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My shove of the store’s door is a little rough, but at this point, I’m a little pissed. Tegan doesn’t deserve the shitstorm coming her way.
Distracted by my thoughts, I don’t see Derek until he calls my name. I turn as I set the paint in the bed of mytruck and watch as he lazily approaches. Today seems to be the day when I can’t have a moment of peace, but I hide my curses under my breath well.
As he strides in my direction, he goes into a fit of coughs.
“How’s the house coming?” Derek asks when he’s right in front of me, his voice hoarse from coughing. He seems to be in a chipper mood for someone who looks like complete shit. He’s even skinnier than when I saw him last, so much so that his clothes practically hang off of him.
“Good,” I say. “Wallpaper is off, and I came for paint.”
“Good, good.” He crosses his arms loosely over his chest. “Is Tegan a big help?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “You could have told me she was a chick. You didn’t have to hide that bullshit.”
He grins. “Now where’s the fun in that?”
I stuff my hands into my pockets. Honestly, I’m not mad about it, just annoyed that he thought he could play games with me for his own entertainment. “Tegan is useful, yes.” More than useful. Hot, sexy, and willing, but there’s no way in hell that I’m going to give him that information. He probably wouldn’t like it very much.
“Wonderful,” he says. Then he goes into another fit of coughs.
I wait until he’s done before I side-eye him and ask, “Still no answers?”
He shakes his head. “Just came from the doctor when I saw you.” He points to a few stores down. When I was younger, it used to be an office for the local pizza place. Since then, they built their own building on the other side of Mount Pleasant, and a doctor with a few nurses took over their old space.
“It doesn’t help that they have to ship tests off to beanalyzed, but he mentioned today that he’s running out of tests to take.”
“Did you try a bigger town?” The doctors should be better at a hospital.
“He said that, if he couldn’t find answers with this last round of tests, he was going to refer me. I’m not looking forward to the drive.”
I grunt in agreement, and he waves a hand in my direction before we switch topics.
“Did you find anything worthy of keeping in the house?” he asks.
I shake my head. “A lot of old shit, but nothing worth anything. Tegan found something though.” I don’t mention it was me because he doesn’t need to know that I was in Tegan’s bedroom. That would just lead to more questions because we both know the only reason I’d go in there was to remodel the bathroom, and that project hasn’t started yet.
“Oh?” he inquires, lifting a bushy eyebrow above the wide rim of his glasses.
I curtly nod. “A binder that was your brother’s.”
Both of his eyebrows pinch together, and his arms tighten across his chest. “A binder of what?”
I shrug a little. “Looked like legal documents.”
He’s quiet for a moment, and I can see his mind racing. Eventually, he speaks, and it has so much conviction to it that my eyes widen a fraction in surprise. “You need to hand it over to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I need to go through it,” he says quickly. “My lawyer needs to see it.”
“Tegan was going to turn it in to the police.”
He shakes his head. “I’ll do that after my lawyer looks it over.”
My eyes narrow. “It’s evidence, Derek.”
His expression matches mine. “And the authorities will get it. After I’ve looked it over.”
We stand there for a moment, in a battle of wills, but eventually, I roll my eyes because I know he won’t give up on this. When Derek Wordon wants something, he always gets it. Who am I to care who falls into possession of legal shit. “You’ll have to ask Tegan for it if she hasn’t turned it in already.”
