AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He nodded to Ed. “Let’s do this.”
“Corey,” a small voice all but whispered. “Wait.”
He turned to find Dianne standing in the living room archway, pale and shaking. “I ironed your pocket square.” His brother Aaron’s wife crossed the foyer with remarkable grace, considering she was already drunk as hell at nine fifteen in the morning. Pasting on a too-bright smile, she tucked his pocket square into place, then smoothed his lapels. “You’ll be fine. We’ll bring Rick home. We’ll find him.”
He kissed her cheek gently, pity and love for her momentarily dulling the rage and hatred he harbored toward his brothers. Dianne hadn’t been the same since Liam died. Neither had Corey. He’d loved that boy like he was his own son.
None of them had been the same, but that didn’t give Aaron an excuse to kill a goddamn doctor or Rick an excuse to try to kidnap the prosecutor’s son.
“We’ll find him,” he echoed confidently because she needed to hear it. There had always been a fragility to Dianne, long before Liam had been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, but it had always been paired with a sweetness that made everyone feel compelled to take care of her. Everyone except Aaron, of course, who was as shitty a husband as he was a brother. Even before he’d killed the doctor, he’d been a drug-dealing, lying, thieving SOB, but Dianne didn’t know any of that. She’d only just learned that Aaron had been cheating on her for years with his personal assistant.
Liam’s death and Aaron’s betrayal had pushed her past her limit. She was no longer fragile. She was downright brittle. Rick’s idiocy might very well break her.
Corey wished he could tell her that he knew exactly where Rick was to ease her mind, but he couldn’t afford to. Especially given his plans for Rick. “You stay inside with Ed, okay? You don’t need to run that gauntlet again.” She’d been staying with him to escape being pestered by reporters ever since Aaron’s asshole move last week.
Killing a damn pediatric oncologist, for God’s sake. In front of people. If Aaron had to do it, at least he could have been discreet. But Aaron was a dick, and now Corey was having to clean up his mess. Which was now doubled thanks to Rick.
Corey walked through the front door of his house, which he’d allowed the police to search during the night. It would take a week to clean the forensic fingerprinting dust from his walls, doors, and appliances. Because his brother Rick was a fucking idiot.
All his brothers were fucking idiots.
Rage bubbled up from his gut, nearly choking him, but he pushed it back. Now was not the time for rage. Now was the time for calm. Because if he was going to spin the hell out of Rick’s little fiasco, Corey needed to bring his A game.
He stopped at the edge of his front porch, counting heads. There were nearly two dozen people on his lawn. Half were reporters and the other half held cameras. They were here because he’d asked them to come. He’d promised them a statement regarding Rick.
He was going to give them one that would make headlines.
The two detectives who’d already questioned him waited behind the crowd of reporters. Corey figured the cops were watching him as much as they were looking for Rick. This performance was for them, too. He needed them firmly in his corner.
His gaze swept down the street, noting how many of his neighbors had come out to witness his humiliation.
Vultures, every last one of them. But they’d serve his purpose today.
He ran his hand over his shaved head awkwardly, projecting nerves that he didn’t feel. “Good morning,” he said gravely. “My name is Corey Gates. Please let me read my statement without interruption.” He didn’t expect the reporters to comply. It was all part of the game. “As I’m sure you’ve heard, my younger brother Rick attempted to kidnap the son of an ADA last night. He was, thankfully, unsuccessful. I’ve fully cooperated with the police, who’ve searched my home, turning it upside down. Rick is not here.”
“Where is he?” one of the reporters shouted.
Anticipating the interruption, Corey tightened his jaw for effect, delivering the lie with the emotion expected of the guardian of a boy gone wrong. “I don’t know where he is, which is one of the reasons I asked you to come. I’d like your viewing audience to help me locate my brother. I’ve raised Rick since my mother’s death, and, quite honestly, I’ve been at the end of my rope for a long time. Rick’s been troubled and...” He cleared his throat, straightening his shoulders. “He’s gotten involved with drugs. I’ve tried to get him help, but I’ve failed. I’m not saying that the drugs excuse what he did last night, because nothing can excuse that. He did a terrible thing and needs to face the consequences.”
He swallowed hard, hoping the cameras caught his distress. “But he’s only sixteen. He’s out there somewhere, maybe alone and scared. He’s been depressed since our mother’s death, but I didn’t realize it had gotten so bad. Look, I’m not a child psychologist. I’m just a contractor. I run a home improvement business.” He gestured to the truck that sat in his driveway. “Three Vets Renovation. I install drywall and toilets for a living.”
Which was true on paper, but he, Bobby, and Ed put minimal effort into actually renovating anything. Three Vets Renovation was merely a front, hiding their far more lucrative—and far less legit—business. On paper, they were stand-up citizens, but Three Vets existed solely to launder the monies they earned doing very dirty jobs for very powerful people.
This week their dirty job was to cause the death of Bella Butler, an actress who’d accused her director, Trevor Doyle, of rape. It was shaping up to be a blockbuster trial, one that would hurt Doyle’s career, even if the jury acquitted him—and these days, one could never be too sure how a jury would go.
So Doyle had hired them to get rid of Bella before the trial began. He’d wanted it to look like a car accident—low-key and completely untraceable back to him to keep the Feds from investigating him for witness tampering. Corey had come up with a better idea because Bella might survive a car accident. She wouldn’t survive what he’d planned.
As for diverting suspicion from their client, Corey, Bobby, and Ed had built a solid strategy for that as well, and Doyle had been very pleased. But none of it would be possible if the cops were following Corey’s every move as they had been, first with Aaron and now with Rick. Of all the weeks his brothers could pick to colossally fuck up, this week was the worst.
Doyle’s trial started in a few days, but Bella had been in hiding for weeks. They knew where she was, but she was surrounded by too much security to get to her. Their window of opportunity for eliminating her was very slim—the hour she’d be driving from her hideaway to New Orleans. Her security would still be impressive, but they had a plan for that, too. She’d be coming to the city sometime this week, so they had to throw the NOPD off their scent.
Which was why he was now begging strangers to help him find his brother. But, if everything went to plan, he’d also provide the police and the public an alternate villain to pursue, one they wouldn’t be able to resist.
Searching the crowd, Corey spread his hands imploringly. “I didn’t know anything about parenting. But then my mother died, and Rick became my responsibility. I was completely unprepared to raise a troubled teenager. I still am.”
It was working. The reporters’ expressions hadn’t cracked, but a few of the camera folks looked sympathetic.
“If I could find Rick,” Corey continued, “he could get the help he desperately needs. He’ll have to face the consequences of his actions, but hopefully he’ll emerge clean and sober. Please, if you see him, call the NOPD. I’m putting up a reward of ten thousand dollars for any tips that lead to his return. He’s not safe out there.” He hesitated, bit his lip, then blurted, “I don’t think he’s just using drugs. I think he’s fallen in with a gang who will not have his best interests at heart. He’s only sixteen. He should have his whole life in front of him. If you’re afraid to call the cops, please call my personal cell phone at 504-555-1020.”
