Page 36 of Laurels and Liquor

Me: Yeah. Rhett sent me the article. This is fucking wild.

“Wild” is an understatement, but I can’t think of anything else. He’s gone. Seth is gone, and my pack is free. We can move on, leave the past where it belongs.

It’s hard for my brain to wrap itself around, the idea that we finally are rid of that scumbag. We’ve spent so long under his thumb that I don’t know what to do now.

My phone goes off again at the same time someone knocks on my door. As my head shoots up, my eyebrows lift in surprise. Steph is in the open doorway, and over her shoulder, I can spot the familiar face of Officer Lee Nyueng.

“Hey, the police are here and want to ask you some questions. Are you busy?” Steph asks hesitantly.

I shove my phone into my pocket and stand, brushing the front of my chef’s jacket out of habit. Not that the stains from years of wear will suddenly disappear with a wave of my hand. Steph steps back and lets Lee maneuver around her before giving me a terse, concerned half-smile and closing the door.

“Mind if I have a seat?” Lee starts with a sigh.

I shrug and motion for him to take the metal folding chair I’d managed to squeeze between two stacks of boxes. I sit back in my beat-up rolling chair and swivel to face him, bringing one of my legs up and resting my ankle on my knee.

“So I’m assuming you’ve heard the news? About Seth Douglas?” Lee asks, pulling out a small notebook and pen from a front pocket of his tactical vest.

“Just read the article. I’m still sort of waiting for someone to yell ‘gotcha,’” I reply with an ironic chuckle, running a hand through my hair before crossing my arms over my chest.

“What do you mean?” he asks quickly, looking up at me from beneath a lowered brow, pen poised over the paper.

I shrug again. “After all the shit we’ve been through with him, it wouldn’t surprise me if he found a loophole out of death. He managed to find one in everything else we threw at him.”

Lee snorts a laugh. “Yeah, I get that. But I can assure you it’s real. I wasn’t at the scene, but I saw the pictures. We’re still waiting on some of the tests to confirm it, but between the registration in the car and wallet we found… yeah, it was Seth in there.”

“Was it bad?” I ask, morbid curiosity taking over.

Lee gives me a long look. “I can’t discuss particulars of an ongoing investigation, but yeah. It was bad.”

I try not to let my imagination run away from me. I’ve seen enough from TV and movies to picture what a burnt-to-a-crisp body looks like.

“Speaking of the investigation, I do have to ask. Where were you yesterday into this morning?” Lee asks, interrupting my thoughts.

I blink at him for a moment as understanding dawns. “You think I had something to do with this? The paper said it was a drunk driving wreck,” I throw back, not able to keep the indignation from my voice.

Lee holds up his hands in a surrendering sort of gesture. “I’m just trying to do my job, Mr. Klausen. Until we know more, we can’t rule anything out. Your pack has had very public bad blood with Mr. Douglas, and would benefit the most from his sudden disappearance.”

I swallow a growl of irritation, but I know he’s right. From an outsider’s perspective, I can see how this could look bad. But I know we had nothing to do with this.

“Yesterday I was at work until close, and I hung around with my team for a drink before going home. I drove straight there, and didn’t leave again until this morning. I came straight to work, and have been here ever since,” I explain, forcing myself to remain calm.

“Can you be more specific with times?” Lee prompts, scribbling notes on his pad.

I sigh and look up at the ceiling as I try to remember. “We closed at eleven, last customer was out not long after that. I wasn’t looking at the clock, but I know the crew and me all left at the same time, and I personally armed the security system before locking up.”

“Can anyone confirm what time you got home?”

I nod. “We have a security guard and a key fob scanner at the entrance to Bristol Point. They keep track of who comes and goes and when.”

“Just the one security guard?”

I chuckle. “Just the one, because there’s only one entrance.”

“There’s no secondary way to leave? No service entrances or—”

“Listen, Lee. I can get you the logs of when I clocked in and clocked out, when I set the alarm to this building, and the records of when I got home and left. But if that’s not enough, I might have to get my lawyer involved,” I snap, narrowing my eyes at him.

Lee looks up at me and blinks, genuinely surprised. “Nah, man. It’s not like—I get it. I don’t think I’m stretching if I say that a lot of people aren’t sorry this happened. I just want to make sure y’all don’t have to hear from us again, you know what I mean?”

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