Chapter 23
Brooke picked up her phone as it started to ring and looked at the display, even though Reflex’s ringtone was clear as day.
“These fucking assholes, I swear,” she muttered then decided she might as well get through the whole severing ties thing.
“Hello?” she said, her tone cold as she answered, fully expecting Thom to be on the other end of the line.
To her surprise, however, it wasn’t Thom.
“Are you over your little snit?” Jack’s tone was just as icy.
“We need to get this project back on track. You throwing a hissy fit and delaying the timeline even further because your little feelings were hurt damages the project. Get your ass into Cask & Canvas immediately.”
That was it. Brooke was done. “Well, here’s the deal, you fucking prick,” she snapped, letting her famous Marino temper fly as she stood up from her table.
“At this point, I have enough information gathered to prove what an unprofessional, useless bunch of scam artists Reflex Rebranding really is. You think you can hurt Brooke Marino Designs by spreading lies about me and my work? I have two words for you, ballsac: Try. Me, because I will fucking destroy you. As much as I feel sorry for Gene and Sandy Wheeler, this clusterfuck is in my rearview mirror as far as I’m concerned. I’m out.”
“You’re going to be sorry for that, little bitch!” Jack screamed, outraged.
“Yeah? I don’t think so. Brooke Marino Designs has done a lot of work in the craft microbrewery space over the years, Jack.
With everything I have in my arsenal at the moment about Reflex and how you’ve mishandled the Cask & Canvas account, your best bet is to walk away and forget I even exist. I can and I will ensure you are never invited to participate in another microbrewery project in Florida again if you don’t fuck off. Don’t ever contact me again.”
After ending the call, Brooke immediately called Gene Wheeler.
“You have no idea how sorry I am to tell you this, Mr. Wheeler, but I’m afraid I’m no longer involved in the Cask & Canvas rebranding project,” she started after they had exchanged pleasantries.
“Without getting into the gory details, let’s just say I am not comfortable with how they conduct business after everything I’ve learned.
With some of the situations that have occurred over the past month with them, the reputation of Brooke Marino Designs will be best served if I sever all association with them.
“My sorrow is because I have developed such a deep respect for you and your wife and how you have coped with everything you’ve been through with Sandy’s illness.
Consequently, taking this step is hurtful to me.
Please know, however, that I didn’t feel I had a choice.
If I can ever be of assistance to Cask & Canvas in the future—outside of this project or anything else that may be tied to Reflex—please don’t hesitate to call. ”
There was a moment of silence, then, “Thank you for your honesty, Brooke. You have been nothing but a pleasure to work with, and I’m sorry to see you go. Now, may I ask you a question?”
“Certainly.”
Gene’s sigh was audible over the phone. “Between you and me, I’ve been having very serious misgivings recently about Reflex.
Initially, my head was in the clouds because I was so worried about my wife, so Reflex seemed like a godsend when they dropped into my lap.
Sandy has been doing so well, however, those clouds have lifted, my brain fog has been dissipating, and my idiocy has taken a back seat to my business sense.
“They don’t… They don’t seem honest, Brooke.
At all. At first, I thought I was feeling that way because I was so overwhelmed.
But now?” Gene’s tone turned pleading. “Tell me what you know, please. Don’t worry that I might get mad or think you’re crazy.
I spent years building this microbrewery, and the only reason things went to hell is because my wife and her health came first, not my business.
Losing it all because I was targeted by some greedy scam artists while my attention was diverted elsewhere?
I’ll be damned if I let that happen. Therefore, I need to know who and what they really are. ”
“First of all, it wasn’t idiocy.” Brooke was firm.
“You are a man who loves his wife beyond all else. She was your priority, so I think what I call that is a pretty special kind of love. Second, I am dating one of the owners of APS, Gene, and she and they have been digging into Reflex on my request. What they have been finding out about them isn’t at all good.
” An explosive breath came over the phone.
“Another security firm from North Florida is here at the moment working with APS because they have been looking into a con artist operating in this area named ‘Rob Vonn’…whom you know as ‘Robert Hoyt.’ I can’t even begin to tell you what a mess this entire situation is. ”
“Good Lord, Brooke. What do I do?”
