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Chapter 26: Byte

BYTE

It took forever for the cops to finish processing the scene. I was anxious to get back to the clubhouse to tell Gabby everything, but I also wanted to stay to make sure they didn't miss anything.

The detective who seemed to know Phoenix came over to where we were gathered on the porch. "You said this guy's name was Chad Higgins, right?"

"That's the name he gave Gabby," Phoenix said. "Why?"

The detective opened the wallet he was holding and pulled out multiple IDs. "Looks like ‘Chad' may have been involved in identity theft. It might take a bit for us to verify his true identity. Is there anything else you can tell me that might help?"

"No, I don't think so," Phoenix said.

We'd already told them about his association with Lauren and Lawrence. I knew one of the IDs had my name and address on it, but since I wasn't supposed to know that and hadn't found out legally, I kept that information to myself. I also didn't want them looking into my information while they were trying to identify Chad. "Can we take a look at those IDs to see if we recognize any of the names?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Sure. Why not?" he said and handed over the small stack of licenses. I slowly went through them and waited until the detective looked away to slip the one with my name and address on it into my shirt sleeve. When he turned back to me, I handed the IDs back to him. "Sorry, I don't recognize any of those names."

"Thanks for looking," he said. "We'll get it figured out."

I knew they would, and it really chapped my ass that I hadn't been able to. I silently seethed about that until they finally left.

"I saw that," Phoenix said knowingly.

"I didn't care if you did," I said. "I was only worried about the detective."

Phoenix laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. "Do you need any help with that?" he asked and gestured to the large blood stain marring my otherwise clean driveway.

"Nah, I have a pressure washer."

"Where is it?" Ranger asked. "It's my mess to clean up."

"I'll take care of it," I said.

Ranger shook his head. "I'm getting up there in age. I might not have many more opportunities like this."

"Okay," I said slowly, while Phoenix and Shaker laughed.

Ranger was in rare form as he washed Chad's blood and brain matter from my driveway. He smiled the whole time and may have even been whistling at one point.

"He's doing that for you," Shaker said.

"What?"

"Showing you how happy it made him to get rid of someone who threatened Gabby."

I shook my head and laughed.

Shaker's hand landed on my shoulder. "Welcome to the family."

It was late when we finally made it back to the clubhouse. Gabby and Keegan were asleep in my room. Instead of waking them, Shaker and I decided to let them be. He went to his room, and I went to one of the empty rooms to sleep. Despite the events of the day, I couldn't fall asleep. I tossed and turned all night. I couldn't stop thinking about Chad. I knew I was missing something, and it was driving me crazy. I finally gave up trying to sleep and got out of bed around six in the morning.

The common room was quiet, and I assumed I was the first one up. I went to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee and almost jumped out of my skin when I turned around to find Keegan standing behind me. "Holy shit," I breathed. "You scared me."

She huffed and placed her hands on her hips. "You deserved it."

"Why? What did I do?" She was obviously upset, but I had no idea why.

"You didn't wake me up to tell me what happened."

"We couldn't wake you without waking Gabby. And you said yourself she needs her rest," I explained.

Keegan grumbled something I couldn't hear and stepped forward to help herself to my cup of coffee. "I'm awake now."

"I'll tell you after I make myself some coffee," I said and turned back to the machine. When I heard her make a noise of discontent, I stifled a laugh and refrained from telling her she deserved that.

I'd barely taken a sip when she demanded, "Now, tell me what happened."

I thought about making her wait until Gabby was awake, but I could tell by the look on her face she wouldn't find it as funny as I did. "Fine," I said and filled her in on everything that transpired at my house.

"He's dead?" she asked.

"So dead," I confirmed.

"Is Gabby safe now?"

"She should be. Chad's dead, Lauren's in police custody, and Lawrence will either die or go back to prison," I said.

"Do we know who stabbed him?" she asked.

"No," I said. "Do you want to know?"

"I don't necessarily want to know, but I feel like something's missing," she said.

"Yeah, me, too," I shared. "Let me grab my laptop."

I carefully opened the door to my room and tiptoed inside to get my laptop without waking Gabby. I froze when she repositioned herself, but thankfully, she stayed asleep.

