Page 2 of End Game

The verdict on whether or not he liked Lawson as an individual was still out. But there was no denying the man’s keen intelligence and agenting skills.

“According to the complainant, the sheriff and super have been best friends since high school.”

Too bad this incident wasn’t in Haywood County. Sheriff Maggie Kingston was friends, friendly, or related to most of the folks under her jurisdiction. She’d figured out how to navigate sticky relational issues and still get the job done.

“Who’s being accused of buying the board member’s vote?”

The SRA consulted a document inside the folder he held. “Krowne. Kayla Krowne. Owns a lobbying firm by the name of Krowne and Associates.”

Cameron’s heart whipped the blood in his body into a frenzy, giving him an insta-headache. He fought to keep his gaze steady, his muscles loose, when all he wanted to do was explode into violence.

He forced himself to draw in a slow breath, once, twice. When the urge to break things passed and his heart rate returned to normal, he was left feeling cold and unsteady.

“Know her?” Lawson asked, eyeing him closely.

He shrugged. “Not really. We’ve exchanged a few words.” Verbal barbs, heated glances. “She’s friends with my brother’s fiancée.”

A long heartbeat stretched out before Lawson asked, “Liv?”

Only years of conditioning kept the cringe off his face. One of the reasons Olivia Westcott had traded her FBI badge for a position with BARS, as their provenance expert, was because of Lawson’s growing romantic interest in her.

To his credit, the SRA had never acted upon his feelings, but Liv, a single mom, had worried that her boss’s iron will would eventually corrode and break. And where would that leave them when she said no?

Rather than gamble, she’d left on her own terms and couldn’t be happier, especially since the new gig allowed her to spend more time with her son Brodie.

“Yes,” he said, confirming the SRA’s suspicion.

The skin over Lawson’s cheekbones whitened a moment before he asked, “Is Zeke still pissed at you about your role in the Lederman-St. Martin case?”

The Lederman-St. Martin case had forced a tenuous alliance between the Bureau and BARS in order to stop a huge shipment of nasty drugs from being dumped into small towns across Western North Carolina, including Steele Ridge.

He hesitated in answering Lawson’s question, not wanting to air out his family’s dirty laundry. Zeke had been ticked off at him long before his involvement in the case. “Hard to say.”

“I’ll take that as a no, which means you shouldn’t run into any familial obstacles while investigating this complaint.”

He wasn’t so sure. If Zeke found out about him nosing around in Kayla’s business—and he would—his brother would have one more reason to believe he’d written off his family.

Kayla had been instrumental in a couple of recent asset recoveries. In Zeke’s eyes, she was practically family. Plus, Liv and Kayla were best friends and Phin did work for the lobbyist. Neither of them would ever forgive him if his involvement led to her arrest.

“Might be best if you take this one,” he said.

“Why’s that?”

“I have another connection to Ms. Krowne. My youngest brother, Phin, works part-time for her lobbying firm.”

“Fucking small towns.” Lawson tapped the file folder against his thigh as he considered options. “I can’t. The complainant is my cousin.”

Guess that explained the unofficial part of the complaint.

“I’ll have Gomez or Finch look into it.” The other two members of his art crime squad.

“Aren’t they headed to Quantico for some training?”

Shit.

He nodded. “Slipped my mind.”

Short straw.

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