“Don’t ma’am me. I’m Briar,” she said, putting her hand out.
“Briar. Unusual name, are you a new client?” Slaughter sent me a glance that said, lucky guy.
Briar began to laugh when she saw it. “Stone’s my younger brother.”
“Commiserations,” Slaughter quipped.
“This is Slaughter, he’s a brother in the MC. He owns the company,” I introduced and gave Slaughter a stay-away stare.
“A pleasure. Hopefully, we’ll meet again,” Briar replied. Slaughter nodded with interest in his eyes before stepping back and letting us pass.
Briar linked her arm through mine as we walked towards Clio’s cafe. Briar seemed content to walk in silence. As much as I wanted to ask questions, I held back, wondering how long it would take until Briar spoke about what had sent her home.
“Table for two,” I told the waitress when we entered the café. She led us to a table and handed over menus.
“Well, you gonna talk or what?” I asked after placing our orders.
“Long story.”
“Usually is, sis.” I reached out and took her hand, which was nervously tapping on the table.
“Shit, Stone, I fell for a guy. Didn’t tell the family because I know how you all get, and it was new. Plus, I didn’t want to introduce him until I was certain of the relationship. But he began flaking on me, and then I discovered he was committingfraud, and outed him. Everything went to shit, and I upped and left.”
“You nut shelled that perfectly. There’s gotta be more between the lines,” I replied as Briar took a deep breath and released it slowly.
“Yeah. Christ, I was a damn idiot. The bastard was using me the whole time. I was notorious for being a workaholic. When he asked me out on a date, I initially thought it was an office bet. A friend assured me it wasn’t, so I agreed. We had a good time, and at first, we had dinner on a weekly basis, which slowly led to building a relationship. Once a week rolled into twice and then several times. But I didn’t let him move in.” Briar took on a vacant stare.
“What’s his name, honey?”
“Do I have to?”
“By not naming the bogeyman, you give him power,” I said, and Briar laughed bitterly.
“I used to tell you that.”
“Name.”
“Travis Fellowes.”
“What happened next, sis?”
“Travis wanted to move in after four months, I refused. That was moving far too fast, plus he’d not even met the ‘rents. Travis claimed he was fine waiting, but seemed off. I began to suspect he was courting me to take my client list. But when nobody jumped ship, I convinced myself I was being paranoid.”
“But you weren’t?”
“No. Travis started acting shifty about a year in. By then, I knew deep down something was wrong, so I didn’t bother telling any of the family about him. One night, I was working late and thought I was the only one left in the building. As I was heading to the bathroom, I heard voices. Travis was in his office on thephone. He was assuring somebody that his creative accounting wouldn’t be discovered.”
Briar sucked in another breath and blew her cheeks out. “Travis outright admitted to committing fraud and keeping two sets of books. He hinted that someone else, higher than us, was involved. Shocked, I crept back to my office, left, and informed law enforcement. For two months, I had to continue as normal. The police needed me to gather evidence before they finally arrested him. Alongside him were two partners and three other accountants who were also dirty.
“I started receiving threats, and the authorities couldn’t help. Stone, that’s why I packed up and came home. Travis has no idea where the ‘rents live because he never asked, and I don’t keep an address book. By accident, I stepped into something huge, and it’s got massive repercussions. They’ve stopped, but I’m constantly on edge, waiting for them to start again.”
“Fuck! Briar, you should have called me. I’d have come straight away!” I exclaimed. Briar reached out and grabbed my hands.
“I couldn’t let you. Shit was hitting the fan, Stone.”
I stared into her eyes and realisation landed. “Someone made an attempt on your life.”
“Twice. My car brakes failed, and somebody barely missed me in a hit-and-run. The agent dealing with my case knows where to find me, but nobody else does. Because I never mentioned family, Travis assumed we were estranged. He wouldn’t expect me to return home.”
