Page 21 of Kill Me Sweetly

“Interesting.” I ran my hand over my beard. “The twins could maybe track where the money was sent.”

JJ smacked the counter. “Yes!”

“Max?” Mason sat beside him.

“What?” Maxwell was a mess. Finding out this was true would be a huge blow to the already shaky man.

“This friend that you spoke to—have you known him long?”

Max sighed, his head bobbing back and forth. “Hmm…maybe a year? I met him at the country club. We spend Sundays playing the green.”

Mason glared at JJ. “I have another theory,” JJ said.

Mason got up and pointed at JJ. “Nope, my theory.”

JJ rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

“Someone tell me what’s going on?” I asked. These two spoke a different language to each other.

“I suspect.” Mason narrowed his eyes at JJ when it appeared my vicious viper was going to interrupt. “I suspect this golf friend entered your life on purpose. This consortium isn’t one to be spontaneous. He very well may be working for them. They have people who are feelers in all sorts of businesses. He maybe got to know you, learned about your daughter, your job, and the consortium swooped in. After Georgia was returned, were your friend’s issues then discussed with you?”

Max’s eyes widened. “Actually, yes. He never indicated any problems before that. I’d gone to the club one day to shake off my worry for Georgia. My ex-wife was with her, so I was fine. And he was there, looked awful, I asked, and he told me.”

Mason hummed. “I think they were testing you to see if you’d talk. And you did. So they had their money and now needed nothing more from you. Even if they would have liked more, it wasn’t needed. And yes, to normal people it seems dumb to bethe kidnapper and the rescuer when all the money goes to the same hand, but consider that they wanted all of it but protecting their organization was paramount.”

“Son of a bitch,” Max shouted. “I was played?”

“That’s my guess.” I smiled at Mason and JJ. “You both are like the Hardy Boys.”

JJ and Mason high-fived like the children they were. “Heck, yeah!” they said in unison.

“When Angel and the twins get here, we’ll share this with them and see how much of it—if not all of it—tracks. In the meantime, Max, tell us everything you know about your golf buddy.”

That was how we spent the next hour. Mason took notes while Max explained everything and the more he told the story, the more it revealed that JJ and Mason were really on to something. I was interrupted by my cell phone, so I excused myself and stepped out of the room.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Shep. Sorry to bother you, but do you think I can get some help at the shop tomorrow? I know you got some stuff going on at home, but I’m swamped.”Shit, Lizzy.I’d asked if she could handle things for a bit, and she’d agreed.

I was able to get the wedding cake to the reception hall but other than that, I’d gotten lost in all of this.

“Of course. I’m so sorry, Lizzy.”

“It’s cool, I get it, but it’s a lot and my class is tomorrow at seven for forty-five minutes. And we’re almost out of, like, everything.”

Shit. “I’ll be there first thing in the morning. I’ll bake until the afternoon and help you out all day.”

“Thanks, Boss…and maybe hire someone else.”

I chuckled. “Yep, that’s a priority.”

I disconnected and went back into the kitchen. JJ immediately met my eyes.

“Everything okay?”

“I gotta go to the shop tomorrow. Lizzy is dying over there on her own, and she has class in the morning. I need to bake and help her out.”

“It’s fine—nothing is happening at the hospital. I can take over after Gabe tomorrow and call in if there’s an issue,” Mason said.

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