Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“I don’t like having Quinn there when she’s already been targeted twice that we know of, but if everyone’s in one place, it doesn’t leave room for Sheila to accuse us of making shit up to get Cook out of the picture.”
“If he’s behind it…” Colt’s grin is sharp as a blade.
I nod. “Getting him off the street would be community service. I’m generous like that.” I pat Poe on the shoulder. “Thanks for the help, man. If you’ll excuse us, I think we might have someone’s kneecaps to crush.”
“Sure. Just let me know if you need anything else. Always happy to help clean up the trash.”
18
Chapter 18 - Colt
I spot Priest’s bike and Sheila’s car in the parking lot when me and Sinner pull in. I wish we’d had time to fill Priest in, but I didn’t want to chance Sheila overhearing anything. He’s done his part, though, getting the two of them in place.
“Are you going to explain why we’re here?” Sheila says testily.
Quinn gives me an apologetic smile. “Mom, he already told us they’d explain it when everyone was together.”
“We found some new information about the incident at Inferno and considering how serious the threat is, waiting didn’t seem like a good idea.” Sinner looks around like we’re gonna get jumped in the parking lot.
The older I fucking get, the more I believe that our gut instincts are the most important first clue we get. I knew from the jump that Cook wasn’t trustworthy, but there’s a difference between being shady and being dangerous. We have to at least give him an opportunity to convince us that we’re wrong.
For his sake I hope that’s true, but for ours, it would certainly make it easier to wrap this all up.
Cook waits for us with his office door open. He stands up when we walk into the waiting room. “Sheila, Quinn, nice to see you. Wow, it’s a party today, huh? To what do I owe the honor? You caught me on my way out, actually. So if we could keep this short, that would be great.”
“Agreed,” Sheila says. “Rushing over here feels like an overreaction, but that’s what you get when you hire amateurs.”
“I’m sure these gentlemen think they have something useful. Let’s hear them out.” Greg’s voice is calm, but his eyes dart to the door.
I pull out the printouts we made back at the club and spread them on his desk. “Just some questions, really.”
He scans the papers. “Physical copies, how quaint. What am I looking at?”
Sinner taps the enhanced view of the guy with the tattoo. “Do you recognize this man?”
Greg makes a show of pulling out his reading glasses and really examining the image. “No, I’m afraid I don’t. Should I?”
“Huh. That seems odd to me since he was leaving your office when we came in the other day.”
He takes a second look. “Hmmm, it could be my nephew. Yes, I think you’re right. You say this was from the nightclub? That could be true. He does work for me sometimes and I was building my information about Ms. Callahan at that time. To better be able to watch out for her and know what sort of media strengths and weaknesses we were working with.” His forehead is looking a little sweaty.
Quinn starts to nod, but stops. “Wait. Mom didn’t hire you until after Inferno. You told me that yourself.”
Sheila shifts uneasily in her chair. “I don’t remember the exact date.”
I’m not buying that. “It’s real easy. Either it was before someone drugged your daughter, or it was after, which is it gonna be? That feels like the sort of thing you should remember.”
“This is ridiculous,” she says finally. She glares at Priest. “Even if you think I’m a horrible person, you know I would never do anything to hurt Quinn or her career. Fine, if you must know, I was pointed in Mr. Cook’s direction a few weeks ago, but we didn’t meet in person until our previous meeting. If he’s responsible for any of this, it had nothing to do with me.”
Cook slaps the desk. “Oh no you don’t. Don’t put this on me. You gave me free rein, Sheila. The whole point was keeping her in the media.”
“Not by actually hurting her!” There’s just enough anger in her tone to make me consider believing her.
Quinn pushes away from the table and stands up suddenly. “Wait a minute. This was about publicity? You drugged me at the party for a headline? Was the attack you, too? I thought someone was going to kill me!” She’s fucking furious, and has every right to be.
“Quinn, honey,” Sheila pleads. “This man is sick. I was told he was good at creating buzz. You know we need to keep building your presence so you get noticed. I trusted him to—”