Page 58 of Letting Go

But I needed to pace. "How did you know his name?"

"One of our clients, Raymond Clifton, is his brother. He's looking for him."

I stop wringing my hands for a moment. Suddenly it clicks. The brother Bryce was talking about last night. "You mean that famous guy with the teeth that does that Outward Bound stuff? Motivational speaker? That's Reed's brother?"

"Yep." Finn watches Reed get into his car from the side door windows. The "Rental" comes under his breath as he turns to face me.

"But isn’t he from the south or something? I've seen him interviewed."

"Yeah. And so's Reed. That accent of his is all fake."

Holding up my hands, I try to hit the pause button. "Wait a minute. How long have you known about Reed?"

Finn cocks his head. "We put it all together about twenty-four hours ago." He flicks the curtain again to make sure Reed's gone. "Did not see that coming, though."

"That he'd show up here?"

Finn nods. "And Bryce is going to hit the roof that he missed it all."

"Where did he go?"

"To have some alone time with Raymond."

Shaking my head, I try again. "I can’t understand…"

Finn slides both hands on my shoulders. "The day you thought you were followed? And it turned out to be Mateus?"

I nod.

"You were being followed. Mateus hung back, but you were followed by two guys. Mateus thought fast and took some pictures. I was going to show them to you this evening. But now works too."

"Just a sec," I say and dove back into the kitchen to pull the cheesecake and cobbler from the oven.

Wiping my hands on my pants, I follow him up the stairs to the second-floor office, all I can think of is Reed and how calm he looked. Like everything was already planned. He had the air of a man who got everything he wanted. So annoying.

I have never seen the Maine Central Station version of Colton Security. It is all so high tech—even the windows are new, triple-paned. Secure. Finn taps a computer screen and starts typing. Dragging down a file, he then opens a photo.

It’s Matt and Mike. M&M. Outside the wine shop. A long way from West Virginia.

"You know these two guys then."

"Yeah. They work at Everlast."

And then he says the thing that sets everything in motion.

"They followed Claire too. They followed her to get to you."

It's two in the afternoon when Bryce returns. I'm in the kitchen folding napkins, trying not to think of Rock Island, of Bryce, of family dinner tonight. It is all so painfully bittersweet. The car door slams, then the front door, enough to make me flinch, and then Bryce comes charging into the kitchen.

"He was here? Here?"

I take a deep breath. "Finn called you?"

"Well yes. Fuck Chloe. Were you? When were you even going to tell me?"

In truth, I hadn’t even thought of calling him. "I'm not used to asking for help—" I try to explain.

"Jesus!" Slamming a fist on the counter he stares at me, panting, wrestling with himself. "I should have been here. I would have torn that guy apart. I can't believe Finn just let him go." He slaps the door frame with his hand. "Yeah. I wonder why," and he makes a move towards the stairs.