“He didn’t have time … to get the grits off before … the hobby horse races.” Jax is practically crying, relaying how some employee was dedicated to an asinine cause. “Full cowboy attire and … globs of grits trickling out of him … with every hop.”
“Pissing like a racehorse,” Cash chokes out with a laugh.
They both catch sight of me, and the three of us share a heart-wrenching understanding. Maddox shouldn’t have missed that, or the dance contest, or any of the ridiculous competitions. He wanted to share it with Remy and my niece and nephew. It makes me wonder what the staff has been told about Maddox. Brasi is probably a wreck without him. For that split second, it feels like we all might crumble to pieces, so I gulp back the anguish. Maddox would hate if the joy was lost.
I roll my eyes with a reluctant chuckle. “Stupid.”
Cash and Jax smirk in return and go back to their ludicrous discussion.
“Exactly,” Ryker agrees, sneaking up on us. He ushers Mercy and me toward another patient room. “There’s someone who wants to talk with you. Let’s handle it before Maddox is up.”
I glance at Mercy, and she bobs her head, which is the only reason I don’t bolt back to Maddox’s side, even though there is no one worth pulling me away from him. When we enter the examination room, Hunter is sitting in a chair, arms folded and expression tired. And that all-too-familiar rage that seized me when I confronted my family slams into me again.
“This is bold. You’d better have one hell of an explanation for—”
“He does,” Ryker interrupts me, which piques my interest.
Once I brace myself against the wall, Mercy slides a chair over near me and occupies it.
“Fine,” I concede, flipping my attention back to Hunter. “Then get to it.”
He exhales with a solemn nod. “I did what I thought was necessary to keep you safe. Shane approached me about a month after you abruptly moved out of your house downtown for thepest controlissue. He told me you’d”—he pauses and peers at Ryker for permission before turning back to me—“killed a friend of his and that the Noires cleaned it up for you.”
I don’t give him any sign of how accurate that is. “And why would you believe such an insane story?”
“Because when he described things, he said you were on the floor, next to the dead guy, holding another girl who was crying, and I don’t know …” He blows out a heavy breath, plainly distraught. “I put the pieces together. Kind of. You and Violet had moved out of the blue. She’d been so excited about meeting Derek a month earlier, but then your mom told my mom that she was withdrawn. And you came back to work here, refusing to discuss it with me, regardless of how it was ripping your life apart. It made sense that it was all to protect her.”
Cash and Jax silently let themselves into the room, and suddenly, I’m transported back to my parents’ yard for the engagement brunch, when it was Maddox and me against my whole family unit. It hit me how very alone I was that day. Now, I’m surrounded.
“Then why not come to me about it? Why involve John and Derek? Why let my family believe I was some screwup?” I snap. “So much pain could have been avoided if you’d simply told me what was going on.”
“I get that but …” He leans forward, elbows on his knees. “Shane said you probably owed the Noires a favor for their help because that’s how things work, but that his grandfather could get you out of it.”
He rubs his face, like he’s over all of it. “I’d known his family was connected back in college, so it made sense. And he knew my family had a time-share in the Bahamas. All I had to do was help him wash that money because he said the guy you’d killed was supposed to do that for him. I asked John and Derek to go so the trips would seem less suspicious, and honestly, you know I don’t do shit like this. I was nervous. In case the truth came out, I didn’t want to involve anyone outside your family. I wasn’t trying to make you look bad, but I didn’t have another reason for insisting they come on those trips, so I twisted things.”
Cash glances at his phone, but he doesn’t say anything about Maddox, and my heart plummets to my stomach again.
“You trusted Shane?” Ryker asks Hunter with a cocked brow.
“No,” he admits. “I wasn’t sure if he’d actually help Tessa, but I believed him when he said that if I warned her, he’d tell the guy’s father that she killed him. He gave some chilling examples of what that would mean. And he added that if the Noires—your family—found out he was using me, he’d kill her and Violet himself.”
A shiver racks through me. Maybe he was as tied up in this as the rest of us.
“News story,” Cash breaks in, showing us his phone.
Jax leans in close to examine whatever is going on, but Ryker flicks on the television.
Everything pauses when a story with a warehouse exploding fills the screen.
“Witnesses tell us that the warehouse, owned by Texas mogul Vincent Lund, burst into flames about a half hour ago. Fromwhat we know at this time, there were numerous individuals insi—”
Gage and Liam bust into the room, and chaos ensues. There are now eight of us crammed into this tiny room, the racket of the news reporter and everyone’s voices clashing to become a roar of babel.
Since I can’t process what anyone is talking about, I move toward Ryker and keep my voice hushed. “Is this real? Are the Lunds gone, or is this some sort of deepfake like before?”
I’m not even sure if that makes sense. I simply know that the corrupt world I’ve been a part of for most of my adult life is far more tangled and duplicitous than I even realized, and nothing is what it seems.
Liam must have read my lips because he sidles up beside us to answer while all of us digest the scene. “We’re investigating people who manipulate the media. Ivy filled you in on that, right?” He smirks, but I don’t confirm whether that’s the case, so he continues, “We have our own way in too. It … helps.”
