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I gritted my teeth.
“Just give me the goddamn papers,” I ordered.
Dad chuckled and handed them over.
“Oh, and since you’re going to be in the area, I have a crew out at the old Miller’s Landing crossing. Can you go supervise between the hours of one and two?” he teased.
It was only after scanning the papers that I knew what he meant.
“Is the crew working on something that is actually a problem, or did you make one up?” I asked curiously.
My heart was pounding in my throat.
I also felt like my skin was about to burst with the excitement that was coursing through me.
There was a lead.
There was a motherfuckin’ lead.Chapter 2It’s the start of a brand-new day, and I’m off like a herd of turtles.
-Coffee Cup
Liner
I found it by accident.
Honestly, I wasn’t even sure why I was there in the first place, but there was something about her that I couldn’t stay away from.
Tara. Or not Tara.
I wasn’t even sure at this point.
But there was only one person that could possibly know the truth that would actually tell me, and that was the man that I was following.
The PI said that Tyson went every Monday and Wednesday to pick his daughter up early from school. A daughter that I hadn’t even realized he had until about six weeks into investigating the entire family.
Which was totally weird because Tyson worked at the hospital with two of the women from the club, and they hadn’t even realized that Tyson had a kid. He never talked about her. Never shared a thing about her. Hell, even when Tyson was with her, it was like he was only there out of obligation.
The girl had a nanny that was with her for the majority of the time, and the nanny changed every couple of months.
My guess was so that the girl didn’t form any attachments.
Whatever the reason, it was only another tick off the long line of ‘this is weird’ that had to do with that family.
“Are you going to help, or are you just going to swing your feet on the back of that tailgate all day?” one of the crew, Barrie, asked.
I looked over at the kid, then looked over at Jones, another member of the crew.
Barrie had been there for about a month, tops. He had no idea, I was sure, that I was the boss. Nor did he have any idea that I could fire his ass right this second and never hear a word of protest from my pop.
Jones’ eyes widened. “Please don’t,” he read my thoughts. “I just got him, and he’s a pretty good worker.”
“What are you talking about?” Barrie asked.
I continued to swing my feet on the back of the tailgate.
My feet ached, and I was fairly sure I’d stepped on something in the office that was now lodged in my foot.
“Just shut up and get back to work,” Jones suggested to Barrie.
“But it pisses me off that I’m out here working my ass off, and he’s sitting there doing fuckin’ nothing,” Barrie pushed.
Jones sighed and looked at me, pleading with his eyes for me not to do it.
I wouldn’t.
Honestly, I liked the kid’s initiative.
I liked it even more that he was willing to confront a lazy crew member. Even if he thought I was a lazy crew member.
“Listen, kid.” I flexed my feet out in front of me. “I’m not part of your crew. I’m not part of anybody’s crew. But, saying that, I already put in a full twelve hours of work today. I’ve been up since three this morning fixing a line in the goddamn swamp. Trust me when I say, I’ve done my time. I’m not even supposed to be here right now. I was supposed to be off four hours ago. I’m only here because I’m following that guy in the red Mercedes right there. Now shut up and let me do that.”
“But…”
“Kid,” Jones growled, low and frustrated. “That’s the fuckin’ boss. His daddy and him own the entire goddamn company. Please, for the love of God, shut up before he fires you and I have to go through the trouble of training another crew member.”
That shut him up right quick.
Honestly, he looked rather sick to his stomach once Jones got his words out.
And he didn’t look at me again for at least ten minutes.
“Yo,” I said as I gingerly hopped off my truck. “Y’all hold down the fort. And don’t let that kid drive my truck. If it needs moved, you do it, Jones. I’ll be back.”
Jones grunted that he would, and the kid looked even greener.
Grinning as I walked past him, I headed in the direction of the mental health facility that I’d seen Tyson walking toward earlier.
He’d parked in Elite Repeat’s parking lot, which should’ve been the PI’s first clue that he wasn’t really supposed to be there. Elite Repeat was a second-hand thrift shop in downtown Bear Bottom. It was one of about ten shops on that particular block that was where ‘Downtown’ ended. It wasn’t the most desirable place to own a shop due to the facility that was at the end of the block.
