7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Caleb

I walk past Ethan in the hall, on my way to the boardroom, when he stops me. “What did da have to say to you?”

My sneer is evident. “None of your fucking business, asshole.”

He smirks. “Ah, so he addressed the whole Laney situation, did he.”

“Like I said, jerkwad. It’s none of your business.”

“You’ll get over the initial rejection fast enough, little brother.” He picks at an imaginary piece of lint on the shoulder of my jacket.

“Speaking from experience, are you.”

“So I’ve heard. Laney’s a nice lass, but she’s probably uptight and frigid, anyway. It’s best that you don’t get involved. Leave that up to the bigger, more experienced types.”

My smirk is telling. “What makes you think she rejected me?”

“Well, if you were engaged, then the whole world would now by now, I think. But right now, people are too fixated on the fact that you were in the slammer.”

I push his hand off me, like he’s a leper. “Get the fuck out of my way, loser. I was not in the slammer.”

Ethan shrugs with a smug look on his face. “Police station. Slammer. Same difference, Caleb.”

“God, you’re so stupid. It is not the same thing. And for your information, da didn’t have anything to say about that, by the way.”

“Tell that to the fist-shaped hole in my office wall.”

“You’re full of shit.”

“Go see for yourself.” He gestures with his chin.

In the interest of proving the son of a bitch wrong, I follow him to his office. The second I arrive, I know I’ve been had. “Gotcha.” He says, closing the door, trapping me inside. The phone on his desk immediately beeps, and I know what’s coming next.

“You fucking swine!” I shout, lifting my hand to punch him in the face. He catches my fist before it hits him, and he locks my arm under his armpit, effectively making me immobile. But I’m stronger than he is, and I get out of it quick enough, but not before our other brother Declan storms in.

“Okay, boys, break it up!” He says, pulling us apart, with our cousin Malcolm in tow. Malcolm towers over all of us. He’s a fourth-degree black belt and is not one to fuck with. Malcolm pulls me away from Ethan, while Declan takes Ethan off to the side.

“He’s a fucking liar and an asshole!” I shout, as Malcolm kicks the door closed, like that will make all the difference.

“I don’t care what he is, you can’t kill him.” Declan declares, standing in front of Ethan, while Ethan tries to dodge him.

“Why the fuck not? He’s asking for it, the lying prick!” I bellow.

Malcolm stands in front of me. His voice is low. I swear he’s the white version of Michael Clarke Duncan, the actor from The Green Mile, as he speaks to me in a Barry White-like voice. “Why do you let him get under your skin, man? You know he loves to get a rise out of you, and that’s why he picks on you.”

“Hey, fuckhead!” Ethan calls. “I am right here, you know. Stop talking as if I’m not.”

“When are you going to grow the hell up, Ethan? Jesus Christ, you’re still pulling the same goddamn pranks you’ve been pulling on Caleb since you were in junior high. What is wrong with you?”

“He walked right into it.” Ethan chuckles. “Literally.” He pulls out of Declan’s grip, and I pull out of Malcolm’s as we both smooth out our clothes, and I pull myself together.

“Why’d you lie to me? Why’d you tell me that da was so pissed off at me that he punched a hole in your office wall?”

Ethan frowns and shrugs. “Just wanted to see if you believed me. You know that da’s got a temper. And I know that Laney’s got you by the balls, in that she’d never take you as a husband.”

“Well, you’re half right, jerkwad.” I tell him, deciding how much I want to tell him. “She doesn’t have me by the balls.”

“But she’d never take you as a husband.” He checks, adding in a certain snark in his voice that I’d love to smack out of him.

Declan folds his arms over his chest and frowns. “What, did you propose to her or something?” He asks, concerned.

“No, but I did tell her about da’s plan.”

Malcolm interjects. “What’s going on with the murder investigation? Do we need to hire a better legal team? I’m not sure how you even got mixed up in that.”

My head is starting to swim. I’m not even sure where to start or how much I should be sharing. “I think it’s fine. They didn’t make an arrest, and from what I understand, the evidence that they had is fucked.”

“And what about your alibi?” Declan asks.

I scoff, unimpressed. “She won’t confirm that she was with me. She’s married.”

“Nice going, slick.” Ethan sneers.

“Fuck you. At least I get laid.”

“Yeah, by some sad, married lass.”

“Yeah, well, I can get unmarried lasses, too, loser.”

