Page 50 of Brandon’s Mate

Kitty whispered, “They’re waiting for the actual apology.”

Brandon narrowed his eyes and growled, “I’m sorry I was a friend-abandoning douche, okay?”

They still stared at him. He added, more sincerely, “I am. Really.”

The twins looked at each other consideringly, then back at him. He rolled his eyes and said, “And thanks. For, you know.” Kitty elbowed him. What now? “For caring enough to come?”

Colt and Remy looked at each other again, then gave him identical nods.

Colt said, “But you’re buying us beer for the next six years. Get used to it.”

Kitty turned to Brandon. “Face it, Brandy-balls. None of us are leaving until this is done. So you might as well tell us everything.”

The moment stretched out; Kitty could feel him fighting with himself.

Finally he shook his head and sat down on one of the barstools at the kitchen island. “Fine.”

If it wasn’t still so damn early, Kitty would have done a victory dance.

He started with the part of the story Kitty already knew—how he and Nick used to work together, how he’d gotten a coded message from Nick, how he’d gotten here to find Nick murdered.

Then he moved on to the parts she didn’t know. How Callie, the waitress at the Crows’ Nest, had decided to turn on Caleb the Crapper.

Because she’d been inspired by Kitty. That stunned her. She’d spent a year telling herself what a chicken-shit she was, and now somebody thought she was brave. Brave enough that they wanted to follow her example.

She just hoped it didn’t get Callie hurt worse.

Brandon filled them in on the panthers gradually taking over the town, with Caleb as front man, and how Callie had confirmed that Caleb hadn’t ordered the hit on Nick.

“I wondered who was really in charge there,” Kitty said. She told them about how the bartender had looked at Jax before deciding how much to tell her about “Ray,” and how Jax had ignored Caleb’s orders.

Brandon finished up with explaining his cover as Ray Danvers, trying to establish a rep so he could get inside the organization and figure out who had ordered the hit, and why they did it without Caleb’s knowledge.

Colt said, “Probably because he found out something they don’t want Caleb to know. About the panthers, or their boss.”

Brandon nodded. “I agree. If we can figure out what that is, it may lead us to the one who’s calling the shots. And that’s the one I want.”

“Got it,” Remy said. He cracked his knuckles. “Looks like the first thing is for me to work some of my hacker magic. Did Nick leave you anything to go on?”

Brandon went to the bedroom, and came back in a few minutes with a small box of documents and a zippered case which turned out to contain two thumb drives. “This is all of it,” he said, setting it on the counter.

Remy looked it over, sifting through the stuff in the box. “Well. This is going to be a challenge. No files? Laptop? Cellphone?”

Colt chimed in with, “Cryptic treasure maps?”

“None of the above,” Brandon said. “The killers must have taken the hardware.”

“Possibly,” Remy said. “Looks like those drives are the best bet. Now all I need is food. I don’t suppose you get Doordash?”

Colt already had his phone in his hand. “Nothing. No delivery at all. It’s like a third-world country out here.”

“I can’t work without sustenance,” Remy said.

“Do not side-eye my snack cakes,” Kitty growled.

“Then somebody needs to go grocery shopping.”

They all looked at Kitty.