Page 31 of Bryson's Treasure

Chapter 12

“Turn around,”Bryson growled. He knew who the three men were the second his eyes landed on them.

It was too dark in the mine to see Noah’s facial expression. If he had to guess, his brother rolled his eyes.

“Really, you got shot at, and instead of figuring out who it was, you went swimming.”

Well, if his brother wasn’t going to turn around, he would get an eyeful. Bryson slowly walked out of the water, paying no attention to the three men. Taz and Collin quickly turned as Bryson got out. “I didn’t have a gun or a phone. No way was I going to leave Lynn by herself. Then I remembered you talking about this great spring.”

“It is nice,” Noah replied.

Lynn cleared her throat behind him. “Can we stop talking until we’re all dressed?”

Bryson quickly put on his boxers and jeans, leaving his shirt off until Lynn was dressed. Noah turned around while she quickly put her clothes back on. Bryson wished they’d had more time together before his brother showed up.

“I planned to walk back once the sun went down. I wasn’t sure where the shooter was, so I didn’t want to put Lynn in danger.”

Noah nodded. “The shooter had a long-range rifle. He was over at the Faith of the Glorious One.”

Lynn gasped next to Bryson. “I thought the property was taken over by the feds. How is someone there again?”

Noah rolled his neck. “The feds have taken it over.” He wrinkled his brow. “But they aren’t out there anymore. They don’t even have a patrol around the area.” Noah took a few steps toward them and wrapped his brother in a hug. “I was worried when Fedrick called and said he heard shots fired.”

“Fedrick?” Bryson asked.

“He’s one of the guards for the mine. They were still patrolling, just not close enough for you to see.”

“If they heard shots, why did it take so long for you to get here?” On the inside, he was glad it took his brother a while. It wouldn’t have bothered him if Noah had shown up a half hour earlier, but he knew Lynn would’ve been embarrassed, and he didn’t want her to feel that way around his brother.

Noah patted Bryson on the back. “We did our job and went and got the bad guy. Would you have preferred we come here and let the man go?”

“Who was it?” Lynn asked. The same question was on the tip of Bryson’s tongue.

“It was Gabriel’s two brothers,” Noah replied. He turned and walked toward the exit of the mine.

Bryson reached down and grabbed Lynn’s hand as they walked out. He had a sudden urge to get back to Azadeh. He knew he had no rational reason to make sure she was okay. Luckily she wasn’t anywhere near the shooting. In addition, since Noah knew about a shooter, he would’ve made sure someone was with Matilda and Azadeh.

“Why?” Lynn asked as she shielded her eyes from the bright sun. “As far as they knew, if I die before Gabriel, it goes to Gabriel.”

Collin frowned. “That is what Gabriel said, but the men we have in custody are singing a different song. We called Razor after we spoke to the people who shot at you. She found no evidence that Gabriel’s life was ever in danger.”

“None of this makes sense.”

“It will.” Taz handed them a couple of bottles of water from the ATV. “Gabriel showed us a prenup that wasn’t real. Razor was able to get her hands on the real one. He used the fact that you never read it to his advantage.”

Bryson pulled Lynn close, waiting for someone to finish telling him the story. He hated that Gabriel had taken advantage of Lynn and was the reason someone was trying to kill her. With each passing minute, the more he wanted to fly to Seattle and strangle the man.

“The part about you being married for five years for him to get his inheritance is correct. Also, the part where you get ten percent of the company. We think he knew all along that you never read the prenup, and when you joined Faith of the Glorious One, he used it to his advantage.”

Lynn’s shoulders slumped. “He was standing with me when I signed the document. You’re right. He knew from the beginning that I never read it. Hell, Gabriel was the one who insisted everything in it was what we had discussed. The only thing we discussed was that if we divorced, I would get five million dollars and nothing else.”

“Gabriel’s dad is highly against divorce. When you hit your five-year anniversary, Gabriel got his share of the inheritance plus his share of the company, but the prenup says that if you get divorced, you still keep your share and your voting rights. The bylaws state that you can’t turn the shares over to Gabriel.”

“What happens if I die?” she asked.

Noah ran his hand through his hair and let out a frustrated breath. “That’s when he gets them back. With his father dead, nobody can change the fact that he will have sixty percent of the company and can do what he wants.”

Bryson clenched his fist. “Was Razor able to take him in?”

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