Page 42 of Hartley

Oleander shook his head. “Whatever. I guess we’re all going down. You know I’m in it with you, Shel. Will you at least help me look for a job or take me with you wherever you go?”

I patted Oleander on the arm. “No one’s getting fired. I’ll be very persuasive.”

He chuckled. “Of course you will.” Oleander lifted his hand and tapped his knuckles on the door. “Lane, are you decent?”

“Yeah,” he called back.

Opening the door, Oleander went in first to sweep the room. I wasn’t sure what he thought was smuggled in there or how. Once he deemed it safe, he moved out of the way for Forest and me to enter with Sheldon behind us.

“You’ve got minutes,” Oleander told us. “The moment Jordan finds out; it won’t matter what he’s in the middle of. He’s going to tear back here.”

“I know,” I said, then focused my attention on Lane, who sat on the couch in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, watching TV. At least his beard was trimmed, and his hair was brushed. “Lane, can my brother and I ask you a couple of questions?”

He lifted the remote to shut off the TV. “Sure.”

“I’m not going to sit because I need a hasty getaway.”

Lane chuckled. “I don’t doubt it. What can I do for you?”

Forest unfolded the paper and handed it to him. “Does this look familiar to you?”

“I saw it in the home. I wasn’t digging through your grandfather’s things. It was sitting on his nightstand.” The one room my brother and I couldn’t bring ourselves to go into, outside of quickly grabbing a suit for our grandfather to be buried in, after he passed. Forest and I went in, grabbed what we needed, and left. We didn’t go through his belongings or see what he left behind.

“The handwriting?”

“Is my father’s, but from years ago. Now his hand shakes too bad to write anything. I don’t know how old it is though. Or if the money was paid off. When I say they didn’t tell me shit about their operations, I mean it. I was always kept in the dark because my mom didn’t want me involved. I was called weak and useless. She protected me and they hated me for it.”

“Did he do this often? Write what was owed?”

“When he wanted to drive the point home about how much they owed him. If they didn’t start paying, he’d kill them. But that was when we were in the U.S. He had guys still here he could hire to carry shit out for him, but killing a man who was already dying? I’m not sure he would bother. We didn’t have much money, and he’d have to pay someone to carry out a murder for him. That doesn’t come cheap. If the people who owed my father wanted to pay him, they could put money in an account but I’m not sure if it was done in this case. Your guess is as good as mine.”

“If our grandfather still had this, my guess is it was for a reason. That he didn’t pay off the debt or he wanted us to find it.” Shit, why didn’t I think of that before? What if he didn’t pass from cancer and wanted to leave a clue to how he died? Then again, he wouldn’t want us getting mixed up with theEverhart family. Man, if he could see me now in bed with a mafia boss every night. He’d be glad I was happy, and not so thrilled about my choice of Jordan. He’d love that I was with Vail though.

“I can’t imagine he paid off the debt,” Lane said. Not with the way he was living. “A man with money would have repaired the home.”

“Why wouldn’t someone come after us then?”

“Like I said, money. It would cost a lot to have him killed. To kidnap or use you as collateral? That’s even more time-consuming and expensive. I don’t pretend to know everything my father and brother did. Or understand the way they think. But money was a big driving factor. They both wanted to come back here, and it cost them. They’re desperate. While Jordan feels safe here, desperate people do stupid shit. I wouldn’t be surprised if they came to Dremest. Just be careful. They never forget about debts. You’re in a relationship with Jordan, that’s a big prize. Threaten you, kidnap you…”

He didn’t need to finish the sentence for me to understand what he meant. Forest and I had targets on our backs. It was one thing to be with Jordan and realize I would always need protection. This was different. This was a debt my grandfather incurred.

After talking to Lane, I had more questions than answers. I also had a lot of clothes to shed to make up for doing this behind Jordan’s back.

“Thank you for talking to us,” I said to Lane. “If you think of anything, please let me know. I have to run though. Literally. Jordan’s going to kick my ass, and I need to be naked, so he has something else to focus on.”

“Godspeed,” Lane said as I rushed out the door.

20

VAIL

My kitchen was coming along nicely. I’d made a lot of progress on it once my head wasn’t being fucked with by Gil. Thanks to the help of the contractor, the wiring and plumbing were where I needed it. A gas line was run for the stove. The appliances were gorgeous, bigger than I had in my home, but they needed to be. I was feeding many more than myself or giving personal cooking lessons. It wasn’t a monster like Untouchable had, but it was an upgrade for me.

I was running my hand along the beautiful stainless steel when I heard Jordan call for me. I leaned out of the kitchen to see him.

“Let’s go,” he barked. “I need to yell at Hartley, and your presence will help cool things down.”

“What happened?”

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