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There were only four of them that morning, and they weren’t alone.
A group of people were chatting with them, leaning on their chairs and laughing like they just hit the punch line of the joke.
“Oh.” Green Hair— Jeremy made big eyes, clapping his hand over his mouth. “I’m so sorry. We meant to be out of here before you arrived.”
The crowd dispersed quickly. Some of them moving too fast for people just hanging for a friendly chat.
What do you look so guilty about?
“What’s this?” Jeremy fixed on me. “If it isn’t Miss Get The Fuck Off My Property. I wouldn’t have pegged you as a woman who lets someone put her on a leash.”
“Two,” said Jacques.
“What’s that supposed to be?” Jeremy asked.
“That’s how many teeth you’ll lose if you keep talking to our girl,” Cairo replied. “And what was it you said? Oh yeah, get the fuck off my property.”
“Oooh,” one of them crowed.
“Yes, master.”
“Sorry, master.”
Bowing and scraping, they got up from the table, eliciting a few chuckles from the crowd.
“Kind of you,” said Arsenio. “Hey, what’s the update on the murder investigation? Just spoke to the sheriff and he mentioned you five were his main suspects.”
The smile froze on Jeremy’s face. “Don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“Of course you do.” Arsenio’s grin oozed charm. “Ruckus Royale. The guy you stabbed was set on fire after swearing he’d kill you. Sheriff said something about how strange it was you sank a knife in that guy, but the other sacrifices were just hassled. You two must have a history.”
The deck fell silent. Even the bugs in the trees stopped making noise.
“There is no history,” Jeremy gritted. “I never met the guy, and my lawyer told your hick sheriff the same thing. The Crows had nothing to do with his death.”
“Soooo,” Arsenio drew out. “You just go around stabbing innocent people for fun? Totally random guy already having a bad day, and your first thought was to carve him up?” He shook his head. “I’m not buying it. No wonder the sheriff didn’t either.”
“I didn’t do that because I had beef with the fucker,” he snapped. “That was to teach you—”
“Teach me? Let me get this straight, you stabbed an innocent man just to intimidate us? You needed to prove how tough you are that badly?” Arsenio whistled. “Wow. Maybe you are worse than we’ll ever be. I mean, not even the Bedlam Boys attack unprovoked.”
I bit my lip, afraid a “Damn” would come out.
Arsenio maneuvered him so expertly in his place, if I wasn’t watching, I would’ve missed it.
Jeremy’s eyes flicked around, seeing in those faces what I was seeing.
Doubt.
New Kings were all well and good, unless you’re next on the stake.
“The Crows didn’t kill that man,” Jeremy said. “I believe he died from the fire your boy lit under him. That’s for sure the cause of death Sheriff Daddy has written down. Not stab wound. I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, pushing the blame for your crime on us, but thank you for confirming this for me—you don’t attack unprovoked. When I figure out your motive, we’ll see how far nepotism gets you.”
Arsenio clicked his tongue, grinning. “It’s gotten us pretty far,” he said, not letting his words float to our audience. Louder, he replied, “Doesn’t matter because we’ve been cleared. The cops know we were framed by someone who wants the Bedlam Boys taken out.”
Not quite the reason.
“We’ll be watching you.” Arsenio closed the distance, towering over Jeremy with all six feet, one inch of him. “We won’t let you hurt anyone else in this town.”
“Yeah,” someone said.
Nods went around the deck.
Jaw ticcing, Jeremy came closer still, leaving a hair between their chests.
“You’re smooth, politician’s boy. Got a nice way with words that have even me almost doubting myself, but that only works for so long. Eventually, this town is going to wake up and remember they hate you. They hate running when you snap your fingers and bending their necks for you to wipe your feet.
“Between you and me, the wake-up call is coming soon, and when it does, I don’t actually have to be a nice guy as long as everyone thinks I am.” He flicked to Legend. “By the way, that was a sinister show you put on yesterday, but I set my alarm, and I’m not missing anything.”
“Aren’t you?” Legend brushed past me and leaned over Jeremy’s ear. “Where’s your brother?”
“Micah? He went home to get something.”
“Did he?”
I’d never seen that expression on Legend’s face. It kicked my fight-or-flight impulse into gear.
“Yes,” Jeremy snapped. “He texted me that—”
“—he couldn’t find his watch and took a quick trip back to HC to see if it’s home,” Legend finished.
Jeremy blanched.
“Oops,” Legend breezed. “Hope he finds it.”
“You piece of shit! What did you do with Micah?!”
