Page 39 of Laurels and Liquor

Hunter grunts his agreement, moving to sit on the couch and pulling out his phone. Gideon puffs out an annoyed sigh, but doesn’t say anything more about Leopold. Lex stands and starts to move around the kitchen, straightening the appliances and wiping the already sparkling surfaces with a towel. Watching her buzz around doing busy work grates on my nerves, and it’s only due to my practice in holding my tongue around clients that I manage to not tell her to sit down again. My leg bounces under the table, and I drum my fingers on the wood, staring out the window toward the ocean.

The sun is going down, and the wind is kicking up, shifting from blowing in off the water to off the shore. It’s still warm, but with October on the horizon, I know it won’t last for long. We’ve avoided direct hits from hurricanes so far this season, but I’ll have to make sure the property manager battens down the hatches after we leave. It’d normally be done by now, but between the few late bookings we had, and now this little getaway, I think I’m going to drive that poor girl to insanity.

But not if Lex drives me to madness first. She’s now dusting the knickknacks on the living room walls, climbing on furniture to clean the higher sections. I reach the end of my patience as she balances precariously on the back of one of the couches, one wrong move away from tipping the whole thing over.

“Get the fuck down. I pay housekeepers for a reason,” I snap.

Lex throws me a cold look over her shoulder. “They aren’t doing a good enough job. Have you seen the cobwebs up here?”

I roll my eyes. “You’re going to break your goddamn neck trying to get rid of imaginary cobwebs. Get down from there,” I throw back.

“They are not imaginary, and I’m not going to fall,” she retorts, a growl at the edge of her words.

“If you don’t get down, I’m going to—”

“Oh, my God. You two are like an old married couple,” Delano groans.

Lex and I both turn on him with matching glares.

“No one fucking asked you.”

We speak at the same time, our growls a near perfect harmony that makes Delano blink in surprise before he bursts out laughing. Clenching my fists, I get to my feet and start looking around the kitchen for ingredients. I happen to glance at the clock, and it’s only been ten minutes since the injection.

This weekend is going to be the death of me.

Chapter nineteen

Rhett

Luc: Just got done speaking with Lee. He didn’t say we’re under investigation, but he’s still asking for alibis.

Me: I can send him my bond officer’s phone number.

Luc: Good plan.

Luc: Lydia and I can try to video chat later.

Me: I’ll have to check my calendar, see if I can squeeze you in.

Luc: Tell your new pack they’ll have to wait. Your beta and your omega need their sir tonight.

Me: Well, when you put it like that…

Ichucklealittleat the banter, not responding to the series of suggestive emojis he sends next. Pouring myself another cup of coffee, I head back to the dining room table, where I’ve spread out my files. The one good thing about being on house arrest is that it’s given me time to really deep dive into the projects I’ve been neglecting. Ted brought me my work laptop and a few boxes of documents I requested, and it’s been a treat to have the time to fall down research rabbit holes. If I didn’t have work, I’m sure I’d be climbing the walls after nearly three weeks of isolation. But the distraction has been lovely.

As I shuffle through copies of the photos my team had dug up of the Magnolia Garden Theatre, I compare them to the pictures of the building in its current state. I want to start drafting building plans, but it’s much harder to do without my supplies. I’d considered ordering a table and the proper writing utensils, but with any luck, I’ll be home by the end of the fortnight, so it hardly seems worth the expense.

I smile to myself as I sip my coffee. I don’t know where Lex found Theodore Calhoun, but I will be sending that man a fruit basket on every holiday for the next decade at least, including the stupid ones like Arbor Day. He’s done everything in his power to kill the case against me, and it seems like it’s working. Every day that the grand jury doesn’t turn in an indictment is a day closer to me getting off free and clear.

Circling a support beam in one of the current condition pictures, I write a note on the back, reminding myself to have the inspector give that a closer look. The discoloration on the wood might not be anything, but after sitting empty and derelict for nearly forty years, it could be anything from water damage to termites to mold. I’m looking at another beam in the area when a buzz on the intercom pulls my attention.

I set my coffee down and go to the box on the wall by the front door, checking my watch. It’s probably my dinner delivery. I’ve been trying out all kinds of new places, and sending Lydia pictures and reviews of everything. Between her suggestions and the internet recommendations, I’ll be genuinely surprised if I come out of this forced isolation without gaining twenty pounds. I don’t bother asking the front desk who it is, and just send a buzz back, the signal we’d worked out so they know to send the driver up. Normally, I’d have to go down and collect my order, but per the stipulations of my bail, I’m confined to the apartment.

A few minutes later, the knock comes on the front door of the apartment, and I saunter over with my hands in my pockets. But my thoughts about my dinner are stopped in their tracks as I open the door and find Jason Anderson on my threshold, looking anxiously down the hallway toward the elevator. At the sound of the hinges, he turns to face me, and I suck in a sharp breath as I see his swollen and bruised eye and cheek.

“Holy fuck, dude. What happened?” I ask, motioning him to come in.

He doesn’t answer right away, reaching down to pick up a plastic bag full of takeout containers from the floor before stalking past me. His normally mellow cucumber and juniper scent is gone, replaced with vinegar-tinted rage rolling off him in waves. He finds his way to the dining room easily, having visited me a few times before tonight, where he sets the food down on the table.

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