He pulls me into his arms and starts to kiss me. All the guys converge on me, touching and trying to bring me comfort. They strip me down and bring me to bed, whispering sweet nothings in my ear about how this will all be okay. I want to believe them, but I wonder if any of us can fight whatever is coming next.
CHAPTER 67
PARKER
“Doyou think there’s a possibility this is all four families?” Hadrian asks me as we leave Bellthorn behind. I know he doesn’t just mean the stuff with Sable’s mom, but her dad and the pedophile ring supposedly behind him.
After yesterday, it became clear we need more information, and standing still at the castle won’t do anyone any good. That’s the one thing I thought I had about Sable and her family—information. But all the revelations of the past few days are proving me a terribly juvenile stalker. There seems to be only two people worth asking what’s going on, and considering the guilty party is unlikely to fess up, we should go after their pets.
The police.
Their visit left me thinking too much. I know the four families aren’t sharing secrets with Detective Askey—he’s not important enough—but he had his nose all over the Briarwick investigation. I know his face well enough to know that much.
“Yeah, it’s possible,” I finally answer him. It would be really nice if I could claim that level of evil was beyond our families, but I know they’re bad people.
Hadrian nods, his eyes on the window, watching the bunch of nothing around Bellthorn pass by.
“You think they would spend their time watching us now when they never did before?” he asks.
“Not really and my father would have used a few things against me had he known about them.” I’m sure of that much. “I know Orion is screaming that it’s them watching us and shit like that, but it doesn’t make sense. There’s something else at play. I don’t know if Sable’s dad is innocent or not.”
“Did you ever suspect him before the police said so?” he asks.
It’s a fair point and one I hadn’t considered. I did spend a lot of time watching them. “No, I did not.”
“The truth doesn’t really matter, though, does it?” he says.
“How do you figure?”
“They are still the main players,” Hadrian reminds me. “We have to destroy them to keep going. That’s the only thing we can’t change.”
The comment is nefarious enough to raise the hairs on the back of my neck. I hum at him because I don’t think Hadrian fully understands what that means. There’s no getting rid of the four families, not with the money and power they wield. As we know, they have the police on their side. They covered all their bases. Nothing short of death will stop them.
I don’t say my thoughts out loud and just press down the highway until we arrive at the precinct. I have enough money to buy some words with them, and I’m hoping they’re not stupid enough to also be loyal. Our fathers would never offer the same to them.
“Detective Askey around?” I ask the receptionist at the front. I have a bone to pick with him after coming to talk to Sable like a common criminal.
“Who needs him?” she asks, barely looking away from her paperwork like she can’t be bothered.
“Tell him it’s Mr. Vale and Mr. Hollow.”
She pops the chewing gum in her mouth and presses the numbers down, repeating the names as she gives us a first look.
“Okay, you go ahead. His office is the last one down the hall.”
We move around the uniformed officers, trying not to draw too much attention. I don’t know who is paid off and who isn’t, but I do know I don’t want anyone calling my father and letting him know I’m poking into his business. A few sets of eyes follow me, but I can’t tell what the true cause of their suspicion is and whether or not I should be worried. I knock just once before opening the door. Askey is behind his desk, a fake smile on his lips.
“Well, well. To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asks. “You didn’t bring Miss Briarwick with you to answer my questions, did you?”
I’m running out of time, and I’m not sure how to deal with him. I’m not the eldest child, I wasn’t raised to be the head of the family, and unfortunately, I’m used to getting most things I want without having to do anything. I look at Hadrian just once, my eyebrows arching in question, but he just shrugs. My full-of-shit brother Arthur would know exactly how to handle this dick.
“Miss Briarwick isn’t available for questions for the foreseeable future, butI’vebeen thinking about the investigation after you left, Detective,” I say as I take a seat across from Askey.
“If my girlfriend were suspected of killing her uncle, I’d be sleeping with one eye open too,” he says breezily, like I wouldn’t kill a man for less.
I chuckle. “No, I was thinking about why you were the one visiting us and asking questions when it’s not your jurisdiction? Carl Briarwick doesn’t live here. He’s back in the city as far as I know.”
“But Bellthorn is here.” He scoffs.
