Page 21 of Twisted Truths

The easy-going expression on her face dies and tension fills her frame. Her gaze darts around the bar. “They’re all coming from the private airport. Headed up to Midnight Manor for the night.”

Bastion frowns. “What’s Midnight Manor?”

“Where the Voss brothers live,” she whispers as though if she says their name too loudly, they might appear out of thin air with pickaxes.

Bastion’s gaze flicks over to me for a second. “What happens up there?”

She shrugs. “No one knows. But it happens on the last Saturday of every month.” She glances around again, then straightens to her full height. “Did you want another round?”

“Sure thing, sweetheart. Thanks,” Bastion says as casually as if they were talking about the weather. He really is impressive with his ability to be inconspicuous.

She nods and heads back behind the bar.

As soon as she’s gone, his gaze turns serious at me. “What’s the deal with the SUVs?”

I shrug. “I have no idea. First I’ve heard of it.”

“Is it a party or some shit?” His eyes bore into me as if I’m lying to him.

“I just told you I don’t know.”

He continues to look out the window as another tinted SUV goes by. “You need to figure it out.”

I want to argue with him, but I can’t. Even more valuable than what’s in my bag is information. And whatever goes on up at Midnight Manor, it’s clearly not common knowledge, which means it’s being kept a mystery on purpose. Information I could use to blackmail the brothers, but I have to find out what the mystery is first.

The bartender delivers our beers to the table, and Bastion pulls out a twenty, telling her to keep the change. She thanks him with a smile and returns to the bar.

“I’ll see what I can find out. Let’s finish these beers so I can get back to the manor and poke around.”

We finish in record time and make our way out of the bar. I follow Bastion to the rental car he parked in the side lot, and we go around to the far side of the car. He unlocks the door and pulls a bag out of the passenger seat, holding it open. After making sure no one is around, I carefully remove the Fabergé egg from my purse and set it inside the bag.

Bastion looks inside the bag. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with an egg?”

I narrow my eyes. “You know what to do with it. That thing is worth a small fortune.”

“Why didn’t you take jewelry? Something easier to get rid of?”

“Jewelry is too risky. Someone will notice right away that it’s missing.”

He begrudgingly nods.

Another blacked-out SUV passes by, headed toward Midnight Manor. I fish my phone out of my purse and text the driver to let him know I’m ready to be picked up. I was given a phone by Voss Enterprises for my job, but I message Bastion through my personal phone because I’m sure the one supplied by them is monitored.

“I’ll see you next Saturday. Keep Dad out of trouble.” I give Bastion a hug.

“I will. You stay out of trouble, too.” He looked to where the SUV was headed. “You know what Dad says—those people aren’t like us. They have no loyalty and can’t be trusted, so watch your back.”

I don’t bother arguing with Bastion that Dad could use his own lesson in loyalty and not screwing over his kin. It was a tenant of our upbringing—we are not like them.

“I’ll be careful.” I hike my purse higher on my shoulder and step away to wait on the porch of the bar for my ride.

I’d been looking forward to relaxing when I got back to the manor, maybe going for a late-night swim in the pool, but it seems I have a mystery to solve.

Exactly what are the Vosses hiding at Midnight Manor? I’ll find out.

Chapter

Ten

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