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Jasper nodded, acknowledging Terry’s words. “It was a good night but something feels off here.” He looked around and froze when his gaze landed on a petite woman with a high auburn ponytail swinging as she bounced our way. “Fucking Feds.”
Sure enough, the closer the woman came the clearer the FBI letters gleamed on her dark blue windbreaker. She stopped at the table flashing a wide smile like the head cheerleader trying to score votes for Homecoming Queen.
“Good morning Ashby men. Mr. Manning.”
Jasper arched a dark brow at the woman, doing his best to appear calm and unaffected. “It seems that you have us at a disadvantage, Agent.”
She smiled and cast a wary look at the dark-haired man who stopped beside her. “Agent Addison Beck and I think you know my partner, Agent Baxter Marshall.”
She flashed another wide smile that was meant to be disarming but she hadn’t perfected sincerity yet.
“Agent Marshall,” Jasper snarled. “Someone important must have gotten killed or swindled for you to make another trip back to the desert.”
Marshall had been a thorn in our sides for years now, always looking for a way to take down the Ashby family. Always failing.
“Funny you should say that,” Agent Beck beamed. “You guys wouldn’t happen to know anything about the series of house fires, would you?” He turned to his partner. “Or were they explosions?”
Jasper shook his head, always the spokesperson for the family when no lawyers were present. “Sorry. I haven’t had time to read the news this morning. Running the family business keeps me pretty busy.”
She tossed her head back and laughed, almost like they were flirting. It was some sick shit, and since I had a shot and a Guinness in front of me, I sat back and enjoyed the show.
“I imagine that running a criminal empire is rather time consuming.”
Jasper laughed back. “As a card carrying member of the biggest criminal organization around, you should know.”
The woman growled like an actual animal in Jasper’s direction and my unflappable brother…he fucking smiled.
“You’re the criminal,” she insisted.
“And if you really believed that, I’d be in cuffs.”
“Soon,” she promised, leaning forward to get right in his face, nostrils flaring and her cheeks beet red.
“Promises, promises,” he whispered, a hint of a smile playing on his mouth.
It looked like Agent Beck was about to lose her shit, but Marshall reined her in, knowing the futility of taking on the Ashby family with little more than threats. “We’re here about the priest killings. You heard anything on the street about it?”
Terry laughed. “Try every fucked-up altar boy in the state, and then expand your search for suspects.”
Agent Marshall wasn’t amused even though he had no idea just how right Terry was.
“Three dead priests in as many weeks and the FBI come running?” Sounded suspect to me and based on the way his jaws clenched, Jasper agreed.
“Four actually, as of this morning,” Agent Beck added. “Grisly crime scene too, the poor fella was split from his balls to his well, you know.” She shrugged. “The Church has asked us to look into it.”
“And you never pass up an opportunity to show your worth to the good ol’ Catholic church, do you Agent Beck?” Jasper was back to fucking with the lady agent for some reason, but it was too damn amusing to interrupt.
She glared at him, hard enough to maim if looks could kill. “Solving crime is my job. No matter what gang you belong to.”
“Not even the Catholic church?” Jas couldn’t hide his contempt and the lady agent didn’t miss it, which probably put him at the top of the suspect list. “Funny, I don’t remember you taking them on. Must not have made the papers.”
“Watch yourself, Ashby, I know I will.” Agent Beck was serious but she was new, still a rookie. Too new to have a beef with the Ashby’s in general or Jasper in particular.
“Enjoy the show, Addison.”
“That’s Agent Beck.” Marshall snarled at him before turning to follow his too chipper partner out of Midnight Mass and toward the row of cheap hotels paid for by the Bureau, no doubt.
“We have to do something about this,” Jasper said to no one in particular. That was the hazard of being in charge all the time. He constantly barked out orders to anyone within ear shot.
“About Agent Beck?” Cal asked, worried.
“No. About the fucking dead priests.” His gaze collided with mine and the message was clear. He was tasking me with dealing with the dead priest situation as if I hadn’t already been dealing with it from the very beginning.
Now the feds were involved and suddenly, shit was more serious, more dangerous than just two hours ago. I nodded, knowing there was a difficult conversation in my immediate future.
“Tomorrow. Today I’m spending it with my woman.”
EPILOGUE
Maisie ~ One month later
