Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Hawk walked out of the Gunn Brothers Distillery conference room, checking his watch and wincing that the meeting had taken so long. But they had a lot to cover, and he and Lincoln had missed several days to be with Lucky at the hospital.
Lincoln followed him into his office. “How is she?”
“Better than I expected after she had another rough night.” His thoughts turned to the disturbing things she said in her sleep, even if they were disjointed and hard to put into context.
“Is she still in pain?”
“Some. But her mind is trying to figure out what happened and replaying things over and over again.” He’d had enough therapy and long nights of his own with his PTSD to recognize her symptoms.
“It’s fucked up what someone did to her. And we don’t even know if it’s the worst case scenario or what.”
It ate at Hawk, the not knowing. But… “She’s not afraid of me. While she doesn’t like being touched in general, she never shies away from me.” He thought about it a bit more. “She was nervous around Mason at first, but she quickly relaxed around him.”
Lincoln grinned. “He’s a big, ruthless looking dude. I wouldn’t blame her for being apprehensive around him.”
“Yeah. But she saw him with Lyric. In fact, she studied them like they were some science experiment.”
Lincoln nodded. “She’s probably never seen that kind of love.”
“Her parents were abusive. Her ex killed her family. Yeah, I’m guessing she’s never seen love like that.”
“Except you’ve shown her you care. You’ll help her.
You’ll be kind. Gentle. Patient.” Lincoln dropped his hand on Hawk’s shoulder and squeezed.
“You’re different with her.” He squeezed again.
“Not that you weren’t nice to the other women who came and went from your life.
But there’s something about her that makes you so careful. ”
“I don’t want to fuck this up.” I need her so much.
“You won’t.”
“How do you know that?” What if he didn’t live up to the man she’d made him out to be in her head these last two years?
“Because you love her. You’ve never loved anyone the way you love her. I can see it. Anyone who sees you two together can see it.”
“I just…she’s…I can’t lose her.” Just the thought made his chest tight, his stomach drop.
Lincoln smacked him on the back. “Then go home and take care of her. We’ve got you covered here.”
“Lincoln’s right. We can cover for you.” Mercy stepped up to the side of Lincoln.
He could swear his brother leaned in closer to her. Interesting.
He and his brothers owned Gunn Brothers Distillery, but Mercy was the beating heart of the place.
She kept every department running smoothly.
Smart, organized, knowledgeable about their products and processes, and gorgeous—not that it mattered for her to do her job.
On top of all that, she had an attention to detail that had saved their asses on many occasions.
Lincoln could do a hell of a lot worse.
And maybe she was the reason he hadn’t seen his older brother out with anyone lately.
He didn’t have time to dive into that now. Lucky was at home and hurting and probably wanted some lunch right about now.
“I’m leaving distribution in your capable hands and going home to take care of what’s really important.”
“Say hi to Lucky for me.” Lincoln smirked.
Mercy stepped forward. “I heard about what happened to her. I hope she’s okay.”
“She will be once I put the fucker who did this to her in the ground.” He clenched his fists at his sides.
“I hope you get him.” With that, Mercy headed down the hall toward her office.
Lincoln couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Hawk grinned, happy to see his brother pining for someone for once. Usually he was the one being chased by women. “You should ask her out.”
“I did. She turned me down.” Lincoln’s gaze fell to the floor.
Hawk dropped his hand on Lincoln’s shoulder. “When have you ever taken no for an answer?”
Lincoln’s gaze turned tortured. “She doesn’t want to mix business and pleasure. She likes working here and thinks dating me would mean the end of that.”
“Prove her wrong. Because I’d fire your ass before I’d fire her. She’s a huge asset to this company. If you remind her of that, and how this place wouldn’t be the company it is without her, maybe she’ll give you a chance. Convince her it’s real, not some dalliance.”
Lincoln’s eyes turned thoughtful. “I want her like I’ve never wanted anyone, or anything else.”
“If you mean that, and it’s more than just getting into her panties, then I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to make her see it.”
“And if I fuck it up and she decides to leave Gunn Brothers?”
“I’ll fucking kick your ass and make you beg her on your knees to get her back.”
“I’d happily drop to my knees for her any minute of the day or night.”
Hawk smirked. “Damn, you’ve got it bad.”
“Keep it to yourself. If she finds out anyone at the company knows, she’ll be really pissed.”
“My lips are sealed.” His phone chimed with a text.
JASE: I’ve got an update. You coming or what???
