I take in the play-by-play rundown of my exchange with Grayson before shrugging. “I don’t care what they say. My lie detector test will say otherwise.”
“Lie detector test?” Tobias sounds annoyed, but he also sounds curious.
I smile like I’m more arrogant than I am. “The lie detector test my lawyer will demand I sit when I say your team is only showing half the event.” I gesture my head to Grayson. “He swung at me first. I swear he did, officer.”
Tobias’s tongue darts out to wet his bottom lip when I deliver my line as if it’s the god honest truth. His silence makes Grayson laugh. He’s either amused by my gall or thinks I’m stupid. It could be a combination of both. “I told you he was good.”
My mask slips for the quickest second when Tobias says, “Liam trained him well.”
I almost demand to be informed how he knows Mr. Gregg, but I keep my mouth shut, aware it would spoil my ruse.
“Ahh… you have quite the skills, kid. If only you were a few years older.” After standing from his chair, Tobias shifts on his feet to face Grayson. “Drive him anywhere he needs to go.” When Grayson smiles and rubs his hands together, Tobias grabs hold of his shirt to drag him to within an inch of his face. “And leave him there. He’s not to be brought into this, you hear?”
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, Grayson pulls his truck onto a familiar state highway. We head north instead of south, the opposite direction from where he kidnapped me. He’s following the route I had planned to take earlier tonight, the one that will take me to my family ranch. The fucker is taking me home.
After several long minutes of me glaring at him, Grayson finally succumbs to the heat of my wrath. “I saw your plans when I sent Melody a message so she wouldn’t be worried about you. I didn’t look at anything else in your phone, I swear.” When I call him a liar while mumbling several other curse words under my breath, he adds, “I didn’t even need to break through the lock code on your phone. I answered one of her many texts.” His eyes stray from the road to me. “That’s real stupid, by the way. You shouldn’t have the reply button set up. Kind of leaves it open for infiltration without any hacking required.”
“Not as stupid as believing any who work for the government are honorable.”
“Hey. Low blow.” I stop yanking my cell phone out of my pocket when he whispers, “Liam was one of the best.”
I watch him through squinted eyelids for a few minutes, unsure if he’s throwing out bait with the hope of reeling me back into his web of deception or being genuinely honest. It could be a bit of them both.
Although I’m dying to unearth more about Mr. Gregg’s elusive past, at the moment, my focus needs to remain on Melody. Tobias wasn’t lying when he said I had been out for a while. It’s almost midnight.
After scrolling through numerous panicked messages from Melody, Grayson’s reply, and a missed call and text message from the cell phone Madden uses while deployed, I punch out a reply to one of Melody’s many texts.
Brandon: I’m sorry if I scared you. I’m on my way now. With Grayson’s lead foot, I should be there in around an hour. I love you, Mellowy.
Grayson doesn’t even attempt to hide the fact he’s snooping. “What’s the whole Mellowy thing about?”
I balance my phone on my thigh to ensure I don’t miss any more of Melody’s texts before straying my eyes to the scenery whizzing by the window. I’m too pissed at Grayson to strike up a conversation with him, but my gut is also twisted up in knots. Something feels wrong. Like my world is about to implode. I could blame it on the anger Melody is most likely going to project at me from leaving her at the dress boutique as I did, but this feels more than that.
It feels catastrophic.
WHEN GRAYSON PULLS his truck down a familiar driveway an hour and a half later, I’m not surprised to notice Joey’s party is still in full swing. He said he was going to live it up when he got a new heart, and he’s done precisely that. There are more scantily clad women than there are men, and the amount of empty liquor bottles spread across the front lawn and porch reveals the festivities have been enjoyed by those in attendance.
Grayson peers at me with shocked, wide eyes when I say, “Come on.”
“You heard what Tobias said, Brandon. I can’t bring you into this.”
I arch my brow. “It’s a little too late for that, don’t you think? You lied when you said you weren’t investigating me, then you kidnapped me, so the least you can do is keep your end of our agreement.” When his face reflects his confusion, I say, “This place is like a relic. All my father’s belongings are here… including his computer. He hasn’t used it in almost two years, but he had his home office servers interlinked with his work ones long before we moved.”
Nothing but pure shock resonates in Grayson’s tone when he asks, “You’re still going to let me follow your lead in?”
I jerk up my chin. “But only after you’ve helped me sort out things with my girl.”
“All right.” He slides out of the cab of his truck before hot-footing it to the other side. “Should I start with neck kisses or a foot rub?”
I shoot him a wry look. I’m tired, cranky as fuck, and my stomach won’t quit churning. Now isn’t the time for him to play dumb, or I’ll show him how Mr. Gregg taught me to take down threats with more than words.
“Poor timing. I’m sorry.” His last two words were harder for him to express than his first two.
Brushing off his cheeky grin as a consequence of having a cocky attitude, I climb the front stairs of the porch. I’m eager to get to Melody, but I’m also keen to see what my father is hiding on his computer. There are too many times his name has been linked to Mr. Gregg’s for me to continue brushing it off as a coincidence. I’m done acting stupid. It’s time to dig deeper into my father’s past and work out exactly what his issue is. This is more than a dislike that I was raised by another man. It feels much more serious than that.
I’m worried Mr. Gregg was right. I’ve done a terrible job of protecting and loving his daughter. Instead of evaluating each threat as they arrived, I pushed them to the background of my mind, believing Melody’s well-being was more important than her safety. It was stupid of me to do, and it needs to stop—starting now.
The first person I notice when I burst through the party-like atmosphere in the living room is Melody. She’s slowly making her way down the stairs. Her hair is a mess, and she looks like she’s been crying. I knew she’d have been panicked, but I had no clue she’d be sobbing about it.