“Sure.” He snorts, fueling the flame inside my chest.

“Shows how much you know. I might not have gotten Laney to be my wife, but I’m halfway there.”

Satisfaction comes to my bones as I see his gaze turn dark. “What do you mean?”

I lift my chin indignantly. “I went to her office and fucked her earlier, and that’s the fucking truth.”

“Bullshit.” He whines.

Even Malcolm squirms, like he doesn’t believe me.

“Look, I’m telling you the truth. I’m as surprised as you are that she went through with it, but I tell you, as sure as the nose on my face, that it happened.”

Ethan snorts a laugh.

“You want me to call her up right now and prove it to you?” I say, voice raised.

Malcolm raises a hand. “Look, Caleb, whether you did or didn’t do her, is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is that your da’s got plans, and Laney McAdams isn’t the most…shall we say…agreeable person.”

I nod. “I’ll give you that. But I swear it happened.”

Ethan pipes up. “You better hope it did, because da really is pissed off about you being questioned about this murder.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I say, heading towards the door.

“If you’re smart, little brother.” Ethan starts. “You’ll worry less about fucking Laney McAdams for now, and worry more about how you’re going to dig your way out of a trial. Because your problems will be ten-fold if you end up a suspect.”

“Don’t you think I fucking know that, asshole? You think Laney’s going to do conjugal visits?”

He raises a hand to stifle me, but that stupid goddamn self-righteous smile still sits on his face, mocking me. It takes everything in me not to go over and punch it off his mug. “Just…take care of it.”

“Fuck you.” I mutter, but walk away, glaring at everyone that’s staring at me, observing the show, as I do.

I head back to my office and think about my next move.

My desk phone beeps mid afternoon with notification that I have a visitor. I’m scheduled to meet with Beckett and Chas Ford today, but that was before the whole murder thing went down, so I’m surprised if it’s them. Another thought is that it’s Laney, but that’s soon quashed when I see the two Ford brothers walk through the door.

“Chas. Beckett. I’m glad you came through.” I say, giving them both a handshake.

Beckett is the first to speak, as they both sit down. “Truth is, we don’t have much of a choice in the matter, no offence.”

I frown. “None taken. What’s going on.”

“I don’t know if you heard, but both Henry and his wife were questioned on Rachel’s death as well.”

“I figured. It makes sense.”

“In fact, the whole office was, from what Henry said.” Chas adds. “But evidently her house was like a revolving door.”

“Yeah,” Beckett interrupts. “The old man shared a lot about Rachel. It’s blatantly obvious that they were lovers. We both wondered if he was going to talk about business all day or her.”

“Really? What a crazy old coot he is, huh.”

“Yeah, and the even more fucked up part is that the missus was right there, and talking about her like Rachel was a dear old friend of the family.”

“If we didn’t just sign a ten-billion-dollar contract with him, we would ditch him like Rachel’s dead body.” Chas adds, and then raises a hand. “Sorry. That was probably a bit early.”

I snort a laugh. “It was kind of funny. The slut didn’t mean shit to me.”

“Here here. I’m not sorry she’s dead but I had shit to do with it.” Chas adds. “That’s exactly what I told the cops, too.”

“The truth will set you free.” I volunteer. Then I clap my hands together. “So, what’s next? Are we looking at moving forward?”

“Invest, man. That’s what the whole point of this is, no?” Beckett states.

“Sounds good to me.” I nod, and then we get down to business. For the next three hours, we go through, page by page, my proposed plans to do with their current income stream, and the ones forecasted to come in the short-term. It’s a hefty job, but that’s what I’m cut out to do.

“Hey, how’s your family, you know, with all this murder bullshit going on?” Beckett asks conversationally.

“To be truthful, my da is more concerned with me making it or breaking it with Laney. That’s all he mentioned when I saw him a few hours ago.”

“I guess it sucks that you can’t go back to Scotland again until the cops give you the say so, huh.” Beckett observes.

“I was just there. No big deal. This will be over soon, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Our dad would have hit the fucking roof, man. You’re lucky.” Chas scoffs, pulling at the lace on his dress shoe. “He had zero tolerance for any trouble.”

“Yeah, and he didn’t even threaten us with the military. He shipped us there, anyway, so we were terrified of what he’d do if we ever really fucked up.” Beckett volunteers.

“My da isn’t much better, boys. To be truthful, I think he’s holding out. He wants me to focus on this Laney thing and then he’s going to hammer on me for this.”

