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“The pepper shaker,” Ronnie whispered, clutching Cleo’s shoulder. “It’s happening.”
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
Cleo
“You’ve been here before?” He scanned his card, and the bar of the rental car lot lifted for them to leave.
“I lived in Georgia for a couple years. Then on a base in North Carolina for a year after that. But we were moved from there pretty quickly.”
“Why?”
“My father wore out his welcome. That happened a lot.”
“And they just moved him around?”
“He was incredible at accumulating leverage. He’d use it to make sure he was always trading on favors and keeping people under his thumb.”
Nick chuckled. “We called that blackmail where we grew up.”
“My father had an excellent way of rebranding things. He was damn good at it. For years I fell for his methods. Ate it up hook, line, and sinker.”
“It must be hard when you realize something like that about your own father. Kind of a fall from grace?”
“I guess. It didn’t hit me that hard. I think maybe I always knew.”
“Is any of your family still around this way?”
“My brother.” Cleo shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I think so anyway. I haven’t heard from anyone in a long time. But I try to keep tabs on him. He’s the one I worried about the most.”
“What’s his name?”
Divulging that felt like too much. As if it would be some kind of string he could pull and unravel it all.
“You do understand that somewhere in the bowels of the Kinross empire, there is a file on you. They’d have vetted your entire past. Secrets don’t fly with them.”
She knew he wasn’t trying to make her squirm, but that was the effect he was having. “And you’re going to dig that file up?”
“No.” He patted her thigh. “I wouldn’t do that. But every time we talk about this, you look like you might jump out of your skin. I’m just letting you know that me asking questions isn’t some slippery slope you’re about to fall down.”
Cleo nodded, blinking away whatever she was worried about. “His name is Bowman. Bo, he goes by Bo. We’re twins, actually.”
“You’re a twin?” Nick asked, pumping the brakes.
“I didn’t tell you that?”
“You don’t tell me anything. That’s pretty cool. Do you have those twin powers?”
“We did when we were little.” Cleo made it a point not to think of Bo too often. The idea that someone could love her so much and then not at all was too frightening to revisit too many times.
“You should look him up while we’re down here.”
“He wouldn’t want me to.” She set her gaze on the building and leaned her head against it. “Can we talk about something else?”
“Sure. Who do you think Clark killed?”
“What?”
“I think we should speculate. He was nineteen or so at the time when he and Mariena were together. He told her he was a killer. So who would he have killed?”
