Chapter 21 #2
“As you can see, I do have a grill.” She points at it.
I move to her. “Not a usable one.”
“You didn’t ask that.” She takes two steps toward me.
Ryder comes back out, and Sophie shushes him before he can say anything. “They’re arguing again.”
I ignore them and keep my attention fixed on the woman standing in front of me. “When we were buying shit to put on a grill, did it ever occur to you to suggest another option?”
She crosses her arms and looks up at the sky. “Well, you seemed like you had your heart set on hamburgers, Charlie.”
“And this has nothing to do with manipulating us to get your grill assembled?”
“So, he does know her,” Ryder says.
“Seems so,” Sophie agrees.
“Might I remind you that you’re the one who suggested it.” Jessica points an accusing finger in my direction before whipping it through the air. “If I use your desire to my advantage, that’s just strategic.”
“You can’t fault her logic,” Sophie says helpfully.
“See?” Jessica puts her hands on her hips. “Here I am, making sure you get the dinner of your dreams, and where’s my thanks?”
In a slow, measured tone, I say, “You think the dinner of my dreams includes grocery store hamburgers?”
“Maybe you had some sort of caveman desire to light meat on fire. How should I know?”
“And it never occurred to you at the store or when we passed any of the three gas stations we drove by on the way here that you needed a tank?”
“That’s on you.”
“How is it on me?”
She casts a covert glance over at Sophie and Ryder. “You were distracting me.”
Ryder holds up his hands in surrender. “Okay, I don’t want to hear this.”
“I do!” Sophie exclaims.
“You are impossible.” I take Jessica by the upper arms and yank her to me. I was going to try to keep my hands off her in deference to Ryder, but that’s proving more difficult than I thought. I kiss her, hard and unyielding.
When I finally let her go, she rocks on her heels. “Go get a tank at the gas station, then you can have drinks.”
“Fine.” She turns away from me.
“Brat.” I smack her on the ass.
“Ouch!” She lets out a yelp and covers her backside.
Ryder scowls. “Was that necessary?”
“Yes.” My palm’s already itching to do it again, but I’m guessing he doesn’t want to hear that.
“And then you wonder why I think you have caveman tendencies.” Jessica grabs Sophie by the arm. “Come on, let’s go.”
The two women skip off, and I turn to Ryder, “You ready to get this done?”
He stares at me for a long, long time. “I never would have taken you for a fighter.”
“I’m not. Your sister…” I drag my hand through my hair. “She’s…challenging.”
He shakes his head. “After all your talk, I cannot fucking believe how into her you are.”
“Shut up.” I grab a wrench and get started.
Two hours later, I sit back down at the kitchen table where we’d finally eaten dinner. Jessica is sitting across from me. “Why is there a pink Post-it on the bathroom mirror questioning how many body parts you can cut off before someone bleeds out?”
A smile twitches at Jessica’s lips, and she points to her pretty blond sister. “That’s on her. You’ll get used to it.”
Hailey—who looks like she’s never had anything but sunshine and rainbows dancing around in her head—gives me a sheepish smile. “Occupational hazard.”
“What are you writing?” I ask, figuring I should get to know the woman who’s Jessica’s sister and clearly important to her.
Hailey shrugs, like she’s reluctant to discuss it.
“She only discusses a work in progress with her inner circle,” Jessica answers for her.
“Yeah,” Sophie says, downing the rest of her pink drink. “I only just made it into the club, so don’t think you can come in and level-jump the system.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I say, wondering where the panic is over the suggestion that I’m sticking around.
“Sorry, I’m superstitious,” Hailey says.
I shake my head. “No need to be sorry. You’ve got to respect the process, right?”
“Exactly.” Hailey scowls at her siblings. “Now, can I go back to work?”
“No!” Ryder and Jessica say at the same time.
I laugh. “If they won’t let you work, I can answer your question for you.”
“Really?” Hailey asks.
What I’m about to say isn’t something I’ve told Jessica yet. Not because I’m hiding, but because we haven’t gotten around to it. “I used to work in violent crimes for the FBI.”
Hailey’s expression goes wide with surprise.
“What did you just say?” Jessica flattens her palms on the table like she’s about to rise from her seat and address a courtroom.
“In another life, I worked for the FBI.” It’s not that big of a deal.
Her blue eyes flash. “Are you kidding me? This is the first time you’re mentioning it?”
“It never came up,” I say.
“Never came up!” Jessica whips her head toward her brother. “Did you know about this?”
