it’s weird.”
Maddox’s head whips toward me. “Youknow Shane Graham? Vincent Lund’s grandson?”
“Knowofhim. Well”—I mull it over for a second—“maybe it’s a coincidence. I stole a car when I was a teenager. The DA mentioned that it belonged to a guy a few years older than me, named Shane Graham.”
“Same guy,” Liam verifies.
Maddox bypasses that vital tidbit and gets to what he really wants to know. “You stole a car?”
I forgot I hadn’t shared that with him. “Long story. I’ll tell you more later.”
Of course he can’t let it go. “What kind of car, Nightmare?”
Shaking my head, I relent. “A 1965 Alfa Romeo Spider.” When he beams at my response, I shoo away his ill-timed enthusiasm to keep us on track. “What does this mean?”
“It means Shane Graham is likely the witness who saw me,” Maddox fills in. “And since he was the number one suspect with the Makarovs, he flipped it. I don’t know how you knowing him plays into it, but I’m assuming he and Hunter—”
“Have been cleaning the money in the Bahamas,” Liam interrupts. “It looks that way. A few other notable Lockhart-related folks have been on those trips too.”
“Who?” Maddox growls, and a pit forms in my stomach.
“Got it, Chief,” Liam mutters in the background before returning with, “Derek and John.”
“Are you freaking kidding me?” I snap, an oppressive lump blocking my airway.
What the hell is going on?
“Gage, Cash, and I are heading out to pick up Hunter. He’ll lead us to Shane Graham. We’ll let you handle questioning the other two. Ryker is getting ready to leave in a few minutes. He said to wait for him and just take care of Tessa.” Liam chuckles. “So many bossy fuckers in one room.”
“I hear that. Thanks, man,” Maddox says, ending the call, which immediately has “Wings” by Birdy playing.
Maddox threads my fingers with his, dusting his thumb over my skin. “We’ll figure this out, Tess. Don’t jump to conclusions about John and Derek.”
“It just doesn’t make sense.” I rub my forehead, my head already killing me with an oncoming migraine. “That can’t be right.”
I don’t say it because I know Hunter is a sore spot, but I can’t imagine him involved in this either.
Like always, he reads my thoughts. “I interrogated Hunter and thought the same. He was hiding shit, but I didn’t expect him to be partnering.”
“Right?” I agree. “And what would be Derek’s and John’s motivation?”
