Heartless Legacy (Heartless Heirs of Canyon Falls #4)

101. Deacon

Chapter 101

Deacon

T he official alert has finally gone out for the bloodline challenge. The prospects need to find the pieces of a custom chess set. The trick is finding the correct pieces because there are multiple forgeries out there.

“Good game.” My cousin Bryan says, slapping me on the back.

“You, too.” I towel off before dropping into the seat beside him, watching as the teenagers in our family take the court.

“We’ve missed you the last few games.”

“Whatever. We both know how you play when I’m not guarding you.”

“Straight down the lane every time.”

“Exactly.” We laugh because that’s how we’ve matched up since childhood. We talk shit to each other during the game and try not to foul out. “So how’s it been?”

“It’s been good, but busy. Pop’s been working a lot of overtime.”

Eyeing him over my water bottle, I ask, “Don’t you mean you?”

“I wish. Whatever this job is, he’s kept the team really small, and is supervising it himself.”

“Is it league related? You know how the security protocols for those jobs are.”

“Oh, yeah, I know. I just wish he’d get someone else up to speed. Pop is getting too old to be out in the field like that.”

Our grandfather is in good health, and in good shape, but the grandchildren all agree it’s time for him to step back and travel with Gran. I say, “It might be time for the kids to have an intervention. Pops always said he’d retire when he had someone to turn the company over to. He has six someone’s now, so there’s no reason to put it off.”

“I used to think he held on so tightly because he was still waiting for you to come into the family business. Now I know, it’s because he’s a control freak like the rest of us.” Bryan climbs to his feet to go see what his wife wants. My grandmother takes his place and hands me a plate.

“Gran, you didn’t have to make me a plate.”

“Of course I did. Nobody else is here to do it.”

“I was gonna do it myself.”

She waves my comment off. “Please. You know I like serving my family.”

“I know, but it’s too many of us now.”

“No such thing. I’m ready for the next generation.” I shovel some food into my mouth because I know where this conversation is heading next. “When are you gonna settle down and give me some great-grand babies?”

“Gran, you’ve got four grandkids in line before me. From the way Bryan and Cheryl are all over each other, you should be getting news any day now.”

“I’m not talking about Bryan or the others. I’m talking about you . You’ve got your gym, you’re teaching. You’re stable. Are you bad in bed? Is that why the ladies don’t stick around? There are books you can read and they have pictures in them. They’re practically a GPS map to the cli-”

I choke on my cole slaw and wheeze out a mortified, “Gran!”

“What? Why do you look so scandalized? If you can’t talk about sex, then you’ll never get better at it. The girls and I think-”

“What girls?” I ask, arching a brow.

“My poker club. You know the Aces?”

“I know, the Aces, Gran. What I didn’t know, nor did I want to know, is that the topic of conversation at poker is sex.”

“There’s no shame in it, Deacon.”

“I’m not ashamed of sex, Gran. I have no problem talking about it. I just don’t feel comfortable talking about it with you .”

“Because of my age?”

“Because you’re my grandmother. And I don’t want to even think about how you know what sex is.”

“If I didn’t know what it was, none of you would be here.” She cackles at my discomfort. When her laughter finally dies down, she pats me affectionately on the knee.

“Can we change the subject now, or will you be traumatizing me some more?”

“You wouldn’t be traumatized alone if you’d have been here last month.” She counters.

“Fair enough.” I kiss her temple and take another bite of food, before saying, “I am ready to settle down, Gran. There’s just a few issues that need to be taken care of first.”

“These things,… are they financial issues, legal issues, emotional issues, moral issues, or security issues?”

“Legal, moral and security.”

“Talk to your grandfather. I’m sure he can help you.”

My gaze swing to where Pop is talking to one of my aunts. “Bryan was just saying Pop should be doing less.”

“He will be, just as soon as he finishes with this job.” Gran smiles and gets to her feet, as my grandfather walks towards us. “You should bring your young lady for the next outing. You’re living together, so I think we can upgrade to seeing her at in-person events, instead of surveillance photos. Oh, and I set some food aside. Make sure you take it to her.”

Thea

The guys have found a new place to ambush me. Finn flips the chair around before sitting, arms draped over the back of it. Despite the smile he’s wearing, I’m sure that whatever they’re here to say is probably gonna piss me off.

