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“This morning. She hired a guy to stop me from testifying against her on your behalf. She thought he’d kill me, but he expected a lot more money for that kinda work. Long story short, she tried to stiff him for not doing a satisfactory job. He trashed her car, got arrested for vandalism, and ratted her out to save his own butt.”
“Fuck.” Tobias ran his hand over his face. “I wanted to be wrong.”
Aithan’s head jerked back. “You suspected her?”
“Yeah, and I shared my suspicions with Kevlin. Something wasn’t right. She told Mari about you being attacked, remember?”
Aithan shook his head. “No.”
Tobias shoved his cap back. “Right, ’cause you were in the hospital. Okay, the day you got jumped, I assumed Maeve learned about your injuries from Dianne and John. But they hadn’t talked about you, so how’d Maeve know about the attack before I told her? That made no sense. So I shared it with Kevlin. Guess he took a closer look.”
Aithan shook his head. “He mentioned bank records corroborating The Bus’s claim.”
“The Bus?”
“Yeah, the guy who tapped danced all over my ribs.”
Tobias gawped at him. “Dude. She needed a bus to take you out?”
Aithan chuckled. “Yeah, then she refused to pay the full fare. The Bus got angry and ran over her car with a baseball bat.”
Tobias lost it. “I shouldn’t laugh,” he gasped.
Aithan started laughing, too. “Yeah, you should. It’s damn funny.”
That sobered Tobias. “No, it’s not, man. She tried to kill you.”
Aithan quieted. “It’s surreal.”
“Makes me feel like shit, man.”
Aithan gripped his shoulder. “Don’t. Maeve’s craziness isn’t your fault.”
* * *
No one was home when Aithan got to the townhouse. He grabbed a light lunch, but after a few bites, put it back. He was itching to do something. A run would do him a lotta good, but he wanted to be home when Zel and Drew returned so he went out to the garage where he’d anchored a pull-up bar. Her car was still there, so they must’ve gone for a walk.
Aithan did two dozen slow pull-ups, then rested. He’d grabbed the bar and started on a set of hanging leg raises, hinging at the hips and bringing his toes up to touch the bar, when he heard the front door open.
“Aith?” Zel called up the stairs.
“Is he early or are we late?” Drew asked.
Aithan dropped to the floor and opened the door into the hallway. “I’m early.”
“There you are.” Zel smiled. “What’re you doing home now?”
Drew hung up their coats. “And why do you look equal parts happy and weirded out?”
“Ha.” Aithan scratched the back of his head. “Because I am.”
“Not sure I like the sound of that.” Zel hugged Aithan as he closed the door behind him. “What’s up?”
“SPD made two arrests.”
She gasped. “That’s fucking fantastic!”
“One of them was Maeve.”
