“Wait a minute, I’ve been reading and watching everything on the crash. Amy’s name isn’t mentioned as one of the survivors,” Nanci said, straightening.
“Exactly. How the hell did anyone know Amy was involved? That wreath is a threat,” I replied.
“Shit. And she’s upstairs?” Inglorious asked.
“Would you have wanted me to leave her?” I shot back.
Inglorious sent me a dark look. “What type of asshole do you think I am? Of course not. Is she okay?”
“No. Amy’s grieving her friend’s death, and now this. I want to think it was an innocent mistake, and they got the names confused, but it rings false. It might be a crank, but I didn’t believe there was any harm in ensuring her safety.”
“Agreed. Did the cops interview her?” Inglorious asked.
“No. They contacted the JTTF, who are sending someone here today at eleven.”
“No rush on their behalf then,” Chill sneered.
“Guess they just think it’s a storm in a teacup,” I replied, even though I felt the same as Chill.
“Not for long,” Nanci interrupted, glancing at her phone. We looked over as she picked up the remote for the huge TV in the rec room and switched it on.
I blinked as the reporter stated that Mr Nathan Coleman, one of the guys who’d survived the crash, had been found dead in his hotel room. It was the guy who’d lost his wife and unborn child. Fuck. Was it suicide or something more? Something worse?
Inglorious and I swapped grim glances. The woman speculated on the cause of death, which hadn’t been released. The Feds were crawling all over the scene, and that worried me.
“Keep Amy close,” Inglorious muttered.
“Your gut kicking in too?”
“Yeah.”
I glanced around at my brothers and saw concern reflected in their eyes. They were all thinking along the same lines as Inglorious and me. Could be that the guy couldn’t live with what happened to his wife and kid. Could also be something darker. For now, I’d prefer Amy stick close.
“You know she’s a teacher?” I asked as Inglorious changed the channel. Nanci made a noise of protest.
“Baby girl, the last thing we want is Amy coming down and seeing that shit. Let Vortex tell her. A teacher?” Inglorious said in an aside.
“Okay,” Nanci replied.
“Yeah, and worked with kindergarten kids.”
“Tell me more,” Inglorious said as Nanci’s gaze wandered around the room and lit up when she saw someone. I followed it and sighed.
Meadow, the cook for the clubhouse, was placing trays of food on the service counter. Nanci hadn’t got excited because breakfast was ready. Nope, she had Meadow in her sights and wanted to set her and Chill up. Nanci needed to tread carefully there because Meadow had severely reacted once when Sabrehad startled her in the kitchen. She’d been completely terrified and clearly had expected a punch or slap—or maybe worse.
Luckily for all Nanci’s ball-busting, my friend had a heart of gold. She might be pushy, but she’d be gentle around Meadow. Not so with Chill. Nanci would handle Meadow with kid gloves while smacking Chill with a bat. The one thing we’d learned was that when Nanci set her sights on something, she’d make it happen. Chill wasn’t going to get away with ducking and diving for much longer.
I began explaining to Inglorious everything that Amy had told me while we filled our plates. He nodded and asked questions before lapsing into a contemplative silence. It was up to him now.
Everyone was finishing breakfast when it happened.
“Invite her to accompany you to the opening day ceremonies,” Nanci hissed at Chill. Meadow had retreated into the kitchen and wouldn’t hear anything.
“Back off,” Chill retorted. That was a red flag at a bull.
“No. You like Meadow. Ask,” Nanci pushed.
“Used to like you, should I ask you?” Chill challenged, and I choked on a mouthful of coffee.
