Page 9 of Rising Storm

“I took care of the bill.”

“I was coming back.”

Gareth shrugged. “All our money comes from the same place. Was that Quincy?”

He shook his head. “Shelli. I’m meeting the thief, day after tomorrow. She’s texting the address.”

“I’ll go with you.”

He couldn’t think of one reason to give Gareth why he shouldn’t. If it was his brother, he could only hope the man didn’t look too much like him—though he had as a kid.

“That gives us the rest of the day off,” Gareth said. “Want to come with me to meet up with my friends?”

He shook his head. “You go have a good time. I’ll keep myself occupied.”

Gareth just nodded and walked toward their rental.

* * *

That night,Gareth sank into Liam’s couch with a sigh of pleasure. He’d always liked this big, comfy gray sofa and had crashed there a night or two in the past. Liam handed him a cold beer and Carter settled in on the other end of the couch. Carter was a good-looking man with dark hair and a ready smile.

“It’s good to see you,” Carter said, accepting a beer from Liam, too. He nodded his thanks. “It doesn’t feel the same around here with you and Quincy gone. You like it up there?”

“I do. It’s gorgeous and I like what we’re doing.” He frowned. “Though, I kind of feel like…I don’t know…a hanger on, if that makes sense. I went up there with Quincy, but he’s the one who’s really into what we’re doing. I feel like I’m sort of coasting along with him, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”

“And yet you want us up there?” Liam asked.

“I know how it sounds, but I do. It’s a big job and maybe it would feel more like I’m a part of the community if you guys were there. Miss you.”

“Is it like living in a commune or something?” Carter settled on a chair across from him and crossed one ankle over his knee.

“What?” He nearly choked on his beer with laughter. “A commune?”

Carter winked. “Yeah, you know all of you living in that same house, sharing chores, one common pot of money. ‘Kumbaya’ around a fire pit while everybody snuggles.”

Gareth laughed. “Nah, it’s not like that. The living together, sure, but it’s actually pretty nice. I have a private door that leads to a deck and down to the ground and a sitting area in my room. My own bathroom. Add a hotplate and fridge, and it’s a mini-apartment. And yeah, we all sort of chip in to do the cleaning. Occasionally cooking, though we mostly all just fend for ourselves. Nobody is singing ‘Kumbaya’ or anything like that. And Lane set us all up with salaries. That guy is so damn smart.”

“He’d have to be to nab Quincy the way he did,” Liam said with a snort. “Man didn’t know what hit him.”

“He’s so in love it’s almost sickening. But I’m happy for him and Lane’s a great guy. We have another thief living there now named Reid. Young guy who hasn’t even hit twenty yet. Man, you’d feel for him. He is not the type to be stealing and Lane is sure he wouldn’t have lasted much longer.”

“It sounds kind of crazy—what you’re doing.” Carter shifted on the couch to face Gareth. “I mean, didn’t Letsen have help up there? How are you pulling this off?”

“Everyone he worked with there was taken out of the picture. I don’t have details on that—Quincy prefers it that way. Shelli mans his emails and other online things as she always did. Isaac, as you know, has been helping Lane set up a sweet database. It just works. Has there been any activity at Letsen’s place here?”

Carter leaned forward. “Funny you should mention that because the house was broken into recently. Isaac still has cameras set up there. The person put on a mask like he knew there were cameras and proceeded to tear the place apart.”

“Huh.” Gareth took a swallow of beer, frowning. “So no leads on this guy’s identity?”

“Not a thing other than he had a tattoo on his arm of an eagle. Isaac is going through the channels now to see if that pans out anywhere. But the guy was furious. Broke several pieces that were probably worth a mint.”

“This isn’t good,” Gareth said, though it was obvious. “If he knew where Letsen lived, he was more than just a buyer. All that was done through email according to Shelli. The only one we know of who didn’t was our old police chief.” Gareth frowned, thinking back to their corrupt police chief and his damn baseball collection.

“Whoever this was, he meant business. I think you guys should be careful.” Carter frowned.

“We always are,” Gareth replied.

Chapter 4

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