Page 67 of Haunted

“I think he might be in trouble.” She tapped her fingers against the steering wheel nervously, quickly glancing in my direction, then back to the road in front of us. Instead of asking questions, I waited until she’d gathered her thoughts,suspecting her idea of “trouble” might be of the illegal persuasion. I didn’t have to wait long.

“He flipped out when he saw the news coverage of Chase’s arrest last night.”

An anonymous tip had been called in to the local news stations, which meant there were several reporters with camera crews waiting at the police station when Detective Black arrived with Chase. At least that’s what Koen recounted at dinner the night before, but there was a certain sparkle to his green eyes when he said “anonymous,” which made me believe he might have had something to do with it. From what I’d seen, it looked like a total clusterfuck, not that Keaton let me watch much of it. He flipped the TV off, then proceeded to use his gorgeous body to distract me.

“What do you mean?”

“He started pacing around the living room, mumbling how he knew that guy was bad news and how he never should’ve taken the money.” Her shoulders slumped against the back of the seat. “I tried to get more out of him, but he shut down.”

Fat raindrop splattered across the windshield seconds before Mother Nature unleashed round two upon the town. Streaks of lightning coursed across the darkening sky, followed by rumbles of thunder loud enough to rattle the windows of the car. Jade let off the gas pedal and turned her wipers up to high speed, which barely made a difference against the onslaught.

“Jesus. They weren’t joking about these storms,” she said.

“I’d hate to be in their shoes?” I pointed to a truck parked on the shoulder of the road up ahead.

“Wait. Isn’t that—” She started as we got closer.

“It is. Pull over, Jade. We should see if he needs us to call for help?”

She eased on the brakes, pulling in front of the truck on the shoulder. He flipped up the hood of his sweatshirt, then jogged thirty feet to the passenger’s side of the car. I put down the window, my right side getting soaked until he bent his large body through the opening.

“Oh! If it isn’t two of my favorites.” Recognition hit him. “Thanks for stopping. Do you think you could give me a ride? My truck’s toast; the engine seized.”

“Where are you headed?” Jade leaned across the center console.

“Home. It’s just a few miles down the road.”

“Sure,” she said. “Hop in.”

“I need to grab my bag real quick. Be right back.”

He ducked out and returned in less than a minute with a black duffel bag in hand, climbing into the back seat.

“Thanks again, ladies. You made that easier than I thought it’d be.”

His words came out almost gleeful, which was confusing until I heard a loud click and the press of something hard against my side. Jade’s quick inhale and muttered, “Fuck,” pulled my gaze between us. The last thing I was expecting to see was the shiny silver gun held firmly in his grasp.

“Drive, Jade.”

Oh shit!

14METHODICAL PRECISION

Keaton

“There’s no fucking way this can be right.” Shoving away from Waverly’s desk where I’d been focused on the computer screen, I tore my fingers through my hair, ripping at the ends.

“They ran it three times, Keaton,” Duncan voiced. He was stationed near the door; a tactical decision I now understood.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do with this information? A familial match? This is…I can’t even begin to process whatthisis.”

“Think back, Keaton. Are you positive your father never mentioned a half brother?” Waverly questioned.

The look I speared her with caused her to flinch, which in turn made my stomach sour with guilt. This wasn’t her fault; it wasn’t mine either, yet I was having a difficult time convincing myself of the fact. DNA tests didn’t lie and the one I’d been looking at moments ago showed, with unmistakable accuracy, the killer we’d been searching for these past few weeks was my uncle.

Fuck!

“I’ll take that as a no,” she uttered.

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