“Spit it out, Finley.” I say, as I turn the page in my textbook.

“Pax says you were with him on the team building challenge, but he’s not sure what you found.”

“He’s not? Maybe that’s because he left me to do all the work.”

Pax whines, like the big man child he is. “All you did was break in. I carried the binders and then you drove off with them.”

“It’s not my fault you rode the short bus to the cemetery.” My lips twist in a wry grin as Finn chuckles at my joke. “At any rate.” I say, getting things back on topic, “Pax has every right to ask what I found since he thinks he helped, but why should I share my findings with the two of you?”

Holden answers, “Because we’re trying to figure out if the challenges were real or not.”

I sit back in my seat, arms folded across my chest, waiting for more than that vague ass response. They want me to talk? Well, them first.

Holden says, “Finn’s clues led his team to the theater, but they found nothing that would be of value to The League. My team thinks they found our item, but I’m not so sure.”

That still doesn’t explain what their failures have to do with me. “Maybe Finn’s team cut him out, like you’re accusing me of doing with Pax.”

Finn responds, “Oh, they were definitely trying to cut me out, but I didn’t kick up a fuss about it. I read the clue and was as helpful as I could be. There were no hidden rooms, doors, or safes in the theater.”

Hidden rooms? Now he’s got my attention. “Is that what your clue was? To find a hidden room?”

“Not exactly. The clue said to find what is hidden for more to be revealed . Totally vague and clear at the same time.”

“Aren’t they always?” If I were on Finn’s team, I would’ve been looking for rooms, doors and safes too. Finn would know exactly where to look, so if he says nothing was there, it probably didn’t exist. “What about your clue, Holden?”

“It was just as vague as Finn’s. The source of east side money matters .”

I’m leaning forward now, arms resting on the table. I lower my voice and ask in a hushed whisper, “But you found something?”

“The group they stuck me with thinks they found something. It was a newspaper article about an investment firm on the east coast. There were research notes in the folder and the names of the journalist’s sources.”

Based on the clue, assuming the folder was the challenge item makes sense, but it might also be a little too on the nose. “Was there anything else around that would have fit better?”

“We were in some type of file room. There could have been any number of articles that fit. Investment companies are notoriously popular for embezzlement. It’s amazing how swift an investigation begins when the SEC gets an anonymous tip.”

I quirk a brow when Finn laughs and Holden smiles. Neither attempts to let me in on their inside joke. “It’s ironic, isn’t it?”

They look puzzled by my question. “The three of you were forced to work with other teams and you can’t crack your clues.” They still seem confused about where I’m going, so I explain, “You’re all co-dependent on each other. Maybe you need to get over your distaste for Eloise and go in on the marriage plan, because I don’t have high hopes for your future success if you’re working alone.”

Finn says, “Nice try, Pet. The clues suck, so the results would be the same, no matter who we worked with. There was nothing hidden in that theater.”

“I believe you. But who said the hidden item was in the theater?” His mouth opens then closes, a small squeak slipping out, as he chokes back whatever he was about to say. My attention drifts to Holden as he pulls his laptop out of his backpack. “Uh, oh. Looks like I lit a spark of inspiration in you, Mr. Sullivan.”

“You did. Keep gloating, and I’ll extinguish my spark down your throat.”

Now I’m the one imitating a guppie. Eventually, I think of something non-sexual to say, but I let him work instead, as I try to refocus on my assignment. Keeping them distracted keeps me from having to share that on the surface it appears my team challenge was also a waste of time. The only difference is, I’m not willing to admit defeat. I know there’s something league centric in those binders, and it’s only a matter of time until I figure out what it is.

“The guys told me what you’re up to.” Pax says from his side of the table.

“Living my best life? They’re right.”

Finn waits until a group of students passes before saying, “We told him about your plans.”

I scowl at him, because my plans are my business, and he had no right to share. “Oh, don’t get huffy with me, Pet. We all have way too many secrets, and it’s destroying us. We need to fix this shit and we won’t be able to do that and move on until we get everything out in the open.”

“When the hell did I say I want to move on with you?”

“Your actions speak louder than words.” He hums, “And there were so many actions, like that night on the beach, all of our lunch dates and phone calls, the night in your dorm when you left us in Tijuana. Shall I go on?”