“Fuck. I forgot I’m supposed to meet with Jase about the case.”
“Go. We’ve got you covered here.”
“Thanks, man.” Hawk hauled ass out to his car and drove over to the sheriff’s department. Before he went inside, he texted Lucky.
HAWK: Finished my meeting at work. Meeting Jase for an update on the case. I’ll fill you in when I get home.
HAWK: How are you? Need anything?
He waited but got no answer. Maybe she’d fallen asleep, or was in the bathroom. Maybe she simply couldn’t get to her phone. He didn’t know and it worried him.
He climbed out of his car and walked into the station. He spotted Jase in a cubicle and headed over to him.
“Take a seat.” Jase looked all business.
Hawk sat but couldn’t relax. “What do you know?”
Jase turned in his swivel chair and pointed to his computer screen. “I’ve looked through all the security footage and I think I found something, but I want you to watch and tell me what you see.”
Hawk narrowed his gaze, but nodded for Jase to play it.
He watched two guys approach Lucky and Desiree at a table by the dancefloor.
They chatted for a little while, then one of the guys asked Lucky to dance.
A few minutes later, they were back at the table with Desiree and the guy she’d stayed with while Lucky and the other guy danced.
He kept watching as Lucky took several sips of her drink, then seemed to lose her balance. Desiree took her by the arm and walked her to the bathroom.
Jase paused the recording. “So, what do you think?”
“Lucky looks perfectly fine, not drunk, until after she finished her drink. Neither of those guys drugged the drink. Their hands are in plain sight the whole time. It doesn’t make sense.”
“And yet, we know it was spiked. That’s why I zeroed in on when the guys approached them. So if they didn’t spike the drink—”
“Then it had to have been done before the guys showed up.” Hawk didn’t like what he was thinking.
Jase rewound the footage. “So I went back to when Lucky and Desiree went to the bar to order their drinks and spoke to Lincoln.” Jase met his gaze. “Just so you know, I’ve cleared Lincoln. He and Lucky talk while he makes her drink. There’s no indication he drugged her.”
“Of course he didn’t fucking drug her!” Hawk had never suspected his brother.
Jase held up a hand. “He had the opportunity.”
“That doesn’t mean he’d do something so vile.” No way. Never. Lincoln was a standup guy.
“I agree. Lincoln loves the ladies, but he’s never been accused of hurting anyone. But it’s my job to suspect everyone involved and rule them out.” He pushed play on the video. “So instead of watching Lincoln and Lucky, watch Desiree.”
“What? No.” But he had felt a lot of her behavior was odd.
“Watch.”
Hawk couldn’t take his eyes off her. Every move she made seemed so innocent, except for the look in her eyes as she watched Lucky talking to Lincoln. Her hands fisted in her lap. Her eyes and lips narrowed with anger. She knocked back a double shot. It didn’t seem to improve her attitude.
She slipped her hands into her purse. It looked like she was trying to feel for something inside the bag.
Why didn’t she just open it and look inside?
Finally, she pulled her phone out, checked the black screen, then set it face down on the bar. A second later, Lincoln slid Lucky’s sangria across the bar. Desiree snatched it up and took a sip.
“What the fuck?”
“Yeah. Seemed rude to me, too.”
“What was she rummaging in her purse for? The phone seems like something easy to find in a small purse like that.”
“You caught it, too.” Jase seemed pleased.
“Go back to her taking the drink from Lucky.”
They watched the footage again.
Hawk seethed. “She could have spiked the drink when she grabbed it by the top. If the drug was in her hand, it would have dropped right into the drink. She takes a sip with the straw, the bottom of the drink couldn’t have anything in it.
Not until it was stirred up a bit more. It isn’t obvious, but she could have done it.
It’s much more likely her than Lincoln or the two guys they met. ”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“Why would Desiree want to hurt her best friend like that?” It didn’t make sense to him, even if Desiree seemed abrupt with Lucky most of the time. He didn’t know her well enough to assume that she was simply like that with everyone.
Though she had come off as a flirt with Lincoln.
But in the hospital, she never asked Lucky about what happened. Never asked if she was okay like a best friend would. In fact, she didn’t seem overly concerned about her friend’s mental and physical wellbeing at all.
Jase pulled him out of his head. “I’ve been looking into the ex. Neil. I wasn’t around when he was arrested for killing her parents, so I asked some of the other officers about the case.” Jase held his gaze. “Did you know there was a rumor going around that Neil was cheating on Lucky?”