Page 79 of Royal Pain

Braxton pulled out his iPad, scrolling to something he’d been working on. “I have a buddy who went to college near there. I chatted with him and he mentioned one dude pledging to a fraternity who everyone thought was weird as shit. The kid had a Maserati at fucking eighteen. He lived off campus in a really nice house. His attire was more like what a fashion model wouldwear and he never interacted with other students, including at the fraternity.”

“Let me guess. He was turned down,” I said, half grinning.

“You bet. Mysteriously, after the kid was given the news, the fraternity house erupted in fire that night. Destroyed the building and almost killed everyone inside and do you want to know why other than the explosion that occurred?”

“The doors were blocked or locked.” Valerio’s voice had dipped.

Braxton nodded. “These are more than dangerous people.”

“The good news is that the information Evangeline managed to steal was a goldmine. It lists names of men and families within the cult and material to blackmail every single one of them with. I had someone check the names to the county records, which they had pulled. We matched every house. That included every single person except for…”

“Dreyfuss Winston,” I said under my breath.

“Exactly.” Valerio grinned. “Copies are already with our attorney should anything happen. They will be forwarded to the various news sources and to the FBI.”

“And Evangeline’s father? What do they have on him?”

Valerio sighed. “He botched a surgery clearly. There are details. He could go to prison.”

“Fuck.” I rubbed my jaw before pulling out my phone. “What about Damien?”

“No sightings anywhere but that means little in a small town where it seems Weathered Heights is protected.”

“Who are you calling?” Braxton asked.

I handed him my iPad, which had the article cued up from the former reporter at the San Diego paper. It only rang twice before Bill answered.

“Bill Smithers.”

“Bill, Gage Royal. We haven’t talked in a little while.” He’d been instrumental in providing good press for both companies. We’d gotten to be pseudo friends, including playing a few games of darts over way too many beers.

“Hey, Gage, brother. I had you on my mind the other day. Don’t worry. Good stuff. What can I do for you?”

“Do you remember a reporter by the name of Leo Jackson?”

The instant his breath hitched, I knew something was wrong.

“Why are you asking?”

There was even a hint of fear in his voice.

“He wrote some interesting articles on a place called Weathered Heights out of Connecticut.”

“Yeah,” Bill said, still stressed. “I tried to warn him it wasn’t in his best interest, but the kid was tenacious as a freaking bull.”

“Why did you warn him?”

“If you’re asking me this, you already know the answer. The fucking people controlling that twisted community are bad news. All I had to do was call what I thought was a buddy of mine at the police department near there when I read a strange article printed a few years before and suddenly, I received threats tokeep to myself. Mind my own business. That they knew where my family was.”

Exhaling, I glanced from one brother to another. “He disappeared.”

“Well, for a couple weeks but he turned up somehow pulled up by a rip current. He’d been chained to a block and tossed into the ocean. Before that happened, his face was beaten in.”

“Fuck. You don’t need to tell me any more.”

“Look, Gage. You’re my friend so I am going to warn you. Stay the fuck away. They are too powerful, and they have no problem hurting people. They are well financed, and secretly have their hands in several corporations. The only reason I know is that I found some of Leo’s notes that he’d carefully hidden here in the office. He hadn’t had an opportunity to use that information yet. I’m telling you. Stay the fuck away.”

The fear in the man was palpable.

---