“Yeah.” Ryder’s gaze is watchful, full of interest and speculation.
He’s beginning to get it.
This isn’t just a passing, working-it-out-of-my-system thing.
She turns to Sophie. “And you?”
“I’d heard about it through the grapevine,” Sophie says.
“It’s not a secret,” I tell Jessica, not wanting her to think I’m purposefully keeping things from her. “It’s not a topic that comes up in regular conversation.”
Her gaze narrows. “We are definitely going to be talking about this.”
“That’s fine. It’s not that big of a deal. I wasn’t even there that long.” I keep my tone mild and neutral.
Jessica continues to peer at me with great suspicion. “Hmm…”
“I can answer your sister’s questions, so I thought I’d offer.” I smile at Hailey before giving her a wink. “Especially if I’m going to have a shot at getting into the inner circle.”
She laughs as a pretty blush stains her cheeks. “That’s certainly a step in the right direction.”
Since everyone’s done eating, I dive in. “Do you want something fast or slow?”
“Slow,” she answers without hesitation, then she gives me an innocent, wholesome smile. “But, you know, torturous.”
“How long do you want them to stay alive?”
“That’s kind of what I’ve been toying with. But I think the longer, the better,” she says.
“In that case, you’d probably want to start off small and cauterize as you go.
The major arteries should be left for last as they are the most likely to kill a person.
The biggest risks to survival are blood loss, shock, and infection, so to minimize risk and maximize staying alive, medical cauterization is your best bet.
But if you want drama and brutality, you could go blowtorch or gunpower, but obviously, there’s a lot more risk of losing the victim since the body can only take so much before shutting down.
I’d say it depends on your killer’s profile—if they’re colder and more methodical versus impulsive and chaotic. ”
Ryder, Sophie, and Jessica all stare at me with their mouths hanging open.
Hailey, however, looks absolutely thrilled. “Wow, I’m so glad we moved here. Ryder and Sophie have the most interesting friends.”
“Oh! That reminds me.” Jessica snaps her fingers, shifting to me. “Did you know the dead guy was involved in the river project?”
All the hair at the nape of my neck stands on end. “What?”
Ryder straightens in his chair.
Jessica pops a crouton into her mouth. “I found Congressman Crenshaw’s name on the petition documentation for rezoning, but that makes sense, right? Revival was part of his district. It’s not strange for a congressman to sponsor a project like this.”
Ryder and I look at each other, and I know something is niggling at him, just like it is me.
To Sophie, I ask, “Did you know of his involvement?”
Sophie’s lips dip and her brow furrows. “I’ve been mainly involved in the PR aspect of the project, wining and dining prospective investors, that kind of thing. Also, Shane’s taken over managing the investors and you know how he is.”
That doesn’t surprise me. Maddie’s brother, Shane Donovan, didn’t become the head of one of the most successful commercial real estate companies in Chicago by chance. When it comes to money and his reputation, he’s ruthless.
That thread, that little pull of something, sparks across my nerve endings, sending my instincts into hyperdrive. Almost all crime comes down to three motives: power, revenge, or money.
The river project has money written all over it.
“I can see why the accident wouldn’t have caused any alarm bells to go off or jog any memories,” Jessica interjects.
“There was nothing nefarious about his participation. The project is a win for him and his constituents. Why wouldn’t he approve?
If it weren’t for the accident, I wouldn’t have done anything but gloss over his name. ”
“True.” I look at Ryder. “Is there anything we dug up so far that points in that direction?”
Ryder’s brow furrows as he sorts through all his catalogued intel. “The guy was shady as fuck, but none of his scandals were connected to the project. Doesn’t mean it’s not there, though.”
Crenshaw was using every one of his political connections to line his pockets, but we didn’t find anything specific to Revival. “Can you compile a list of every single name or company, no matter how seemingly insignificant, you find it in those documents?”
She nods. “I can do that.”
I shift my attention to Sophie. “Can you do the same for the investors?”
“I’ll get it to you first thing,” Sophie says.
I scrub my hand over my now-stubbled jaw. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
“Agreed,” Ryder says.
“Have Sadie clear what she needs to so we can start working this angle. When, and if, we have something, we’ll take it to State,” I say to Ryder.
“Done.” Ryder nods.
We fall into a few moments of silence before Jessica waves her hand in front of her face. “Oh my god, you are so hot.”
Ryder groans. “Jess, why?”
Surprised laughter fills my chest as I shake my head at her.
This woman is going to be the death of me.