Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
AVERY
I took a deep breath through my nose to calm my racing heart, soothed as I always was by the piney, stringent scent of hops. I wasn’t in my own place—the hops room at Bear Run was far bigger than my storage closet. But still, the scent soothed me. I needed it.
A half hour ago, I’d been fired up, ready to put our plan into action. Now that I was here, in this too-quiet, dimly lit room, I was having second thoughts. Too late. I was in it. No escape.
And then it really was too late, as the door swung open, and Matthew walked in.
He stopped short when he saw me. “Avery?” Quickly, he shut the door behind him, turning the lock. “What are you doing here? I thought Chris—” He shook his head. “Did anyone see you come in?”
“No,” I said, trying to look scared and desperate, knowing I was better off if Matthew felt like he had the upper hand. I tucked my hair behind my ears and wrapped my arms around my chest.
“I thought you were under arrest,” Matt said, his eyes narrowing. “I heard you got caught with gas cans at Wild Haven.”
I wound my arms tighter, hugging myself as if for comfort. “West let me out. I guess he found evidence that I didn’t do it.”
“Faked evidence, you mean,” Matt said with a sneer.
“I didn’t do it, Matt.”
He scoffed. “Sure, you didn’t. You’re the only person I knew who had a grudge against Bob. Everyone knows you did it.”
I stared at him with wide eyes, trying to look hurt. I’m no actress, but I hoped I could fake it well enough to get what I needed. “How could you? You should know I’d never do something like that.” I hated the thin, weak tone of my voice. Matthew let a slow smile slide across his face.
“I saw Sawyers Bend Brewing is closed,” he said. “Looks like you need someone to run the place. You here to talk me into taking my old job back?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet. This whole thing has been terrifying,” I said, my voice wavering. “I almost died in that fire.”
Matthew lifted his chin, looking away. “It didn’t sound like it was that bad.”
I dropped my gaze to my feet, my hair sliding into my eyes. My words came out in a whisper that wasn’t entirely an act. “The front door was locked. I couldn’t get out. The doctor said if I’d been in there much longer, the smoke would have killed me.”
His eyes flared wide, and I was suddenly positive that while Matthew had set that fire, he hadn’t planned to kill me. I went with my gut and said what I was thinking.
“You weren’t trying to kill me, were you?”
His head shook in a No before his brain caught up, and he froze. “I didn’t—that’s not?—”
I dropped my arms to my side, letting tears fill my eyes. “That’s a relief. Setting me up for arson was one thing, but trying to kill me? That’s a whole new level.”
“I wasn’t trying to kill you,” he ground out, shooting a panicked look at the locked door behind him. “I swear.”
“Then why did you lock the door? I couldn’t get out, and there was so much smoke.”
Matthew shook his head, letting out a huff of air. “I didn’t think about it being the only way out of the building. I just wanted to keep anyone from wandering in once the fire started. I didn’t know how fast it would go up.”
I didn’t react to his confession, focused on getting as much from him as I could before he realized what he was saying.
“But how did you get out?” I asked, needing to know. “I didn’t see the loading bay door go up.”
“There’s a regular door beside it,” Matthew said. “I let myself out and took off.”
“Your car wasn’t there. I wouldn’t have gone in if I’d seen it,” I said.
“Obviously,” he said, staring up at the ceiling as if searching for patience. “I borrowed a co-worker’s. They never even knew.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “It got a little out of hand. I wasn’t planning to lock you in there, for one. Or for the damage to be that bad.”
“Why?” I asked, genuinely confused. “What did Bob ever do to you? I could see you coming after Sawyers Bend Brewing, but why Wild Haven?”
“Because you needed to learn a lesson,” he spat out with a sneer.
“If I burned your place down, your family would just help you rebuild. This way, you can’t fix it.
Even if Garfield figures out a way to keep you out of jail, no one will believe you’re innocent.
” He straightened, lifting his chin, a triumphant grin twisting his mouth.
“I told you that you’d never run that place without me. Turns out, I was right.”
“Bob is going to have to completely rebuild. It could take months. You don’t feel the least bit guilty about that, though, do you?” I searched his face, hoping for some hint of empathy. It wasn’t there.He truly was the worst.
Proving me right, Matthew shrugged. “Shit happens. Bob was convenient. And you needed to come down a peg or two.”
I wondered if that was enough. I forced myself to stay facing Matthew, eyes on him, though every muscle in my body strained to turn to the shelves at the back of the room. But there were things I needed to know, and if Matthew was arrogant enough to talk, I sure as hell wasn’t going to stop him.
“What about the break-in at Sawyers Bend Brewing?” I pressed. “How did you pull that off?”
“You’re so dumb,” he said with a curl of his upper lip. “Cammie. She had a thing for me before you and I hooked up. I kept her on the side.” He shrugged. “She didn’t have a brewery to go with her, but she was very eager to please. Unlike you.”
I rolled my eyes, then reminded myself I’d get more out of him if I looked meek. Meek was so not my thing. But surely, I could pretend for a little longer. I went back to hugging my arms around my chest, letting my head dip a little. Think small and scared, Avery , I reminded myself.
“Cammie let you in?” I asked. “Or she broke into my office?”
“I wasn’t even there,” he said. “That was all Cammie. She emptied out your drawer and took everything because she didn’t know what was important.
She stole Bob’s phone for me, too. He’s as dumb as you are.
