Page 77 of Home for Justice
He didn’t answer.
As she studied him, the unease returned tenfold. He wasn’t the clean-cut cousin she remembered. There was no crisp dress shirt, no tidy haircut. His clothes were wrinkled, his face stubbled, and his eyes… his eyes were wild.
“What’s going on?” she asked slowly. “I thought you were in Chicago. Did you come to visit your parents?”
He snorted, a humorless sound that scraped across her nerves. “My parents? Oh yeah, the pillars of fucking virtue. They’re happy to take my money but can’t be trusted to do one goddamn thing for me.”
Her heart began to thud. Something was wrong. “Why don’t we go back to my house?” Justice inwardly cringed at the thought of interrupting her dad’s quiet dinner with Gwen, but something was terribly wrong with John. He was clearly distraught, and maybe her dad could help calm things down. “Dad is there. He can help us figure out what’s going on.”
John tilted his head back, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment before snapping his gaze back to her. His eyes burned with an intensity that made her heart leap painfully in her chest.
“Uncle Jack?” He spat out the name as though it tasted bitter on his tongue. “You think talking to Uncle Jack is going to fix anything? Christ, Justice, who do you think started this whole damn mess in the first place?”
Bewildered, she shook her head, a surge of frustration rising in her voice. “What mess, John? You’re not making any sense!”
He thrust a bundle of papers toward her, the edges trembling in his fist. “All I need is your signature. Not a lecture and not a stroll down memory lane about how my family screwed me out of everything. Just your signature. That’s it. Sign these, and it’ll all be fine.”
Justice’s mind scrambled to understand his meaning, but his words refused to connect into anything coherent. Her confusion deepened into chilling dread when his other hand slowly rose into the beam of the security lights, the unmistakable glint of metal catching her eye. Her breath caught sharply, lungs freezing in shock.He had a gun.
34
Tyler’s phone buzzed sharply in his pocket, alerting him to his security system activating at his house. Almost immediately, a call came in. He quickly glanced at the screen, seeing Frazier’s name flash, ratcheting his pulse higher. He answered swiftly, his voice terse. “What’s happening?”
“Justice is at your house. I have her on the security camera and audio,” Frazier said, voice clipped with tension. “She’s outside your property talking to John McClay.”
A surge of cold sliced through Tyler. “John? Her cousin?”
“Affirmative.”
“Where exactly are they?”
“Near your goat pen. Cory’s already en route.”
“I was stuck in traffic, but it’s finally cleared. I’ll be there soon,” Tyler said, gripping the steering wheel tighter. His mind raced through scenarios, each one worse than the last. “What’s John talking about?”
“He wants her to sign papers agreeing to sell the property to Anthony Milton?—”
“What the fuck!”
“Sounds like he feels like he got cheated out of the inheritance that went to his dad—Fuck! He’s got a gun!”
“Goddammit!” Tyler shouted.
“She’s trying to calm him now. The police are on their way, and we've instructed them to approach quietly. We don’t want John spooked into doing anything rash.”
“I’ll head straight to Jack’s place,” Tyler said, determination hardening his voice. “I have my sniper rifle in the back of the SUV.”
There was a brief pause, and then Frazier’s voice returned, cautious but understanding. “Be careful, Tyler. Ensure you understand exactly what’s happening before you take action. We’ll alert the police.”
Tyler’s jaw set firmly. “If he points that gun at Justice, nothing will stop me.”
Ending the call, Tyler quickly dialed Jack’s number. Jack picked up immediately, his voice tight with anxiety. “Tyler? Justice is still over at?—”
“I need to warn you… your nephew, John, is at my place with Justice, and he’s armed,” Tyler said succinctly, fighting to keep his voice steady.
“John?” Jack barked. “What the fuck is he doing there?”
“Seems he’s the one who wants to force us to sell to Anthony Milton.”