"All right, let's see what we can find out," I said when I returned to the common room. It took a little longer than I thought, but I finally located the information. "Okay, Lawrence was stabbed by Todd Orson. He's a thirty-six-year-old serving a ten-year sentence for identity theft, cyber crimes, and financial fraud. He's about a year and a half into his sentence."

Keegan started typing on her phone. "Do you have a picture of him?"

"Yeah, his mugshot," I said and turned my screen to give her a better view.

"Great," she said and took a quick look at his picture before returning to her phone. I was about to ask her what she was doing when she gasped.

"What?" I demanded and leaned over so I could see her screen.

"That's Chad," she said and showed me a picture posted on one of Todd's social media pages. According to the caption, the photo was of Todd and his brother Brett.

I returned to my computer and typed Brett Orson into the search bar. Plenty of information came up immediately. Then I went back to the prison records and looked at the visitation log for Todd. I opened another tab and pulled up Lawrence's visitors. "I think we might have some answers. Look at this. Brett was visiting his brother when Lauren went to see Lawrence for the first time."

"That must be how they met," Keegan observed. "Oh, and look at that. ‘Michael Fuller' also visited Todd Orson the day Lawrence was stabbed."

"I bet Brett asked his brother to do it."

"But why?" she wondered.

"I can answer that," Phoenix said and joined us at the table. "Luke was able to get someone in to talk to Lawrence yesterday. He called and left a message, but with everything going on, I didn't check my messages until this morning."

"What did he say?" Keegan asked impatiently.

"He said when Lauren first started coming to see him, she said it was because she wanted to get to know him. After the first few visits, she started asking about what happened to his assets. Then she started asking about Gabby. He said she became increasingly more demanding each time. At the visit before her last one, she gave him Gabby's phone number and asked him to contact her. She wanted him to convince Gabby to cooperate with her and give her half of her inheritance. During her last visit, he told her he hadn't contacted Gabby and had no intention of doing so. He said Lauren was furious. She told him she would get what was hers without him, and that he would be sorry for not helping her. Then he said a man he didn't know came to see him the day he was stabbed, which we now know is Brett. Brett told him what happened with Lauren and Gabby and said he would finish the job. Lawrence didn't know exactly what that meant or if he was serious, but he tried to call Gabby to warn her, just in case. He was going to try to call her again, but Todd stabbed him before he had the chance."

"Why would he want to finish the job for Lauren? What did he get out of it?" Keegan asked, though I was wondering the same thing.

"I'm not sure we'll ever know, but if I had to guess, I'd say money. She probably promised him a hefty sum if he'd help her get her inheritance from Gabby," he said.

I nodded in agreement. "That makes the most sense. He probably learned some of his computer skills from his brother."

"If that's the case, why didn't he just hack into her bank account and take the money?" Keegan asked.

"He probably didn't know how. Hacking into a home security system is a lot easier than breaking into someone's trust fund. Even if he knew how to get in, he likely didn't know how to take the money and cover his tracks so he didn't get caught."

"I still can't believe either of them thought Gabby had his money. I mean, look at every drug lord or Mafia boss that's ever been busted. Their family didn't get to keep their money and their mansions," Keegan said.

Phoenix shrugged. "People are stupid."

"Yeah, they are," I agreed.

"Does Gabby know yet?" Phoenix asked.

"Do I know what?" Gabby asked from behind.

"Have a seat while I get you some coffee," I said. "Then I'll tell you everything."

She took the news in stride. She listened to the entire story without much of a reaction. I was just as confused as Keegan was, but it was Shaker who seemed to know what was going on.

He sat down beside Gabby and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders so as not to jostle her injured shoulder. "Is this about Chad's death, or is it about Lawrence actually trying to do something good for once in his life?"

"Both," she said quietly.

"It's okay to be happy Chad's gone. It doesn't mean you're celebrating death. It just means you're happy the threat to you is over. As for Lawrence, it's okay to feel however you feel about him. If you want to thank him for trying to warn you, you can. Or if you want to move on and not acknowledge him, that's okay, too."

"Thank you," she said and rested her head on his shoulder. Then she smiled. "I like things just the way they are."

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