Page 117 of The Billion Heirs Boxed Set
“Clear me. No conflict of interest then.”
“Not happening.” She glances over her shoulder. “Fair warning, Peterson’s got a hard-on for the three of you. He sees this case as a way to advance his career. Pinning the murder on one of the billionaire Bridgers.”
“And yours?”
Maybe she knew about me after all and approached me at the bar specifically. She could have gone to any guy with her silly bachelorette game. She picked me. Why?
She shrugs her slim shoulders. “I follow the evidence. It doesn’t lead to you, and that was clear before I knew who you were.”
She jumps at the blare of a car horn.
“Nice guy,” I say. “Came all the way out here twice just to let us know he doesn’t like us.”
She nods. “I’ve got to go.”
She ambles down the steps as I watch.
“See you around, Sadie.”
She slows but keeps on going.
Yeah, I’ll be seeing her around. In my bed. On the back of my bike. Anywhere I can get her.
The little fun we had at the bar isn’t enough. I want more. I want to know everything about Sadie. The woman. As for her being a detective on the murder case? Keeping her close doesn’t hurt there either.
As I watch the SUV drive off, I think about her partner. I might want to get to know everything about him as well, before I find myself—or one of my brothers—behind bars.
Permanently.
4
SADIE
Mark stares ahead at the road, his lips pursed. I can tell he’s ready to say something I’m not going to like. I know the look on his face.
He clears his throat. Finally. “Do you know that Bridger fellow? Miles?”
I play it cool because…well, several reasons. One, I don’t share my personal life with Mark. Ever. He’s my partner, but he’s not my friend. In fact, he’s a dick. Two, if he finds out I have any kind of connection with Miles, he’ll either use it to his advantage or use it to fuck me over. I’d expect both from him.
So I lie. “No. Do you?”
“He was looking at you with”—another throat clear—“what appeared to be recognition.”
Peterson sometimes likes to think he’s a father figure to me, which is weird because he’s not much older than I am and he also likes to stare at my chest, which makes the first part creepy as hell. He’s a decent detective when he goes by the book, but he’s definitely got an unsettling side.
“How could I know either one of them?” I ask. “They moved here yesterday.”
“It was a couple weeks ago, I think.” Peterson stops the car at the red light at Broad and Main, near the station.
“I was being hyperbolic, Mark.” I sigh. “My point is that Miles and Austin Bridger recently came to Bayfield for the first time, and from what I hear, their father left them with a huge mess with that will of his.”
News of their arrival and the reason behind it spread across the county like wildfire.
“Not to mention a dead body.” Peterson lurches the SUV forward when the light turns green and he pulls in front of the station—right in front of a fire hydrant.
He always does that, even when he could pull up a few feet and leave the hydrant free. Peterson’s the kind of cop who takes all the liberties granted him.
Pisses me off.
