Page 107 of The Mercenary's Guide to Mishaps and Romance

“I’d prefer to stay out here.”

His mom waves him on his way. “Oh, honey. These lovely boys did so much to give you a fun day. And did you know it’s this one’s birthday? Don’t deprive him of a fun birthday!”

Miller grimaces. “Of course not.”

Micah, Jeremy, and Henry all stay behind with his mother as the rest of us shuffle into the back where a chef doesn’t even look up at us. I notice he just works on the meal and continues on with his day, likely having been paid off by Leland to do so.

“I’m going to peel the skin from every inch of your body,” Miller growls. “And you see those deep fryers there? I’m going to fry it and make you watch.”

“So angry,” Leland says. “Your mom is so nice. Where the hell did you come from?”

Miller grimaces, kicks a trash can, and then growls like a feral animal—which is the closest to a temper tantrum I’ve ever seen from an adult—before he folds his arms over his chest. “Talk.”

“Alright, we have Arthur who wants Ellis’s father Zachary—why?”

“For the death of his daughter.”

“Zachary played a role in her death?”

“I don’t fucking know. I wasn’t around then. Things are… weird. Arthur seems quite cryptic about shit, but I’m honestly not sure why. I don’t know who is to blame, but Zachary knows something that Arthur needs.”

“We know that much,” Leland says. “You have to give us more to keep Mommy safe.”

“I don’t know more.”

“Every time you tell us you don’t know something, your mother’s going to lose a finger. Simple as that. How many fingers do you want her to have when we’re done with this? Don’t forget that you don’t owe Arthur anything. He pays your bills, yeah, but he also really doesn’t give a shit if you die. You also, weirdly enough, were at the dead guy’s house. That Nate Stewart. Why were you there?”

“I don’t know. He sent me to his house after finding out he was dead.”

“What for?”

“Stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“Stuff, stuff.”

“You want me to go treat your mom to stuff?” Tavish asks.

Miller growls. “Fuck. He wanted me to check to make sure Nate didn’t have any… proof.”

“Of what?”

“I was supposed to look for anything pertaining to a woman named Sally Bower.”

“Sally… why’s that name sound familiar?” Leland asks.

“That’s the lady who killed Arthur’s daughter,” Cassel says. “What about her did he want?”

“Anything. He just said if it had her name, face, or whatever on it, I was to take it.”

“Did you find anything?”

Miller hesitates until Leland nods his head toward the door his mother is behind.

“I heard she likes having her toes sucked,” Tavish says. “She’s going to be real sad when she starts losing them.”

“Fucking hell. Okay, so I found some proof that Arthur had sent this Sally Bower some money. He’s trickled it into an account for her and arranged it to look like an uncle or someone is doing it.”

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