All about being a family man, but Cammie flashed her tits and lifted his phone without him noticing.
I cloned it while she kept him distracted.
It’s easy if you know where to look on the internet. ”
He stared me down, taking a step closer to loom over me.
I had to fight the urge to move out of reach.
“There’s nothing to prove I did any of it.
Everyone saw me at Bear Run on Sunday, and Cammie did the break-in all by herself.
But you, you were there while Wild Haven burned.
Your name and your brother’s money won’t be able to get you out of this.
Maybe you should sell me Sawyers Bend Brewing while you can. ”
I backed up a step, wanting space from the menace in his eyes. I’d wanted him to think he had the upper hand, but his confidence was unnerving.
“I’m not selling you my brewery,” I said, and the waver of fear in my voice wasn’t entirely an act.
“You sure about that? I know you can’t reproduce the beer everyone loved so much on Halloween. Even if you managed to remember the recipe, I added something you don’t know about. Only I have the real recipe.”
I narrowed my eyes on him, dropping the whole meek act. He was fucking diabolical. Bad enough he’d broken into my office, set Bob’s brewery on fire, framed me for arson, and almost killed me. But now he was fucking with my beer?
“Are you kidding me?” I demanded.
“Nope,” his grin so smug I struggled not to take a swing at him, even though he could probably knock me out with one good hit. He tilted his head to the side. “I’ll tell you what. For the right price, I’ll give you the whole recipe. Secret additions and all.”
“Fuck you,” was all I could say. Did I want to know how to make that magnificent brew we’d sold on Halloween? Yeah, I did, but I was not giving this asshole a dime.
“Are you sure about that, Avery? You won’t get it any other way.”
I shook my head. He wasn’t worth another word out of my mouth.
“You want to think about that?” he asked, closing the distance between us. “Think real hard about what more you have to lose.”
He reached for my arm. I stepped back, hitting a tall stack of bags stuffed with hops. Fuck. I’d forgotten how tall Matthew was. My heart kicked in my chest, my throat dry?—
And then I heard the sound I’d been waiting for, growing louder as West came out from behind the shelves at the back of the room .
“Matthew Holt. You’re under arrest for breaking and entering, arson, and attempted murder.”
Matthew’s face went slack, his eyes wide with shock.
I took advantage of his distraction to slip off to the side, far out of his reach, biting my lip to stop a semi-hysterical laugh of relief.
I hadn’t been sure I could pull it off, but Griffen had been right—Matthew was just arrogant enough to think he could get away with it. He only needed a little prodding.
West had the cuffs on Matthew and was pushing him out the door when Chris came to my side. He tugged at his sandy ponytail, his eyes heavy.
“Hey, Avery. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t?—”
“It’s okay,” I said. “Don’t worry about it. I hired him in the first place. I had no idea he was this level of crazy.”
“He knew his stuff,” Chris said, leaning one shoulder against the tall stack of hops.
I nodded. “He did. But poor Bob.” I let out a breath, my chest tight at the memory of watching Matthew’s fire devour Bob’s brewery.
If it had been me, I’d be grieving. This was a business, but we were all in it because we loved what we did.
Every brewery around here was a little different, reflecting the personalities of the owners and their staff.
And Bob’s was effectively gone. I turned to Chris.
“I was thinking,” I said, “we should all get together, do a fundraising thing for Bob. I’m sure he’s got insurance, but you know how that goes. It doesn’t cover much.”
“Yeah,” Chris said, grinning at me. “That’s a great idea. I’ll make some calls. I know he’d appreciate it. And it’s cool of you to think of it, especially after—” He raised his chin at the door Matthew had so recently been pushed through.
I rubbed the heel of my palm against my chest. I didn’t want to hold grudges. I just wanted to put Matthew behind me. “Well, I can’t blame you guys too much for falling for his bullshit, considering I fell for it first. I’m just glad he was a jackass enough to confess.”
Chris flipped his ponytail behind his shoulder, shaking his head. “I didn’t believe it till he said it. I just—” His gaze darted my way. “I didn’t believe you did it either, Avery. But I wouldn’t have thought of Matt.”
”I’m just glad this is over,” I said. “We can all move on.”
Chris sighed. “I guess I’m looking for a new brewmaster.”
“You’ll find somebody good,” I said, patting him on the shoulder. “I’m going to talk to some people about this thing for Bob, see if we can get some music, some food trucks. Will you talk to Bob?”
“I’m on it,” Chris said. “We’ll put together something awesome.”
“Damn straight we will,” I agreed, catching sight of Hawk and Griffen just outside the door to Chris’s hops room. “I’ll be in touch.” I left Chris with another pat on his shoulder and followed Hawk and Griffen out of the brewery into the bright sunshine.
The three of us stood together in the parking lot, watching West drive a handcuffed Matthew back to the police station.
Griffen gave me a hug and kissed the top of my head. “You’ve got balls of steel, kid,” he said.
“I thought I was going to throw up for a minute there.” My stomach rolled at the memory of facing down Matthew.
“But you didn’t,” Hawk added. “You got what you needed. Cleared your name. That confession, on top of everything else West has? He might get off on the breaking and entering, depending on what Cammie has to say, but the arson and attempted second-degree murder charges are going to be a lot harder to dodge. Holt isn’t getting out of jail for a long time. ”
“Let’s hope not,” I agreed. “It’s a little early, but you guys want a beer? I want to go open my brewery.”