Page 118 of Broken Wheels

Doc pointed to the screen. “This first attack? Spencer was two hundred miles away, visiting one of his companies.”

“Doesn’t exactly put him at the scene of the crime, does it?”

Doc blinked. “You think he’d be stupid enough to be there? But for the second attack, he was only fifty miles away, inspecting one of his factories.”

“What about last night? Where was he when the plane flew over Stutton?”

Doc stilled. “Three towns over, as far as I can glean. Close enough to come running when he got the news.” He snorted. “His people were on the ground in the affected areas within less than two hours. How? Does he have storage in every town? All the stuff he conveniently needs to step in and ‘help’?”

“And no one has looked into this? Unbelievable.”

“Not really.” Doc sighed. “When you have money, people give you a lot of leeway. In our country, those with money are regarded as better than most people. It’s why we pay sports people millions, but teachers? They get a pittance. It’s why those in Congress are willing to sell their souls to the highest bidder. They make more money whoring themselves instead of doing the job they were elected to do. Remember the golden rule: those with the gold make the rules.”

“That’s such bullshit.”

Doc grinned, but it was devoid of humor. It was weary, sad, and laced with pain.

“It’s why I don’t talk about my money. I like being Wheels. Or Josh.” He winked at Dix. “Or Doc. I don’t want to be treated differently. Grandma showed me that being genuine was a lot better than being rich. When you’re real, people help because they want to. When you’re rich, they help because they think they’ll get something out of it.”

“I’d like to say you’re wrong, but I can’t,” Dix confessed.

“Take Spencer, for example. He flaunts the fact that he’s got money. I can pretty much guarantee you he’s got plenty of people in his pocket. No normal person would be given such authority in the government, but if enough Congresspeople side with him, he’ll have his in.”

Dix groaned. “This cloak-and-dagger stuff fucks with my head.”

“Tell me about it.” He leaned closer to Dix, who was only too happy to wrap an arm around him, to try to keep the world at bay, at least for a little while. “I’m not going to lie or sugarcoat it. I’m scared. This isn’t a formula I can figure out. This is trying to predict what someone will do. Someone who gives every indication of being a megalomaniac.” He blew out a breath. “And Spencer won’t be the worst of it.”

That didn’t sound good at all. “What do you mean?”

“Even if we take him down, show the world irrefutable proof, there will be those who’ll side with him. I don’t understand that whole mentality. It’s like common sense goes out the window when dollar signs flash.”

“Not that there’s a lot of that to go around lately.”

“Yeah, that.” He yawned. “Can we just stay here for a while?”

“Sure, we can sit here and—” Dix’s phone rang and he groaned. “I swear, these people have the shittiest timing in the world.”

“Hey, you can’t help being popular.”

Dix swiped a finger over the screen. “Hey, Grayson, what’s up?”

“You’re not going to believe who just asked to speak to someone in charge.”

Please, let it be Spencer. Dix was in the perfect frame of mind to lay him out with one solid punch. “Who is it?”

“She says her name is Kathy Robertson and she needs a bodyguard.”

“Never heard of her. Why does she think she needs protecting?”

“Because she’s Aaron Spencer’s personal assistant, and she thinks he might try to kill her.”

Chapter 36

Dix paused at the door to the meeting room. “You’re sure you want me to take the lead on this?”

Michael nodded. Then he smiled. “You need to take them off before you go in there, though.”

“Take off what?”

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