Page 50 of Rising Storm

But Sayer had stood up straight to face Kavaugh. “You know what? Tell them what I did. You know good and well that what you did afterward was worse and I have that on you.”

“You left me no choice.”

Sayer looked at Gareth, then. “You’ll probably know the man I killed. It was an accident. He was sneaking into our house and I thought he was an intruder. I hit him over the head with a lamp and accidentally killed him. But he wasn’t alone and Barnette killed his partner.”

“They were cops.” Gareth didn’t phrase it as a question—like he already knew.

Sayer nodded. “It was the middle of the night and they were in our home. I had no idea. But I still caused one of them to die. Why two cops were sneaking in still surprises me. Why not come to the door if there was a problem? If I need to go to jail, I will. I’ve been carrying this around for a year and it’s been killing me.”

“You’re not going to jail,” Helix snarled. He faced Kavaugh, and it was all he could do not to punch the smirk off the big man’s face. “Sounds like yours wasn’t an accident. You want to go to jail?”

“I can say he killed them both. Who’s going to contradict me? The only other person who knew about this is missing and I get the feeling by your actions with my Monteague that he isn’t going to be coming back anytime soon.” He curled his lip. “You think I don’t know you had something to do with my missing statuette?”

“Tell you what. I’ll give you the Monteague back if you let my brother go.”

Gareth’s gaze flew to Helix, and Helix stared at Gareth as if asking for permission.

“I’ll trade you,” Helix said, still staring at Gareth.

Gareth gave a subtle shake of his head and mouthed, “Trust me.”

“I want my Monteague and my husband. No fucking deal.”

“You’re not getting me or the little statue,” Sayer breathed, cradling his arm. “I’ve had enough of being your punching bag. And I was only with you to watch you for Hayrick anyway.”

Kavaugh’s eyes narrowed. “You think I didn’t know that? At first anyway. He knew exactly what he was doing marching you in front of me. Where is he?”

“I don’t know. He disappeared.”

“What do you know about Hayrick’s disappearance?” Kavaugh asked Helix.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on, I know you’re probably one of his thieves. The man hasn’t said a word in months and I want to know what’s going on.”

“Like I said, I don’t know.” Helix curled his hands into fists as he saw his brother holding his arm with a wince. “You need to get out of my room.”

“I’m not going anywhere without my Monteague.”

He obviously thought he wasn’t getting anywhere with Sayer right then, not with the man cradling his broken arm.

Helix looked at Gareth and saw the torment in his expression. The statuette for his brother—that was the deal. When his lips tightened and he nodded, Helix breathed an inward sigh of relief. “You promise you’ll leave my brother alone if you get the statuette back?”

Kavaugh looked at Sayer and the absolute disgust in his expression nearly made Helix smash his fist into Kavaugh’s jaw again.

“Looks like the marriage is over. I was tired of dealing with your pansy ass anyway.”

The snarl on Kavaugh’s face was too much for Gareth apparently, because his fist flew out and smashed into Kavaugh’s nose. There was a crunching sound and blood sprayed from his nostrils. Since Helix was pretty sure he’d already broken the man’s nose, that had to hurt like a bitch.

Gareth growled. “You’re not getting either. And you won’t say anything about the man Sayer accidentally killed either. You know exactly who I am, don’t you?”

Kavaugh had whipped out a handkerchief and was gingerly holding it to his nose, glaring at Gareth. He nodded.

“I know who you killed and I can make sure you do go to prison for it. But if you quietly leave Sayer alone, I’ll let you go.”

Helix couldn’t believe Gareth meant it. He couldn’t. Not if he knew the dead cops. He stared at the man, looking for the lie in his expression and not finding it.

Kavaugh must have believed him because he cursed and stomped out of the motel room, throwing one last scowl at Sayer, who just stood and watched him leave.

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