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“I’m pretty sure whoever came after us last night was just sending a warning. They didn’t seem to be trying to kill us, just frighten us. Rowe’s people are looking into it for us. We just needed a place to stay while our house gets put to rights, then we’ll be out of your hair.” Snow frowned. “But I do think a hotel would be a better idea.”
Ian shot him a warning look that made him smother a grin. He did not pull off fierce nearly as well as he obviously thought he did. Not with that silly apron on. This one didn’t have a funny saying on it like the others Snow had seen him wear, but it was bright yellow with a happy face on it.
While Ian finished the French toast, Snow got up to pour himself a cup of coffee. Ian was a bit of a coffee snob, so he knew the first sip would be wonderful. And it was. He sighed and took another before resettling on the barstool.
“I have to go in for a few hours, but I’ll be back around noon.” Hollis grabbed another piece of toast and grinned at the frowning Ian. “It’s good like this, too. Promise.”
Ian was a bit of a stickler about how his food was served, but all he did was shake his head as he plated a couple of thick pieces of toast on a plate and drizzled them with syrup before placing them in front of Snow. Snow planned to indulge while he was here. He could hit the gym later.
His first bite of the sweet breakfast made him moan. “You’re missing out,” he warned Hollis, who just smirked, kissed Ian one more time, and headed for the door. On his way out, he let in Jude. Snow turned to watch him as he came into the kitchen, noting the tense shoulders.
“No change, huh?”
Jude shook his head. “He’s fighting though, so there’s hope.”
“There is always hope,” Ian said, moving to hug Jude.
His big boyfriend wrapped his arms around Ian, and Snow couldn’t help but appreciate how much his man adored one of his best friends.
“Sit,” Ian ordered. “I have fresh toast coming up here in a sec.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Jude said as he settled on the stool next to Snow. When Ian slid a plate in front of Jude, he picked up a fork. “Any word from Rowe?”
Snow shook his head. “He called a few minutes ago, and I told him we were about to have breakfast.”
Ian laughed. “Then he’ll be here any moment.”
Jude took a bite of the toast and groaned. “Oh, yeah.” He looked at Snow. “Did you fill Ian in?”
“Not on everything. I wasn’t sure how much you wanted to share.”
“Go ahead. More heads are better when it comes to this.”
Ian took his own plate and stood on the other side of the island to eat his breakfast, but he was all ears.
“What we’ve been able to discern so far is that Jordan owed money to some pretty bad people because of a poker game or maybe a bunch of poker games.” Snow took another bite of his toast.
“They beat him and shot him?” Ian asked. “Not the best way to get their money back.”
“Oh, he paid, trust me.” Jude made a noise in his throat and set his fork down.
Ian, concerned, stared at him before he turned and got Jude a cup of coffee. He set it down in front of him, then laid a hand on his wrist. “You think the beating was the payback?”
Jude looked at Snow and nodded.
“The beating came from a video. We found a website where they post videos of non-consent. Jordan was in one.”
Ian put his shaking hand over his mouth, his face going pale.
“Yeah,” Snow said. “It was bad. But we found all this after tracking down the guy who got killed last night. He owed the same people money, it seemed.”
“You guys are really caught up in something bad.” There was a knock on the front door and sure enough, Rowe came striding into the house.
“I heard breakfast and came as fast as I could.” He grinned at Ian.
Ian, still shaky and pale, seemed thankful for the interruption as he went back to his bread and batter.
Rowe frowned and lifted an eyebrow at Snow.
“We just caught him up to speed.”
“So, I can talk freely?” Rowe asked.
“Go ahead,” Jude said, turning toward him. “You have information?”
“I do.” Rowe walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. He went to the refrigerator, completely at home, and pulled out the half-and-half creamer. After he doctored his coffee, he leaned against the counter and stared at Snow. “You’re not going to like this, but we found the tattooed man from the video. His name is Donald Banks.”
