Page 18 of Torrent’s Treasure

Dragon stared at her phone.

“Can I see your phone, Cecilia?” he asked.

Cecilia pulled hers out of her pocket and handed it to Torrent after checking that there weren’t any missed calls. After Torrent looked at the phone, he stared at Dragon.

“Any ideas?” Torrent pressed.

Dragon shook his head. “I’ll have Gunner look into it.”

“That was exciting. If you ladies are done with your bouquets, we could go back to the clubhouse. I brought a game system from my room into the main clubhouse. I challenge you to a tournament, Miss Calliope,” Maverick announced with a grin.

“Seriously, you get married and don’t even say hi to me,” Willow whined.

Torrent’s mouth quirked up in a hint of a smile. “Willow, good to see you,” he greeted her, pulling her in for a hug.

“Getting married without me was rude,” Willow joked, kissing Torrent’s cheek above his beard.

“Club…”

“I know, I know, I know. Club business because the club is above everything. I think that has been drilled in enough over the years,” Willow interrupted, rolling her eyes.

“Glad it finally sunk in that last quarter inch,” Dragon teased.

“Love you, Dad,” Willow breathed, hugging him tightly.

“Love you, too. You bring some good stuff?” Dragon asked, kissing the top of her head.

“Let’s get back to the tournament I’m challenging Calliope to,” Maverick reminded them, clapping his hands together.

Calliope smiled and laughed. Her giggles made Cecilia feel better, but she couldn’t shake the feeling there was something going on. Why would the men say they tried to call but she and Sally didn’t have any missed calls?

“I accept your challenge. You’re going down,” Calliope promised.

Torrent’s hand on the back of her waist as she carried her flowers out felt good. He’d been very careful with his touches, but she could see that not knowing where she and Calliope were had shaken him. She’d be a liar if she said it didn’t please her to know she mattered to him. He’d looked so relieved when he’d seen her.

Torrent kept an eye on Calliope playing the video game with Maverick. Cecilia was sitting by him while she, Willow, and Sally chatted.

“Hey, Torrent, can you and Cecilia come chat with Dragon and me in his office?” Ashe requested.

Torrent wasn’t sure what was up, but the look on Ashe’s face concerned him.

“Hey, Cecilia, Dragon would like to talk with us,” he noted softly.

“I’ll hang with Calliope and Maverick,” Willow offered.

He led her down the hall to Dragon’s office. He’d had his hand on her waist leaving the mortuary, and she hadn’t shied away, but he still wanted to be careful. He’d noticed her flinch mid-sentence with Sally the moment Maverick yelled at his game.

Dragon was behind his desk and motioned to the two chairs in front of him. Torrent sat down after Cecilia had settled in her chair.

“What’s up?” Torrent asked.

“Nothing good. You’d asked about Calliope’s backpack. Since we hadn’t done anything with the car, it was still in the backseat. Ashe opened it as he brought it back. It has some concerning items in it that I wanted to talk about with both of you before it was given back to Calliope,” Dragon disclosed, motioning to Ashe to show them.

Ashe pulled out two pocketknives and laid them on the desk.

Cecilia swallowed hard. “We sold those at the store. Calliope slipped one of those in my sleeve. It’s how I killed him,” she admitted.

Dragon nodded, and Ashe pulled out a pair of scissors, a steak knife, and a large butcher knife, laying them on the desk.