“Would you be willing to speak to one of the Infinity operatives, Gene? She will be in a much better position to advise you than me, and I can assure you she will be glad to help. I’ll bring Blake Seibert up to speed the minute we get off the phone—she is one of the APS owners and the woman whom I am dating—and she will have India call you right away.
In the meantime, just act naturally at work, like you don’t have a clue that anything is going on.
Since you and Sandy aren’t on the Reflex radar outside of their embezzlement scam anyway, I very much doubt you’ll have anything to worry about personally if you play it cool. ” Gene agreed.
“When APS moves, they move fast. Don’t be a bit surprised if this blows up in an instant, so be prepared. Sit tight and wait for Indi to call you. She’ll tell you what to do.”
As Brooke ended the call, Blake walked in the front door, pulling off her leather jacket but leaving her concealed carry holster on.
Brooke jumped up and ran to her, throwing her arms around her.
“I have so fucking much to tell you, Blake. Jesus, this stealth and grift bullshit is for the birds.” She dragged Blake over to the sofa and plopped down, not noticing the grave look on Blake’s face, while pulling the Utopia head down next to her.
Rapidly, Brooke went through her phone calls with both Jack Norris and Gene Wheeler.
“Basically, I told that fucker Jack he could kiss my Italian ass: I was gone. And Gene’s a good guy, he’ll follow whatever Indi tells him is the best approach.
” She huffed. “Honestly, life would be much simpler if these motherfuckers would just drop dead.”
Blake snorted. “You may get your wish, tigress.” Gently, she held Brooke’s arms, looking deeply into her mystified eyes.
“Baby, Rob Kilgore is dead.” Brooke’s eyes grew huge, and her mouth dropped open in shock as she drew back.
“Trill doesn’t have any details yet, but she’ll let us know when she does,” Blake continued.
“Drew, Dara, and Ari will be in Purgatory tonight. I hope to hell Cyb3rmoon is smart enough to come clean regarding what she knows about Kilgore when Drew grabs her, because our counterintelligence chief is done playing her games. The Shadow will track her down and toss her over her knee if she doesn’t.
Trust me, that is one butch you don’t want catching you if she’s pissed at you. ”
“Hoo boy.” Brooke blew out a shaky breath.
“I’ll call Indi right now and give her a heads-up on Gene, then give the rest of our team an update on both Jack and Gene.
Infinity doesn’t share our comm frequency—they only did the night everything went down at The Hideout as an exception—but I’ll tell Indi to make sure Shaelyn and Dani are in the loop.
” She blew out a breath and dragged her hand through her auburn hair.
“The burning question at the moment is, who the fuck put Kilgore down? He was in deep shit with the rest of the Reflex partners, but would they really have killed him for it? Norris is a fucking hothead with no impulse control, so maybe, but who knows?”
Holding up a finger, she touched the comm in her ear, her face becoming intense as she listened to who was on the other end for a couple of minutes before responding.
“I have something to tell you that dovetails directly into that, but I have to call Indi first and get her in contact with Gene Wheeler. Give me five. As a matter of fact,” Blake considered her next words for a brief moment, “I’m home with Brooke right now, but I’ll head over to the complex and meet you all in the Bunker instead.
This is not a discussion we need to have over the comms.”
Ending her communication, she leaned over, wrapped her arms around Brooke, and kissed her.
“I have to go, tigress. Trill already has intel on Kilgore. My money says that lunatic Jack Norris flipped out and killed him, but we’ll see what my cuz has to say.
” She frowned. “Part of me says it was strange Jack was all business as usual, as if nothing had happened when he called you, but the other part of me says that’s what sociopaths do.
He saw a threat, he eliminated it almost immediately, then he moved on without giving it a second thought. ”
“Be careful, Blake.” Brooke kissed her back as she cupped the sides of Blake’s head.
“Alyssa says, in her opinion, psychopaths are slightly more dangerous because their actions are deliberately calculated—whereas sociopaths tend to be impulsive—but that still doesn’t mean someone like Norris won’t resort to extreme violence, even murder, when and if he perceives the need. ”