Page 87 of Soul Food

“I’m afraid so. He’s not been showing up because he’s dead. We found his body down by Johnson River. We haven’t ruled anything out since we haven’t heard back on the cause of death. Was there anything out of the ordinary with him?”

“A bad argument? A relationship you might have heard about? Anything suspicious?” the other one spoke this time, quirking a brow at me.

“No. Max was full of energy and always seemed upbeat. I couldn’t imagine anyone who’d want to hurt him.” Lie, lie, lie. At least, that was who he pretended to be until the night he did a complete one-eighty and died for his efforts.

The police officer nodded and looked down. “So, we’ve heard. It’s a shame.”

I grabbed my chest, really glad I rehearsed this enough in my head to sound sympathetic. “It really is.”

“We will contact you again if we need you,” he told me.

I nodded. “Please do. Do you know if he had a wife or anything?”

He shook his head. “No. He was single as for as we know.”

I felt the relief wash over me as they left, and I shut the door. When I fell against it and sighed, Lars was peeking his head into the hallway. “Wow, you’re even better at pretending than Sire is.”

“Go away,” I hissed, then rolling my eyes, I called John to come pick me up.

_______

“You should have called me when Max didn’t show,” Rupert said on the drive as John drove us to Black Hearts. My nerves were already eating at me since I was going to face the band again, but now Rupert was making it worse.

“I didn’t want to bother you on your vacation,” I informed him as I peered out my window. “I don’t even need a bodyguard when I’m not on tour.” I glanced ahead where he was sitting in the passenger side seat. “I keep you around because you’re great company.”

I watched the back of his head bob as he chuckled. “And because of that, I don’t have to look for more work and can provide for my family. I owe you a lot Ruth.” I looked out the window at this point. I didn’t want the big guy getting all mushy on me. “It’s awful to hear about Max though. The kid wouldn’t shut up, but he didn’t seem like a bad person.”

Oh, how he had everyone fooled. Still, that didn’t mean he deserved to die. What would he have done to me if the soul reaper hadn’t been a part of my life all these years? My hands shook as I processed that bit of information. I’d be the one dead.

“Where’s Jayne?” Rupert asked.

I smirked to myself in the back seat. “Between me and you, she doesn’t come around when I hang out with the new band. I think she’s nervous.” Which was smart now that I thought about it. I should stay away, but here I was about to step in the building and face them once more.

“Beautiful ladies, both you and Jayne.” I nodded at Rupert’s compliment. “You both deserve a decent guy. Speaking of guys, I’m your bodyguard, Ruth, and that doesn’t give me the privilege of speaking my mind, but I’m going to, anyway. Amit Kingston seems completely smitten with you, and the way I see it, you deserve someone in your life that’s going to take care of you.”

I tensed at his words. “I don’t know…”

“You’re into him too, unless it changed that quickly during the time I was away.” I saw him studying me in the rearview mirror. “That day at the gym, I saw the way he watched you as that other guy—that other president—harassed you. He cares a great deal about you. Something’s definitely there.”

I was quiet the rest of the drive and so was Rupert.

I opened the door the moment John stopped in front of the studio. “You can head home if you’d like. We both know nothing’s going on. And thanks for driving me, John.”

“Never a problem,” John said.

“Ruth, I didn’t mean to pry,” Rupert stated quickly.

Feeling guilty, I scooted up in the seat and patted his shoulder. “No, you’re right.” I paused a second before I said, “I just don’t want you to be when it comes to Black Hearts’s president.”

Notebook clutched to my chest, I made my way inside the studio where I took the elevator up, and then I knocked on the door where I knew they were. The music stopped, and a moment later Liam opened the door with a surprised, yet pleased expression. “You came.” He let me in.

“The way I see it, you guys are you. I was taking my anger out on you when it was over someone else. You’re right. There’s no way I would tell anyone what I was if I was in your shoes, anyway.” I tossed my hand up as I said. “That’s the way I’m going to see it because I need your help, and I don’t have much time.”

“What is it?” Liam frowned.

I pulled my notebook from my chest and held it out. “I changed my lyrics some so maybe the music will need to be changed. I need it to be perfect, and I have less than a week.”

Liam grabbed his guitar and placed the strap over his neck with a grin. “Well, I do believe you came to the right place.”

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