It had been another hour since they had arrived at the department and gone over their initial statements. The woman who had attacked them was under lock and key at the hospital, while the man who had been killed had been identified as Brae Lee, a frequent flyer at a jail two counties over for offenses that ranged from drunk-and-disorderlies to a smattering of petty thefts. He hadn’t had a history of violence, but his ex-wife had been quick to let them know that in the last two years his entire personality had seemed to change.
“The man stumbled through life with nothing but cheap beer and excuses until he lost his job, our house and me,” she had said on the phone, voice clear even on Speaker. “Then one day he disappears only to show up with his back straight and his pockets lined with cash. Said he found some good luck and would keep having it as long as he did some traveling and kept his mouth shut.” There had been a pause. Eve had imagined the woman had shaken her head. “He never got into the details past that, and honestly, I didn’t want to know. He gave me some of the worst years of my life. So I didn’t want to give him anymore of my time. That was the last time I spoke to him, and I haven’t had contact since.”
She was sad for the loss of life and maybe a touch regretful, but she had nothing left for them to use other than the theory that whatever he had gotten into two years ago had probably led him to die in Darius’s house now.
It had been enough for Darius, though. Rose and Deputy Gavin had already agreed to deep dive into the man’s life to try and look for some kind of connection to the Keyses. Something Darius had officially requested in Rose’s office just before they had come to the break room.
“I can’t give you details, but if I were doing the looking, I’d be staring at Scott Keys and his close friend, Toby Sanderson,” Darius had said. “But I’d also be a bit discreet about it too.”
Eve had expected the piece of advice to get a reaction out of Rose or, at least, a question or two. Instead, she had run a hand over her pregnant belly and nodded. She had already been moving behind her desk to the computer before they could leave the room.
“He’s either confident or he’s trying to be intimidating,” Theo said now, speaking about Scott. “Which could mean he’s prepared for what happened, or he’s trying to send us a warning to not involve him in it at all.”
Eve nodded.
Darius shook his head.
“Or he could be here to see how much we know—or don’t know—about everything that’s happened.”
Theo conceded.
“To be fair, at this point I’m not even sure I know what we do or don’t know.” He touched the butterfly bandage on his cheek. “It’s been a pretty wild last week or so.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Coming to Seven Roads had felt like a lifetime ago. Wearing a wedding dress, standing in the middle of the road and staring at the now-grown Darius had felt even further away.
And everything that had happened since?
She’d had more questions than she had answers since arriving.
It was…frustrating, to say the least.
A frustration that they all shared, even as a silence fell over them. Eve glanced over at Darius. Her cheeks heated slightly. She wanted to talk to him in private, but she wasn’t sure what to say. Or even if she should say anything at all. They were in a mess.
A mess because of a man in Italian leather.
A man with a wrath that she had yet to see come out.
Even now Eve could still feel the fear of watching Scott unleash on Mitchell in that hotel room.
The hired men and woman who had come after them so far were truly scary, but there was something about the socialite that put fire ants beneath Eve’s skin.
Scott Keys didn’t only have rage as a weapon. He had money.
A lot of it.
When the sheriff came to see them a few minutes later, he let them know that anger hadn’t been a part of his discussion with the Keys brothers. Instead, his gaze had landed squarely on Eve.
“Scott Keys wants to see you. Both of you.” Then he looked at Darius. “And I’ll be frank with you here—he’s not asking.”
FINALLY,DARIUS METScott Keys.
He’d seen him, sure, nodded to him and watched as deputies had taken his statement. Darius had read the news articles too, googled him and seen enough press about him during his hospital stay tofeellike he had met the man already.
Yet now he was in the same space. Within the same four walls.
Now he couldseethe expensive suit and shoes.
