Rush was already pushed away from his desk, dragging his hands through his beard as tension rolled off him, waiting for the rest of us to be filled in.
“Confirming thateverythingfrom this weekend has been fully wiped from y’alls computers and tablets,” Briggs began as he met each of our stares. As soon as he got verbal confirmation from us, he glanced at Rush and said, “Shut it down.”
Rush pushed from the chair and stalked to the back of the office without another word. But before any of us could ask, Briggs continued.
“There was something about that name that kept bothering me. Davis Shaw,” he added with a slight tick of his jaw. “I thought maybe Lainey had just mentioned the guy, since the other Davises seem to be heavily involved in Monroe’s and Chloe’s lives, but it just kept grating on me. LikeI’dknown the guy.” His head bobbed for a second, his expression growing darker. “When the Wreckers hacked into our system and destroyed the office last year, I had someone come out to patch up and secure our system.”
“Davis Shaw,” Thatch said on a strained sigh.
“Correct,” Briggs confirmed. “Which means, they’ve been watching everything we’ve done. They know we’re looking into the club and, depending on how closely they’ve been monitoring us, they might know we’ve figured out theirDavis Shawplacements.” His dark glare shifted to me. “This is a stretch, but it could also explain the bottles that led to you and Monroe being drugged, because I booked the resort for our wedding fromhere.”
I dipped my head and spared a look at Mallory—earbuds on her desk to keep up the ruse, body stiff and straight as she faced Briggs, but her eyes were on me.
When Rush came back into the office, Briggs continued. “The system’s been shut down. I’m gonna give ARCK a call to see ifthey knew any of this. But for now, everyone needs to stay right here.”
“I think they did,” Thatch said just as Briggs took a step toward his office, drawing Briggs’ questioning stare his way. With a nod toward our boss, Thatch explained, “I was coming to talk to you. Something about all this wasn’t sitting right with me. Even without Tessa’s hints, if that’s what they were, it doesn’t make sense that ARCK was able to send us extensive files on this club and the members making up this new family, but somehow not know we were also surrounded by those same members.”
Briggs’ jaw shifted irritably as he studied Thatch. “Why would they withhold that?”
Thatch lifted out his hands before letting them fall. “Maybe to see what we could do with the information given to us. Or maybe theyweretelling us. Maybe all our Davises are in the files. Did you get through all the members?”
With a glance at Evans, Briggs answered, “Not yet. But it wouldn’t matter if we had because I don’t know what they look like, and Evans has only seen one of them.”
“Then there’s a chance they were giving us the information we needed.”
“Not in a helpful way,” Briggs muttered, but just as he began turning again, I cut in.
“We need to check on Ada,” I said, bringing up the woman who had worked for us until last fall. At Briggs’ harsh glare that promised destruction, I knew he was realizing just how deep this could go—how many people were in danger that he cared about.
It didn’t matter that Ada had left at the time all these guys had slipped in unnoticed, she’d worked for Briggs for years, was like a mother figure to him, and was Lainey’s great aunt. She also still came into the office at random to frustrate Briggs to no end and meddle in things that weren’t her business.
We all loved her.
“And Peyton,” I added, not missing the way Rush’s head snapped my way.
“She’s in New York,” Rush said before Briggs had a chance to react, sounding horrified.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said with a breathless laugh. “If this new family was started by the Wreckers, then they’re doing all this to destroy Briggs and his business. She’s Briggs’ sister.”
Briggs was quiet, but the wrath curling from him and the way the rise and fall of his chest deepened spoke volumes. With a dark look at Rush, he finally said, “I haven’t heard from her since my wedding.”
“She’s—” Rush seemed to catch himself, his head bobbing faintly before he gave an even more subtle shake. “Same,” he admitted, like thathurthim.
“Call her,” Briggs demanded. “You know she won’t answer if I do.”
A strangled sort of laugh twisted from Rush. “Did you miss where I said I hadn’t heard from her since your wedding either?”
“She’ll still answer if you call,” Briggs ground out in a tone that left no room for discussion. “She always has.”
“Briggs—”
“Get Peyton on the phone,” Briggs seethed as he turned for his office. “I’ll call Ada and ARCK.”
The rest of us sat in silence until long after the sound of Briggs’ office door slamming shut had faded.
“So, we just sit here?” Evans finally asked, breaking the uncomfortable tension.
“That’s what he said,” I muttered as my stare once again drifted to my wife.
