“He seems to think he can get it back for me, but he wants to wait it out a bit.” I settled my head in my palm, my energy fading. “I’m nervous Steven will hide the money again.”
Elliot shook his head. “I think he’s too arrogant to believe he’ll ever actually get caught.”
“There is that,” I agreed. “Why would Dad buy policies on us, do you think?”
“He did it right when he became chief.” Elliot sipped his beer. “Do you remember Gene Rivers?”
“Dad’s old friend from high school?”
Elliot nodded. “Yeah, he’s the one who sold him the policy.”
“But he died ten years ago.”
“I know, but his son Bobby took over his insurance business. Guess who’s Bobby’s brother-in-law?”
I shrugged.
“Steven.”
“What?” I squeaked.
“Steven’s sister is married to Bobby.”
“Wow,” I whispered.
When Steven and I had met and started dating, he’d said his family lived out of state... Vermont to be exact, and it would be impossible for us to meet right away. He’d made a big show... all lies... of “planning” a trip over Thanksgiving, but he’d walked away with all my money a week before the big holiday and I hadn’t seen or heard from him again. His phone was a burner that he’d destroyed and I’d found out the last name he’d given me was a fake. He’d said it was Arnold, but my sister had uncovered the truth. Unfortunately, not soon enough to find all of my money. She was only able to find the credit card fraud and that’s ultimately what he was prosecuted for.
“This is bigger than we originally thought,” Elliot said.
“Sounds like it.” I yawned. “Sorry.”
“I think you should go back to bed,” Austin said, and set a mug of hot tea on the table beside me.
“Nope, I’m good,” I said right before a coughing fit.
He frowned, handing me some cold meds and a glass of water. “Take these.”
I did as he instructed and wrapped my hands around the mug of tea, sipping it carefully, the heat of the liquid soothing my sore throat. Austin sat beside me and I carefully folded myself into his side, trying not to spill my tea. He wrapped an arm around me and gave me a gentle squeeze.
“What does your father say about all of this?” Austin asked.
“I haven’t spoken to him at length,” Elliot said. “We’ll talk more tonight. But he’s gathering all the paperwork he has on file and I’m going to talk to my brother-in-law at length about how to best protect the family. Emily’s not an easy mark.”
“She’s kind of a gun-carrying, badass, with a black belt, so she can defend herself,” I piped in.
Elliot nodded. “But that doesn’t mean Mitch isn’t gonna want to get in on this. He’ll also have a game plan.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Yeah, I get it. It’s all alpha male all the time in her world.”
Elliot chuckled. “Shocking that you’ve found one of your own.”
I smiled up at Austin. “Austin’s not an alpha male. He’s totally meek and easy to deal with. I make all of my own decisions and he just lets me do whatever I feel is best. Why, he tells me everything that’s going on in his life, down to the minute detail and he never makes a move on anything without first discussing it with me. He’s the best boyfriend ever.” I yawned, suddenly finding my eyes difficult to keep open. “I can’t seem to stay awake.”
“That’s because I gave you the nighttime cold meds,” Austin revealed.
“What?” I blinked up at him.
Elliot laughed. “You were saying, little sister?”
