“Carl Briarwick hasn’t set foot in Bellthorn for years.”
“How would you know?” he asks, lifting his brow like he’s suddenly onto something. “Keeping close tabs on the man for some reason?”
“Please.” I wave him off. “He simply wasn’t ever at the school.”
“He’s gone, boys, and I’d bet anything it leads to Bellthorn. You don’t need to understand the complicated inner workings of police business, and I wouldn’t expect you to.”
“It hardly matters what you think we understand,” Hadrian says, his calculating gaze on the detective. “What matters is that you had no business interrogating Miss Briarwick, and you won’t do it again.”
“And what are you going to do about that?” Askey laughs, shaking his head as he stands. His shoulders hike, and his pinched expression tells me he’s feeling the pressure. That makes this the perfect time to press him.
“I’m going to make you a deal instead,” I say.
“A deal?” he asks.
I nod. “I don’t mind that you took a personal interest in us. But it made me wonder what you might have found.”
“What makes you think I found anything?”
I smile slowly and deliberately. “If you have information about the investigation into the Briarwicks, I can make itveryworthwhile for you.”
My meaning is there for everyone to see. I know our fathers pay him, and I wonder how much it will cost me to get him to double-cross them.
“Aren’t you the Hollow spare?” He arches an eyebrow, a laugh in his voice.
“I have access to as much cash as the rest of them, and so does Hadrian here. Name your price.”
Detective Askey drums his fingers over the file cabinet beside his table, his back to us. I wait for his move, keeping my mouthshut. This wasn’t a tactical maneuver, and it can all come back to bite me if he decides to let the family know. I pretend I’m not nervous. My back is relaxed against the chair as if I have nothing to lose.
“I won’t give you access to the investigation, Mr. Hollow.”
I curse under my breath.
Do I need to fuck him up?I thought money talked, but maybe I just need to beat his ass. Before I leave the chair, Hadrian’s hand closes around my arm, stopping me. I flash him a look, but he shakes his head, still watching Askey.
“But there’s something I intercepted, something not even your parents know about, and I was saving it for a rainy day.” He opens the cabinet and takes out a letter, holding it up between his fingers.
“What’s that?” Hadrian asks.
“The last letter the dead Briarwick sent before picking your girlfriend up at school and trying to kill her.” Immediately, I’m listening, and I know I’d pay anything for that letter. It’s not that it would mean a lot to Sable to have a letter from her father, but I also know this is the key to making sense of this whole thing.
“How do you have it?” Hadrian asks.
“I was following him, pulled it from the box.”
“Isn’t that a federal offense?” I ask, but he just laughs.
“Give us the price, Askey.” I grit.
His smile slowly comes through his creepy expression, and he rattles off his price. It’s a lot of money, but between the five of us, it won’t even raise suspicions.
“Done.” I extend my hand to take the letter.
“Start the wire,” he orders.
Hadrian shakes his head and takes his phone, starting to move money. Once it’s obviously happening, Detective Askey relaxes and gives me the letter. I don’t wait for him to try to takeit from me or ask for my money. Hadrian and I are out of there right away.
“It’s addressed to Nina,” I tell Hadrian once we are in the security of my car.
