Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 101254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“Yeah…” Braden says slowly.
“I was on an errand for Dad one day, and I found a stash of about fifty grand hidden there. I left it, of course. To this day, I don’t know who it belonged to. The owner, one of the workers, I have no fucking clue. Anyway, I knew the code—”
“How the fuck did you know the code?”
“Ansel was closing one day when I left with supplies, and I saw him punch it in.”
“And you memorized it?”
“I couldn’t help it. You know I have one of those memories. I swear it’s a curse.”
And it is. I remember every detail of that night. Every excruciating detail of the following several weeks when the search was on for that convict who escaped, whose photo I recognized. Whose fate I knew.
I spill it all to my brother.
The break in. The theft. The murder. Everything.
“You pulled out the guy’s teeth?” Braden says, his eyes wide.
“Hell, no! I didn’t. Jerry Thompson did.” A chill runs down my spine. “He knew exactly what to do. It was psychotic.”
“So you didn’t do anything.”
“Not exactly true. It was my tarp we wrapped the body in, my truck we used to transport it to the bay.”
“And no one saw you?”
“Jerry again. He knew exactly where to go,” I say.
“Fuck.” Braden rubs his jawline. “No wonder he’s doing time.”
“I know. Anyway, the next day the news came on and showed that dude’s mug shot, and I recognized him.”
“How’d he get in the warehouse?”
“I have no clue. My gut tells me he got in during the day and hid. Whether he was going to use it as a hiding place or he was going to rob it, I have no idea. He could have known about it on the inside if he was dealing in stolen goods.”
Braden nods. Keeps nodding.
I wait.
I wait for him to blow.
Then I realize he won’t. Not Braden Black. Not the master of control.
Minutes tick by. Minutes that seem like hours. Until—
“This was fifteen years ago, Benji. Why are you telling me now?”
I press my lips together. “Because Dirk Conrad got in touch with me three months ago. Asked for cash. I told him to fuck off, and he did. Or so I thought. Now he’s back.”
“And he wants more cash?”
“Ten million,” I say, “and he seems willing to go down with me if I don’t pay.”
“So we pay him,” Braden says.
I drop my mouth open. “Who are you and what have you done with my brother?”
“Don’t for a minute think I’m happy about this,” he says. “But it’s pennies to us, and—”
“And he’ll come back for more. He’ll want fifty next time. Then a hundred. It won’t stop, Bray. If we give him an inch, he’ll take a mile.” I shake my head vehemently. “No. That’s not how I want to handle this.”
“If the guy’s got a tooth—” Braden holds up the tooth on the chain I gave him.
“He doesn’t have it. We have it. And it means nothing if there’s no DNA on file to match it.”
“But the guy was a con. His DNA is on file somewhere.”
I sigh. “I know.”
“If we don’t pay him off and this gets to the media—”
“I know. So here’s what I want to do.” I run my fingers through my hair. “I’ve gone over and over this in my head, and there’s only one way to deal with it, especially now that Tessa’s involved.”
“Wait, wait, wait… How is Tessa involved?”
“Dirk’s brother David is a few years younger. He was a bartender in Jamaica.”
“The one with the light brown hair? Light brown eyes?”
“Yeah. I had him fired because he said some nasty things about her. Anyway, he wants Tessa, and Dirk somehow found out about Garrett Ramirez as well. So now that’s part of the deal. Not only do I have to pay up, but I’m supposed to get Tessa to drop all the charges against Garrett.”
“Oh, hell, no.”
“Exactly.”
Braden shakes his head. “Fuck.”
“I know. So I’m…” I draw in a breath. “I’m going to the DA, Bray. I’m going to confess, tell the whole truth. I’m no killer. That’s on Dirk. But I was there, and I helped hide the body. That’s on me.”
“Unless they find the body…”
“I know, and it’s long gone by now. No body, no charges. But we can get Dirk on blackmail. The problem is the news, Bray. It’s going to fuck us up.”
“Jesus fuck, Benji.”
“So as of now, I’m—”
Braden’s phone rings. “It’s Claire. She wouldn’t interrupt unless it was important.”
I’m not sure what could be more important right now, but I nod to my brother.
“Yes?” he says into the phone.
Pause.
“Really? And you haven’t heard anything?”
Pause.
“I’m on it. Thank you, Claire.”
“What’s that about?” I ask.
Braden rubs his forehead. “Tessa didn’t come in to work this morning.”
My heart drops. “What?”
“She didn’t report to work, and she didn’t call in.”