Page 60 of The Mercenary's Guide to Mishaps and Romance

“Oh… thank you for keeping Leland from measuring us in our sleep,” I say as I take the bags and look in at what appears to be nice clothes, including button-downs and ties.

“I would have heard that weasel scurrying around,” Tavish claims, even though he was sleeping so soundly, I’m not sure he’d have heard an elephant enter the room.

“Thank you so much; you guys really didn’t have to go to all of this trouble,” I say.

“Tavish, why don’t you ever thank me like this guy does?” Leland asks as he steps out of a room holding three guns for some reason.

“I just assume you don’t deserve it,” Tavish retorts.

Once we’re dressed, we head downstairs to where Cassel is seated at the kitchen table with his laptop out, as well as a man I don’t recognize. “This is Jeremy. He is also normal, unlike Leland,” Cassel says as a greeting.

“Isn’t that the guy you told us ate squirrel out of Fred’s hands?” Tavish asks.

“I… didn’t eat itoutof his hands,” Jeremy protests… but I’m going to be real honest, after meeting Fred, I feel skeptical of anyone willing to eat anything he offers them.

“The man was clearly a serial killer!” Tavish says.

Cassel nods emphatically. “That’s what I said! His daughter dragged me back to this room with this massage table and started giving me a massage, and I was like RIP Jeremy.”

“You thought he was a serial killer, so you just… started getting massaged by his daughter?” I really can’t be the only one confused by this.

Cassel rocks back in his chair so he can pin me with a look. “Listen here, Ellis. No massage feels as good as the one you get when you realize they might be out to murder you, but it’s okay because you finally got the guy who you’re in love with to notice you,” he explains. “Anyway, pull up a seat and grab a donut. Jeremy walked down to the store this morning and got a whole dozen just for us. He didn’t know what kinds to get, so he said that he got the ‘long ones with cream inside.’ When I told him I had a long one with cream inside, he told me I was hanging around Leland too much and quickly walked out the door.” Cassel seems rather disturbed by this. “I… I don’t want to be like Leland. Please… someone… I don’t want to.”

Leland seems delighted by this fact. “How cute. You’re like my teeny, tiny, little bro.” Leland kisses his cheek in the loudest manner possible.

“Do I even ask what’s going on?” Waylon wonders aloud as he walks into the room.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” Leland asks.

“Two-hour delay. It’s on the calendar,” he says as he points.

“That means we still have time to abduct your teacher,” Leland assures him.

“No, Ellis helped me, like a normal person.” Waylon slides into a chair and then slumps down on the table with a yawn. “I’m so tired.”

“Why didn’t you sleep in?” Jackson asks.

“You seriously expected me to sleep in while you guys are doing some… covert operation stuff?”

“So you’re being nosy,” Jackson says.

Waylon just shrugs but doesn’t deny it.

Cassel clears his throat. “Okay, remember how that Eugene guy mentioned that Arthur’s business partner might actually know more? I set up an appointment to speak with him at eight this morning.”

“How’d you get an appointment so fast?” I ask. “Are businesses even open yet?”

“I got into their system and added us to a meeting with him at eight. I thought it’d be best to catch him right away,” Cassel explains. “Their scheduling system was so sad and weak. Now on to the other stuff. Ellis’s father, Zachary, was investigating the death of Arthur’s daughter, Jasmine. She’d been killed in a hit-and-run, and there was speculation that it was premeditated.”

“Was anyone ever arrested?” Leland asks.

“Her boyfriend was taken in for questioning but never convicted. Looking into the information they had gathered, they didn’t have anything incriminating against him, especially because the guy had a solid alibiandwas out of town.”

I interrupt real quick. “Speaking of out of town, my family lived in Illinois when this all happened. What’s Arthur’s company doing here?”

“The main location of Arthur’s company is in Illinois, but he has buildings spread all over the country. Damn near something in every state, so it’s not surprising he has one around here,” Cassel explains.

“So Ellis’s father Zachary found out what happened to Arthur’s daughter, and someone wasn’t happy about it and made him disappear?” Jackson guesses.

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