Page 102 of Bourbon and Secrets

I had set up a few small cameras along the exterior, but places that would garner the most activity would be inside the facility and offices.

Cortez used Maggie as leverage and me as bait. The Calloway girls were done playing by someone else's rules. It isn’t just about doing the right thing. For Maggie, this is retribution, and for me, it’s about protecting who I love.

The horse racing season will be starting soon, and if we had anything to say about it, Finch & King will no longer be allowed anywhere near the winner’s circle. With enough evidence, they will find themselves behind bars. At the very least, visuals and recordings of what is happening behind closed doors could push the case forward.

Lincoln kisses my neck, and as he pulls back, he says, “I’m going to check in and make sure the girls are asleep. Come find me when you’re done.”

I smile as he kisses my wrist, and then turns to leave. He gives Maggie a squeeze on the shoulder and a tight-lipped smile as he heads down the hall toward the bar.

When he’s out of sight, she gives me a look of concern. “I noticed a particular face in the audience tonight.” I know exactly who she’s talking about. “What the fuck is Wheeler Finch doing here?”

I button up my cardigan and slip my joggers over my tights and satin shorts. “This is his daughter’s place. Maybe he wanted to check in on Hadley?”

Maggie bites her thumb nail and shakes her head. “They’re not close. Hadley smiles and gives him a kiss on the cheek when she sees him, but that’s as far as it lands. It could be a random stop by, but I don’t trust it.”

I slip Lily’s good luck amethyst rock into my pocket and pin my hair up out of my face. I’m overheated and anxious about what we were heading out to do.

Maggie’s hair is slicked back into a ponytail and dark shadow smudges along her lash line. Her long-sleeved black shirt works with the wide-leg jeans to hug her figure. “You look good. Wait, are you meeting someone later?”

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, please, that sounds far too planned. I swiped on Tinder just in case tonight was a bust.”

I blink at my sister. “We’re going to break into multiple properties owned by Finch & King, and then, depending on what time we wrap it up, you’re going to embark on an unattached hookup?”

“I like having options,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows as we make our way down the hall of Midnight Proof toward the back entrance. “Don’t judge me about unattached hookups just because you’re a regular on the dad bang train now. We both know you’ll end up over at his house later.”

“Clever and disturbing,” I say on a clipped laugh. “But don’t say dad bang train ever again.”

“Speaking of. You’re going to have to run defense with Lincoln when he realizes you left him here,” she says as she follows me up the stairs and out the back exit.

“I know.” I’ll let him know what I’m doing once it’s done. I don’t like leaving out details, but I need to do this with Maggie without anyone else involved.

The metal door to the back lot clamors open, and I appreciate the chill as soon as it hits me. But it isn’t the smell of croissants in the air or the evergreens across the street on the town green that wafts over me; it’s the thick cologne and a twinge of cigarettes instead. As soon as the door behind me clicks shut, I realize I left my bag back in my makeshift dressing room. Without my keys, I can’t get back inside this way.

A subdued whispering whistle makes me stop mid-step as goosebumps pluck along my skin. Maggie hears it too because her fingers brush along my hand, urging me to stay quiet and listen.

Our heads jerk to the left when a voice says, “You think I don’t know what you’ve been doing, little Maggie Calloway?” Waz laughs to himself as he eases himself off the wall that had been bathed in darkness along the alleyway.Shit.

Maggie stays quiet and shifts closer to me.What the hell is he doing here?

“Thought you would’ve learned your lesson the first time not to creep up on a woman, Waz.” I tilt my head, looking at him as I draw a circle in front of my nose. “That didn’t heal very nicely.”

“Faye. You should have stayed in your own slutty world. Why’d you start poking around here? I can’t figure out if Blackstone was a coincidence or if you’re as sneaky as your sister.” He circles closer, blocking the path down the alley. Tsking, his head tilts to the side as he watches us try to createdistance between us and him. “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, you didn’t learn your lesson the first time? You think I wasn’t serious when I told you if you tried to double cross me again, I’d slice you up nice and pretty?”

Maggie doesn’t say a word, seeming almost too calm, but my adrenaline rushes through my veins in a way that makes me desperate to diffuse this.

Waz licks at his lower lip, the tobacco dip that was shoved along his cheek dribbling out just after he spits. Maggie and I both tense at the sound of a switchblade opening, pulling our attention to the knife at his side.

“You try to make it look like I was stealing from Wheeler.” He moves his head back and forth slowly. “You don’t think that made me keep a closer eye on you? That beating was just for fun, girlie. We just wanted to see how far you were willing to go. Do you think Wheeler is in charge just because he shakes hands and is from this fucking town?”

“That’s exactly what I think,” Maggie bites back, her fierceness rising to the surface as she stares him down.

“That’s fine by me, Maggie. The truth is, nobody in this town thinks much of you anyway.” Eyes wide and bloodshot, he chuckles, like something wonderful just came to him. “This town likes to talk, don’t they? And they love to chatter about people who’re fuckin’. Is that what you’re doing with that Officer Cortez? You fuckin’ him?” He smiles, a creepy, slow smile that shows off his crooked teeth. “Or are you just as much a rat like that fucker, Blackstone? He bled out faster than my brother. Who knew all you needed to do was let gravity work in your favor. Could’ve saved a lot of time with the horses we need to cancel too.”

“You’re a fucking psychopath,” Maggie grits out.

“You say that like that isn’t already common knowledge. I don’t try to pretend to be something I’m not.” His eyes shiftto me. “Like you’ve been doing, Faye.” He says it like he’s just working all of this out. That, until this moment, it hadn’t dawned on him that I’m not only here for entertainment. “Wheeler isn’t going to be happy to find out any of this. Extinguishing what’s left of the Calloways wasn’t my plan tonight, but I do love surprises.”

Another shiver rolls up my back as Waz smiles at me, but his calm demeanor is just a decoy, as a second later, he darts for my sister. I suck in a sharp breath as he grabs her ponytail and yanks her toward him when she sees him coming and tries to turn away.

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