I should’ve known he’d twist those events to mean something they don’t. Instead of correcting him, I ask, “You’re sharing all my secrets. Has he bothered to share his?”

Finn glares at Pax. “Yes, we know all about Malcolm.” My body locks up at the sound of that man’s name. “But we haven’t told him all your secrets . I would never betray you like that. We told him about your plan for the fourth bloodline.”

I scan the floor for a familiar face. “Oh, great. Now he’s gonna go tell the council and fuck me over.” Or did he do it already? Does the league enlist prospects to act on behalf of the security council? Didn’t I tell Wolfe this would happen? I can incapacitate Pax long enough to run to the end of the aisle and hop out a window. We’re on the second floor of the library. I should be good. Delta Team members assigned to campus would have me in a car before he could hobble down the stairs after me. Finn might chase me and jump through the window too, but he wouldn’t be trying to catch me.

Pax’s voice interrupts me, mentally planning my escape. “I’m not gonna rat you out, Nem. I told you we’re a team.”

I scoff at that. We’re definitely not a team. “That was a one off for a challenge and I spent the entire night trying to get rid of you.”

He says, “We became a team long before that night.”

“Really? What day did we-” I point between us. “Decide to team up? Because the only person with tits you’ve ever been thick as thieves with is your fiancé.”

His jaw ticks because he doesn’t like hearing the truth. Tough shit. Holden answers, “We’ve been teammates since the first time I came in my hand while watching you swim. There was never going to be anyone else I wanted to play with or to work with after that.”

“Exactly we’re- wait… What?” I gawk at him. “What do you mean you watched me swim?”

He’s wearing his glasses today and looks so damn cute. I force myself not to stare as he pushes them up his nose. “I watched you for weeks when you first came to school. You used to go swimming in my lake. You looked so damn good naked, sunbathing on a rock, and making yourself cum.” He looks so sweet when he says, “I timed my strokes to match yours. We were so in synch. That’s how I knew you’d be the perfect person to hunt. It took so much willpower not to swim out there and suck your juices off your fingers.”

I remember they were following me, but it never occurred to me that anyone saw that. I glance over at Finn, who shrugs. “Don’t look at me. You’ve been on my team since I threatened to cut out your tongue.” He jerks his finger towards Pax. “He’s the idiot that took a long time to accept the truth.”

Pax hefts his shoulder and says, “Fair point. I was an idiot.”

“Still are.” I mumble.

He rocks back in his chair. “That’s true, too. Good thing I have you to help keep me from fucking up too badly.”

“You don’t have me Pax.”

“I know. But I’m working on it.”

I narrow my eyes at him, but before I can turn this into a fight, point out his character flaws, and reject him again, he says, “I know about you helping the other amnesty prospects so they’d share stories about their families, but you should’ve saved your points. If you wanted to know league history, you could’ve just gone to the archives.”

I ask, “Have you ever talked to anyone other than your upper echelon buddies? Because it’s the people struggling on the leaderboard. The-” I make air quotes. “Bottom of the barrels, who are more open with sharing the interesting bits of gossip they hear at their family reunions and holiday gatherings. They’re the ones with colorful theories about how the mix up in Vale Tower happened. Although, can you really call it a mixup when those families paid to be there?”

Pax says, “There’s no proof that anybody’s been paying for a spot in Vale Tower outside of the housing fee that’s included in tuition. If they bribed their way in, the school wouldn’t be forcing them to change dorms. They’d keep them in Vale Tower to protect that secret.”

Loyal and defending them without question. This is why we’ll never be a team. “How do you know? You weren’t alive back then. There were no computers, and I’m willing to bet the bookkeeping and records were shoddy. The only people who would know what really happened are the ones who lived through it.”

He repeats his earlier statement about the archives being the best place to go for answers, so I ask, “Which one?”

They share a three-way look. With an uneasy frown, Holden asks, “What do you mean, which one?”

“Nice try. We all know there’s more than one archive.” Don’t they?

Finn asks, “Have you been to this other archive, Pet? Or is this something one of your lower legacy buddies is gossiping about at their hypothetical family reunions?”

I send a text to my guards, letting them know to be on alert because Pax knows I’m competing for the fourth bloodline. I gather up my stuff, and as I head towards the stairs, I say, “I have a general idea where another archive is.”