Page 60 of Double Booked

“Are you okay?” Conrad meant about my injuries but his eyes glanced towards the guys.

“I’m fine. He got a lucky shot to the ribs but it’s fine.”

“Aren’t you glad I recommended that martial arts instructor to you?”

I laughed, wincing when my ribs ached. “Don’t think that makes us even.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Gentlemen,” He nodded and I knew the guys were behind me. “I’m Conrad Baxter, SAC out of Louisville.”

The guys just nodded, still not speaking and my stomach sank. I really fucked up.

“I’ll come get your statement tomorrow okay? Least I can do when you wrapped up this case for me.”

“I wouldn’t say I wrapped it up completely but yeah, you do owe me one. Or several.”

“I’ll be in touch.” Conrad led Justin’s dad away.

I turned back to the guys. From their stiff shoulders and clenched jaws, I could tell they were pissed. I had some explaining to do.

“Can we talk?” My voice was barely above a whisper, drowned out by the sounds of the crowd gathering around us.

Colton's expression softened for a moment before he glanced over at Justin, whose jaw was set, his eyes unreadable in the dim light. “Maybe not here,” Colton suggested, looking around at the people gathering around us. “Let’s head towards the office.”

We walked in silence, the gravel crunching under our shoes. When we reached the office, I leaned against Colton’s truck and took a deep breath. The words I needed to say swirled in my mind like leaves in the wind.

“I didn’t know how to explain this before,” I began, my voice rapid and shaky. “I just had a gut feeling about Laura—Justin's mom. And, I just... I needed to do some digging. I have these contacts, from my old job, and I thought they could help uncover what really happened, so Justin could have some closure.”

Justin finally spoke, his voice low. “What did you find, Riley?” Not sweetheart, Riley. I bit my lip and swallowed.

I hesitated, the weight of her discovery pressing down on her. “It's about your dad,” I said, meeting Justin's gaze. “I think he... he was involved in some really bad things. Like some disappearances across the country. Originally I was just trying to find your mom and figure out what happened to her so I had my PI do some digging and she couldn’t find her and Alyssa’s the best so I asked her to start looking into your dad and she connected him to several disappearances.”

Colton's brow furrowed. “Disappearances? You mean…”

“The FBI thinks he may have been responsible for them,” I blurted out, the words tasting bitter. “I mean, they don’t know for sure, but Conrad seemed pretty certain. I was going to tell you after this weekend but I didn’t want to ruin all your hard work on the festival but then he showed up here. And I didn’t know what to do.”

“You should have told us,” Colton cut in, his voice firm but not unkind. I winced. I really should have. They had every right to be furious at me, especially Justin.

Justin ran a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly. “I didn’t need closure, Riley. I mean, I do appreciate what you tried to do but we should’ve been involved. You are way more important to me than whatever you discovered. I didn’t need a PI to tell me that my father was a piece of shit. I mean, I never expected this but the man is a bastard through and through. I’m not upset you went digging, but I am upset you put yourself at risk. If my father had…”

I nodded, tears pricking my eyes. “I know. I'm so sorry. If you want me to leave?—”

“No,” Justin said quickly, stepping closer, grabbing my hand. “That's not what we're saying—” He stopped and looked at Colton, who nodded. “We want you to move in with us.”

“Wait, what?” Now it was my turn to be speechless. They wanted me to move in with them? They weren’t mad?

Justin chuckled, “Yes, we want you to move in with us. Actually, we were going to tell you tomorrow, but it seems like we’ve got a bad history of not communicating fast enough.” he narrowed his eyes at me and I dropped my head and nodded. “This doesn’t change that. But from now on, no lone ranger stuff, okay? We’re in this together.”

I looked from Justin to Colton, seeing the earnest concern in their eyes. I had expected them to be livid, ready to kick me out, but they were more concerned about me. It was still a foreign concept to me but they were right. I should have involved them. I had people who cared about me now. They weren’t my parents. They deserved my honesty and my trust.

“You’re right. I should have involved you both. I won't shut you out again.”

They both stepped forward, enveloping me in a hug that felt like it could shield me from the outside world. “We’re more upset that you put yourself in danger,” Colton murmured. “We love you, baby girl. We want to spend the rest of our lives with you. We even bought land, thinking of our future together.”

“Really?” My voice was watery and Colton brushed a tear that escaped from the corner of my eye off my cheek.

“Really.” He kissed my forehead. “So no more lone ranger shit okay? Or I’ll have Justin spank you.”

I laughed and buried my head in his chest, nodding as the guys held me tighter. “I think we might have to come up with a different punishment,” Justin murmured. “She likes my spankings a little too much.”

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