Page 85 of Crimson Love

Harlow proves she’s been listening even though she’s been focused on the board of directors’ drama. “We have an army of lawyers at Stonebridge. Jett has access to them as he needs.”

“I learn something new every day,” I mutter.

“But they’re corporate, not criminal attorneys,” Harlow amends before reaching over and giving Lennon a pat on her arm. “Not that you’re a criminal. Still, I agree with Bella. Get a lawyer.”

“Payne Deacon,” Devon says out of the blue. “The only local attorney. I hear he was a shark back in the day. He’s been back in Winslet for a few years. He still represents people, but he mostly runs his family’s business.”

“And he’s a volunteer firefighter and EMT. He can test you for a concussion. Ask me how I know,” Harlow deadpans.

“I met him when I was at the Combover with Dean a few times. I didn’t know he was a lawyer.”

“Not just a lawyer, a defense attorney.” Devon shuts his laptop and tosses it to the sofa next to him. “Not a lot of people in Winslet need those services. Dean told me he left at the height of his career and came back to run his family business. I agree with Bella, it’s a good idea. If you want me to give him a call, I will.”

Lennon sinks into my side. The stress rolls off her in waves. “I guess. I’m not sure what to think anymore.”

I wrap a lock of the end of her hair around my finger. “Last night didn’t end the way we wanted, but we’re close. I feel it. Let’s set up a meeting with Payne just in case.”

Bella agrees. “He’s right, love. Last night was just a blip. I’m not sure you could have a more diverse set of skills working on this. If there’s one thing I know about Brax Cruz and King Jennings, Petrov will be in cuffs before he steps foot outside of the red, white, and blue. They have enough to detain him, but they want to make sure their case is solid so there’s no chance he’ll walk. And they want his clients, so I’m confident that will happen.”

Lennon bites her lip. “But what about my dad? The way I see it, it’s his word against mine. And there’s a bank account with my name on it as if I worked willingly for Andrei all that time.”

I claim her chin with my other hand and force her to look at me. “Don’t worry about your dad. I’ll make sure he’ll never hurt you again.”

Cole pushes to his feet from his chair and claps his hands once before rubbing them together. “And sometimes, ladies and gents, that’s the way we get shit done. I call it natural consequences.”

Devon shakes his head, and Bella laughs right before she turns back to Lennon. “We need to head to the airport, but don’t fret. We will continue working on this until you are safe to live your life free and happily ever after.”

“Thank you for everything,” Lennon says as she stands to give Bella a hug. “I don’t know what that’s like, but I want that more than anything.”

I put a halt to the goodbyes. “We need to discuss one more thing before everyone leaves. Lennon and I were run off the road the night before last. We assumed it was Petrov. With everything going on, we were grateful to come out of that alive and thought that threat would go away when Petrov did. Now we have Reed Shaw in the mix, and they swear that’s not their M.O. We have no reason to believe anything they say, but for some reason, I kind of believe them.”

“I agree,” Lennon says. “Andrei doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. He has people to do his messy work. Running someone off the road isn’t his style since he lives on a boat and doesn’t want to be anywhere close to the U.S. You never know, but if he killed me, there was no chance of him getting the jewels back. He already broke into my room at the library, and he wasn’t even close to finding them.”

Harlow puts down her reading material. “But who else would want to hurt you? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Devon reaches out and takes her hand. “I agree, but this isn’t the first time shit doesn’t make sense. It’s a good thing you two can hunker down here. We need to arrange to get the rest of Lennon’s things from the library.”

“I’m sorry,” Lennon says. “I’ve caused so many problems. Everyone has better things to do than chase my father and Andrei around and look for my mother, who no one has seen or heard from in almost two decades. I feel like we’re chasing ghosts.”

Bella tries to comfort everyone. “I have a feeling this will be over sooner rather than later. Jarvis landed in Florida last night. He’s doing surveillance as we speak to see what he’s dealing with but hopes he can get on the boat soon to search for Petrov’s clientele list and ledgers. That will be the cherry we need to top off this case beautifully.”

“I love it when a plan comes together,” Cole announces. “Okay, kiddos, we need to hit the road. Brax and King aren’t going anywhere until they get their man. Try not to have too much fun without us.”

Fun.

Fuck that.

I’ll be happy when the fun is over for good.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

THE WRENCH

Lennon

C ole Carson didn’t need to worry about us having any fun without him. The moment he and Bella headed for the airport, all activity came to a grinding halt.

Andrei’s cell hasn’t left the motel. We have physical proof, too, since Brax and King are sitting outside doing surveillance. I can’t imagine how boring that is, but I guess it’s what they do.