Page 28 of Sunshine & Sinful

“When you take care of the stalkers, and I come to clean up, I don’t just, ya know,‘clean up.’” He air quotes and resumes working my heel. “I took pictures, then fingerprinted the men and sent the info to Gunz, who ran background checks and shit on all of ‘em. The names they gave you. None of them matched the bodies. I mailed their phones to another brother to see what he could dig up.”

Damn.

“And you believe they’re all connected somehow,” I guess.

Sunshine nods just as Dark picks up right where his father left off. “Do you remember the job you did ten, maybe eleven years back? You got a job at that hotel bar a week before a group of businessmen were set to stay. They spent a bunch of time at the bar. You got friendly with ‘em, which is what we needed. On the last night, you slipped something in two of their drinks. One died at the hotel that night, the other on his flight home the next day.”

“Yes. I remember,” I reply. “It’s one of the few jobs I’ve had that Sunshine didn’t come to clean up after.” Because there was nothing to dispose of. When the man didn’t check out of the hotel, a maid found him dead in his bed. The coroner picked the body up and did a toxicology screening. It showed, as I expected, alcohol and recreational drugs. They didn’t suspect foul play. The man on the flight died of an aneurysm. Or so the death certificatesays. Sunshine looked into it when things went down. That’s how I know.

“I’m pretty sure one of those men at the bar was Elden,” Dark explains.

I frown. “The asshole from the yacht who tried to buy me?” The sicko who did unspeakable things to a corpse? That man?

“Yep. I don’t know for sure if he recognized you or not, but it doesn’t matter. He’s dead. What’s concerning are his uncles. They’re Remy buyers.”

“So, they’re collectors.” Where some rich assholes collect art, others collect cars or stamps or baseball cards and other weird stuff. Then you have these men—those who collect people.

“Exactly. I think an uncle has been on to you since. Maybe he informed Elden of his little obsession. Maybe he didn’t. We don’t know. But the stalking started shortly after that. Right?”

Scratching my forehead, I think a bit, trying to iron the timeline out. “Maybe. I think so. The first one happened when you were on a short run, and it was maybe a year or two until the next one came. Time’s a little blurry. But after you left and I moved here, the stalking picked up. Two, maybe three a year since. Some lasted a week or two. A few lasted a month, maybe a bit longer.” None of them were particularly scary or problematic.

“And they all started by coming to the bar?” Dark asks.

“Yes. Every one of them.” Their visits started slow and picked up as time went on.

“Including Todd?”

I nod. “Including Todd…So…” I clasp my hands together. “What you’re telling me is my boyfriend was hired to stalk me like the others, but he got a foot in the door, and now I’ve let the enemy into my house?”

“Not exactly,” comes from Sunshine, clearly wanting to make me feel better. “Dark and Cell broke into his dentist’s office last night and pulled what they could from his computer.”

“Dark and Cell did what?” I screech.

“We broke in?—”

“Yeah.” I wave my ex off. “I heard that part. What I don’t understand is why Cell, my sister, who sits at a computer every day, broke into a dentist’s office like some criminal. She doesn’t do outside jobs.” There’s a reason Cell works underground. She’s not one for the outside world. The woman rarely spends time in the bar, let alone walking the streets at night or breaking and entering.

My ex shrugs as if it’s no biggy. “She did last night.”

“Dark.”

“What? It was Till’s idea.”

My eyes widen, and my mouth nearly hits the floor. “It waswhoseidea?”

“Pops reached out to Till,” Dark explains. “He asked her if she knew anyone who could do what we needed. She recommended Cell, and Cell reached out to me once Till spoke to her.”

I’m gonna murder them all. Till included. What a sneaky bitch.

“You don’t get to use my sisters, Dark,” I scold.

“I sure as fuck do when it comes to your safety.”

“Fine.” I huff and cross my arms over my chest,knowing damn well I can’t win this one. All my sisters would jump off a cliff if it meant helping me. Cell included. “She’s safe, right? After you broke in and did whatever you did?” I motion to Dark.

A short laugh rips from his throat as a cocky smile lights his entire face making him look ten years younger. “Hell yeah. I took her home afterward. We had a blast, but the woman definitely needs to get out more.”

With my lips pressed together, I grumble and look at Sunshine, none too happy. “You just let this happen?” It isn’t like him to act so recklessly.

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