“Oh no, is there something wrong?” My mom begins to worry, and I roll my eyes.
“He’s just being a pain in the ass.” It’s an effort not to roll my eyes again. “As usual.”
“You never told me what took you so long at the bridal shop.” Ari is sitting at the table with my dad and doesn’t look up as the two of them play cards.
“Bridal shop?” My mom perks up, but I ignore it.
“You asked me to check on a client, that’s what I did,” I say, trying to be as casual as possible.
“That’s what you said you did.” Mack leans forward, and he looks like a dog with a bone. “But you’ve been acting funny since yesterday.”
I know my brothers, and if I don’t come up with something quickly, they’re never going to let this go. This is the reason we’re so successful with our detective agency. Research and the right contacts are a huge part of this job, but intuition can make all the difference.
“I think I just need a break.” The words hang in silence as the whole room focuses their attention on me.
“A break?” Ari and Mack say in unison.
“Go back to the bridal shop.” My mom is off in grandbaby land and won’t be sidetracked.
“Son, what’s happened?” My dad goes to stand up, and I hold out my hands to stop it.
“I’m fine, I promise. I think maybe that last case got to me.” It’s a flimsy excuse, but it might just be enough. “It’s just the constant back-stabbing, you know?” When my brothers don’t say anything, I keep going. “After the last couple of months of being absorbed in their case, I need a couple of days off. That’s all.”
Taking a surreptitious glance at Ari, I see him considering this.
“Yeah, that case was a bear.” He nods, and I begin to relax. “You know she called me twelve times yesterday because you blocked her.”
“I’m not surprised. Taking her on as a client was a mistake,” I hurry to agree.
“Told you so,” Mack says and takes the bait I laid out for him. He complained the whole time after I agreed to take on the case, so I knew he was waiting to get in his dig.
“Why don’t you go up the lake?” Dad offers.
This was exactly where I wanted to end up, and I try to keep my breathing even as I play it cool. Lifting one shoulder, I shake my head. “Nah, it’s okay. I’ll just hang around the city and get some stuff done at home.”
“If anyone gets it, Lawson, it’s me.” Dad smiles and comes over to sit on the couch. “Go up to the house for a few days and get some fresh air. It always did me a world of good after a big case.”
“It wasn’t exactly big,” Mack grumbles. “Ouch.” He rubs his arms where Mom poked him.
“You could check on things while you’re up there. Your mom and I won’t have time before our next trip, so you’d be doing me a favor.”
“You’re sure?” I pretend to think it over and nod slowly. “Yeah, I guess I could ride up there and stay for a few days.”
“Perfect, it’s all settled.” Dad claps his hands together and goes back to the card table with Ari.
“You guys think you can manage without me?” I direct the question to Ari, and he’s quick to wave it off.
“Sure, don’t worry about it. Hell, I might join you.”
I stiffen at the possibility, but thankfully, I’m quick to recover. “That’d be great, but don’t you have to be in court this week?”
“Shit.” He sighs and then tells Dad all about our client needing him to testify. Ari and Mack talk, and I use the time to think over my next move. This is crazy, I know it is, but I can’t stop the downward spiral. I’ve done some shady shit to nail a client's ass to the wall, but nothing on this level.
Taking out my phone, I pull up the picture of Vanna and stare at it. Sure, she might be engaged, but she didn’t seem happy about it. All I can think is that if she were mine, she’d never stop smiling.
Kidnapping is definitely against the law, but what’s a little felony for love?
Chapter 5