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Yvette put a hand on her chest. Noah and Jake both audibly “awwed” and cuddled in closer together. Tristan raised his glass. “I’m happy you bumped into Eric, and judging by the way he’s looking at you, I think he’s pretty happy, too. Cheers to that.”
We all clinked our glasses against the webcam, although I tried not to think too much about what Tristan said. Was I really looking at Colton in a certain type of way? We hadn’t set up any rules about looking at each other… should we have?
Man, fuck these rules.
I reached over and gave Colton’s leg a squeeze. Just a quick touch, but one that seemed to spark something in his gaze. His eyebrows tilted downward, his smile falling for a brief moment.
“Has the will been read yet?” Noah asked.
Colton shook his head. “Dad wants to wait until the end of the trip. But after tonight’s dinner, I don’t know if that’s a great idea. Not after finding out my mom had a secret relationship with the family lawyer, who’s now dating my sister.”
A collective gasp of surprise was released from the group. Colton nodded, lips pursed. “Yeah, things got messy.”
Jake seemed to be the first one who was able to fully recover. He spoke up. “Was the lawyer dating your mom at the time of her death?” His question sounded innocent enough, but the suspicion was still there.
Colton just shrugged. I had already made a mental note to look into that timeline. I planned on taking Jax aside and having a mini interrogation session with the petty lawyer, but I’d have to do it when Kendall wasn’t around.
“So no one knows if he’s in the will?” Noah asked.
Colton shook his head.
“I mean, it would make the most sense,” Noah continued. “If someone outside of the family was the one responsible for it? And if he was dating her at the time, then maybe she mentioned his name going on the will at some point? Do we know how long they were together?”
“All I know is when it started,” Colton said, “which must have been when my mom and my dad divorced.”
“Someone dating her also would likely know where the secret cameras are placed,” Yvette said, running a hand through her mane of curly brown hair. She was right, of course. Unless Amelia didn’t trust Jackson enough to tell him where the cameras were, which also didn’t exactly help his case out. I knew the man was capable of some playground bully tactics with the way he tried to take me out of business, but was he also capable of murder, too?
“Well, since we’re talking about it, I did a little more research into that missing camera Eric mentioned at our last meeting,” Tristan said, leaning back in his seat, sporting a proud grin. “I tracked down the information on the cameras that were recovered from the scene of the crime, and it looks like they were installed by a company called AC Tech and Security.”
Colton and I both turned to look at each other like our heads had been placed on swivels. That was the same company emblazoned on the bags that sat out front by the door. “That’s Archie’s company,” Colton said.
“Archie?” Tristan asked.
“My brother. He owns a tech company, but he never mentioned being the one who installed the cameras. Unless he just didn’t think it was that important. Did he install the hidden nanny cam, too?”
Tristan made a “tsk” sound and shook his head. “Hard to tell. I only know they installed it because I googled for local surveillance companies and found them advertised as one of the top. I called them and made pretend I was at the residence and needed some tech support. The girl on the phone confirmed the cameras were still covered under a warranty program at their store, which let me know they were the ones who installed it.”
“Nice job, Tristan,” I said, proud of my best friend. He was a successful author who enjoyed nerding out on tech stuff, but I hadn’t realized he was also coming after my gig, too. “Want to moonlight as a detective with me?”
“Nah, I’ll leave that to you. I can’t do a stakeout. I get too bored. Unless it’s at Outback. Get it? A stakeout while eating a steak at Out—okay, you guys get it.”
The group broke down into laughter. Tristan had a way of doing that. If writing didn’t work out for him, he could easily make a living as a stand-up comedian. He had the charisma and the intelligence, along with a healthy dose of self-awareness.
Just then, another square appeared in the Zoom call, pushing Colton and me to the side.
“Steve!” I said, surprised but happy to see my neighbor had made it. “Everyone, meet Steve. He’s new to Atlanta, so I figured our little book club could be a good way for him to meet some new people.”
