Page 86 of The Daredevil

Royce:(heart emoji)(kiss emoji)

His thoughtfulness surprised me. As CEO of his excursion empire, he must have been used to preparing for things in advance. With so much going on lately, I didn’t think he’d have time to schedule a car service for me.

It felt nice to be someone’s priority.

Smiling, I let Bob take my luggage and escort me to the black SUV. “Thanks for the ride.” He wore a puffy blue coat and dark pants.

“You’re welcome.” He recited my address, and I confirmed that was where I wanted to go.

Sitting in the back seat, I couldn’t help but remember who had picked me up from the Keflavik Airport. Oskar had seemed like a nice man. What had made him turn against his employer? Was Bob like Oskar?

I flicked my gaze to Bob, who was focused on merging onto the highway. Royce had probably done extensive research on his employees after the incident with Oskar.

I texted my friends, informing them I was back in the city and for us to meet Friday night at the Krazee Tavern for drinks. That gave me some time to settle in and deal with chores.

CHAPTERFORTY-THREE

ROYCE

After researching Dominic Bryson,I discovered he had a long list of crimes to his name. He should have never become Chief of Police.

I walked up to Oskar’s house just as his wife, Sara, exited the front door. She had short curly hair, and dark circles formed under her sad eyes. Grief sagged on her face as she approached me.

“I’m sorry—”

“No. You lost your husband, and your children lost their father.I’msorry for your loss.”

From what I heard, Sara had a small funeral for Oskar, even though his body hadn’t been found. Maybe the animals in the woods got to him, or the water from the ravine took his body elsewhere. The closure allowed Sara and her kids to move on.

“Thank you. Come this way.” She gestured for me to follow her to a swing set on the side of the house. “The babysitter is watching the kids while I run out to the grocery store. The refrigerator needs to be stocked. Life has to go on.” She looked at me. “I’m sorry about what Oskar did to you and the company. I should have seen it.”

“What do you know?”

“He left a voicemail for me, saying he was sorry he couldn’t be there for the kids and me. He got into trouble with someone and was afraid they were watching him.” She tucked her hands into her jacket pockets. “Even though he hadn’t been working, he’d been acting strange, always talking on the phone, looking stressed. I remember overhearing him say he didn’t want to do something.”

“Do you know who he’s been talking to?”

“No.” She shook her head. “In his voicemail, he told me to apologize to you and that he never meant to hurt you.” Sara touched my arm. “There’s something you don’t know. Oskar had lung cancer. There was nothing the doctors could do. He only had six months to a year to live.” She paused and wiped away the tears. “I don’t know what he got himself into, but I know it was for money to take care of the mortgage and raise our kids. My teaching job doesn’t pay well enough.”

This news filled in the gaps. Had Dominic offered Oskar money to hurt me? If not Dominic, then who?

A man who knew his life had an early end date would do anything to protect his family.

Oskar, you should have come to me.

Though he had betrayed me, I understood why. I didn’t blame him. He was a dying man with limited options. He could have killed me, but he didn’t. That made all the difference.

Sometimes, circumstances forced us to make tough choices. I was grateful to be alive so I could drag the fucker responsible for Oskar’s death to hell. I had no doubt Oskar died because he failed his mission.

I looked at Sara. “Do you need my help with anything?”

She pressed her lips into a tight line. “No, thank you.”

I sensed the lie and the pride, but didn’t press. “Okay. Someone from my company will contact you to go over the life insurance policies paid out to employees.”

“I thought he only had one policy there.”

“No, he had three. We offered a special add-on just last year. He probably forgot to tell you.”

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