Page 41 of Violent Little Thing

“Anyway, after he stormed out, the lawyer asked her how she was going to pay. She had no clue, and so the lawyer said that he wasn’t working for free. She’d have to come up with the retainer, or he wouldn’t represent her. She said that she had to talk to her dad again, that she was maxed out on her credit cards after buying her car. But she’d figure it out. The lawyer suggested she go ahead and sell, too. But Seraphina refused.”

“Of course she did,” I mumbled around some of my salad.

“Anyway,” Charleigh said. “I think it’s time to call a club meeting. You don’t want everyone figuring out you have escaped convicts alive and well living in Sawtooth, Montana.”

I leveled her with a look. “You know?”

“Birdee doesn’t talk about her husband, Creed, much,” she said. “But there are a lot of glaring holes in his story. Plus, I’ve always lived here. I saw the arrival of six men. Beau was a Dixie Warden. I knew the process that it took to become one. We were always pretty close. But all of a sudden some men show up that are patched members and they didn’t have to go through the prospecting aspect of becoming a club member? Yeah, I’m a suspicious person. So I watched and learned. And there are six men living in this area that just popped up one day. Everyone acted like they’d always been here, but I know the difference.”

“Shit.”

“I don’t think other people have noticed.” She smiled. “I think the only reason that I did was because I was so close to Beau. Plus, he talked about everyone a lot. And there was never any mention of y’all. I thought, at first, that y’all had just come in from another chapter, but Beau always talked about them, too. Creed and the others? Beau never mentioned where they were from at all.”

“If you’ve noticed, though, that means that it has the potential for others to notice.”

“Like I said.” She finished off her burger in one massive bite. “I don’t think anyone else but me would’ve noticed. When you’re in a perpetually bad mood, people tend to stay away from you. I’m a watcher. I watch everyone. And people don’t notice me. Beau’s comfortable with me, too. No one else would’ve shared that kind of information with me.”

“But someone else did notice,” I pointed out. “Seraphina did.”

I pulled out my phone and dialed Denver’s number.

He answered on the fourth ring with what sounded like a bawling cow in the background.

“Yeah?” he growled.

“Got an issue,” I said without preamble.

“Join the fuckin’ club,” he growled. “I have over two thousand head of cattle that broke through the pasture fence and are now stuck with no goddamn shelter from this blizzard.” He sighed. “What’s up?”

I gave him a quick rundown.

“Call Apollo and get him to break into her phone and emails,” he suggested. “We’ll call a meeting tomorrow to discuss what he finds.”

I hung up with him and called Apollo, even though he was already looking into her.

Though not nearly as deep as he was about to.

Apollo, the man who’d given me my new life, answered the phone with a cheery, “You’re never going to believe what I just found out.”

“What?” I asked.

“Benedict is contacting his lawyer and in the process of getting his shares ready to sell,” he answered. “Also, your local drunk is currently at the country club getting refused service.”

My lips twitched. “You have a video?”

“Sure.” His computer clicked a few times. “Sent to your email. What’s up?”

I gave him a quick rundown.

“I’ve been all up in her files and phone,” he said. “I’ve even patched myself into her car. She got the latest and greatest, which made it to where I can control everything that she does from now on. Unlucky for her. But I haven’t seen anything mentioning her knowing anything about you or the rest of the men.”

“She’s smart,” I pointed out. “And resourceful. I don’t know exactly what she knows, but there was a meeting tonight in the Condors conference room where they discussed it. Maybe review that feed and see what you can conclude from it.”

“On it,” he said. “Video was sent.”

He hung up, and I switched over to my phone, pulling up the email from Apollo.

I hit play and turned my phone sideways before sticking it to the workbench using the magnet in the phone case.