Page 71 of Home Again

He took another step toward her.

“Out!” she shouted.

He jumped.

“I said get the hell out of here!” she shouted again.

The raccoon scurried out the door.

* * *

“You’re not going to have all the fun,” Fergus shouted.

“Damn right,” Callum bellowed. “If you intend to ask these cousins some questions, we want to be there.”

Sebastian covered his mouth, trying not to laugh.

“Men, we just need you for the search. Sebastian and I will get the answers we need,” Gideon assured him.

Callum started laughing. “These are swamp boys. Are you willing to go the distance?”

“Trust me, Fergus, we’ll take care of it,” Gideon smiled easily.

“I’m Callum.”

“Gideon, we’re taking the O’Malley brothers with us,” Sebastian interrupted. Gideon scowled at him. Sebastian knew that the bayou boys would end up being a hell of a lot more scared of the O’Malleys than they would be of some Navy SEALs. It shouldn’t be that way, but it just was, Gideon would end up understanding.

“We’ll follow you out there. That way when the search starts, we’ll be close,” Neil said, indicating him and the rest of the men.

Sebastian nodded. They needed to get moving. It was Sunday morning, and they didn’t have any time to waste. It had been clear after talking to Armand last night that he knew nothing about anything. His only concern had been trying to ensure that nobody killed him. Why in the hell he was still going out to clubs was one of life’s biggest mysteries.

When they got into the truck and started west on I-10 with all of the others following them, Gideon connected his phone with the truck’s Bluetooth and made a call.

“What took you so damn long to call?” Jada sounded pissed.

“Good morning to you, too.” Gideon sounded exasperated.

“I’ve been calling and texting for two fucking hours. What is your goddamn problem that you can’t shoot back one sentence that says you’ll get back to me?”

“I’m getting back to you now. Your information this morning was good, by the way.”

“It was fucking amazing. Now, let’s start planning our next steps. Obviously, the two bozo cousins are in on it, so you need to squeeze them, but you saw how Bradley’s older sister has to be in on it too, right? Her husband disappeared three years ago, and dollars to donuts his body is in a fifty-gallon barrel at the bottom of the swamp, and the sheriff is too scared to open any kind of case against her. I went through her bank records; she gets checks from the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in downtown Krotz Springs for bookkeeping services, so she should have her ass in a pew today. Go get her.”

Sebastian laughed and Gideon glared at him.

“Jada, you’re not going to tell us how to handle things,” Gideon all but growled.

“I damn well will if it will get Gianna back in one piece, or are you telling me that Sebastian’s worthless uncle actually provided you with some information?”

“No,” Gideon admitted.

“Where is he?” Jada demanded to know.

“He’s currently spending some quality time tied up in a luxury apartment,” Sebastian said with a satisfied smile. “We might check up on him if we have time, not that I really give a shit if we do.”

Jada laughed. “Now that does my heart good.”

“Are you finding the locations of properties like we asked?” Sebastian asked.