“But you’re just being questioned.” Chas states. “And I still don’t understand why. I mean, did you know Rachel?”

I shake my head. “No. Never met her. I’m puzzled, too, boys.” They exchange a look that I can’t decipher. “You believe me, don’t you? Like I told you, I was with someone when she was killed. She just won’t talk because she’s married. But it could take a long time for this case to be dealt with, since Rachel had so many people coming in and out of that house of hers.”

“I’d like to find out if she was truly pregnant. The bitch.” Chas mutters indignantly.

Beckett pats him on the back. “We’ll never know, brother. And at least you know that if she was, that it wasn’t yours.”

He shrugs. “Okay, are we done here?” Chas says. “I’d like to get off this subject and get the hell out of dodge if it’s okay with you.” He looks at his brother.

“Sure, man. But we can’t go to the goddamn ranch like we wanted to. We’ve gotta lay low in the good old state of North Carolina in the meantime.” Beckett reminds.

Chas all but shudders. “Okay, I’m outta here.”

Beckett follows his brother out, as I give them both brief handshakes. I want to ask Chas if he’s okay, but I think better of it. And then I consider how creepy this whole situation is turning out to be, especially for him, and I decide that I’ll put a little less of a personal touch on things, just until everything calms down some.

…but it doesn’t.

…and it all explodes in my face.

Laney

Da gives me a peck on each cheek as I walk into his office. “You wanted to see me?”

Da’s face is impassive, which means that there’s something on his mind. When he’s smiling, he’s looking for input from me, but when his face is set, he’s playing up in his mind what he’s going to say. Da is a very calculating man. He never says anything that he doesn’t mean. So, I wait and say nothing else.

“I assume that you know about the latest Harris scandal.” He starts with.

I nod once for emphasis. “Yes, I do.”

He twiddles his thumbs together. “Caleb wouldn’t be stupid enough to actually go through with something so cold-blooded, no. He’d hire someone to do the work.”

“Are you saying that you think he had something to do with it?”

His face changes. “You think he didn’t.”

“Well, I…I don’t believe he’s a murderer, if that’s what you’re implying.”

“Caleb Harris is no saint, Laney. Don’t kid yourself.”

“Just because Dougall Harris is relentless doesn’t mean that Caleb is.”

He tilts his head apprehensively. “Why do you defend him, darling?”

“I’m not defending him, da, I just don’t think that he’s a killer. I don’t get that vibe from him.”

He lifts a brow. “You’ve seen him.”

My heart starts to pound. I know full well that Dougall Harris would feed his offspring to the lions for the good of his company, however, my da would burn bridges to protect his children. Da has never had a good word to share about the Harris family. We are longtime rivals. In fact, da loves nothing more than to hear about the latest trials that the family is undergoing. We’ve gone as far as to lay bets against them for entertainment at dinner parties with family and friends.

I’m very careful with how I answer the questioning look on da’s face. “I did see him. The night of Brandy’s divorce party. He followed me to the bar and later got into a squabble with Chas Ford.”

Another brow lift. “Chas Ford? He’s also part of this scheme.”

“He is.” I’m careful not to add anything else without gauging what da will say next.

“And what did he want with you, Laney?”

Uh oh.

I decide the best way around this is to go for bold. “He said that Dougall insisted that he and I get married.”

Da barks a laugh. Not sure if it’s him taking my comment as a joke, or if he thinks the mere thought is utterly ridiculous. “Laney.” He growls. “Really. Why did that boy follow you to a bar? Did he have ill intentions? Wait, of course, he did. Caleb Harris would have nothing good to add to your life, I’m sure.”

I bite my lip. “Da, it’s no joke. He actually suggested that we get married. On Dougall’s insistence.”

Da rises from the chair abruptly. “And what did you tell him, Laney? Surely you tossed your drink in his face and told him to go to hell.”

I tilt my head. “Close. But I did tell him to go to hell, and in no uncertain terms that I would never marry him.”

“The nerve of that boy.” Da growls.

I shrug. “He was drunk.”

“I assume you were, too. This wasn’t the drink making you imagine things, was it? I remember you once thought you could fly when you’d had too much.”

“I believe that was you, da.”

He blinks. Recognition comes to his face. “It was, wasn’t it.” He mutters to himself. Then he waves and sighs, shaking it off. “Nonetheless. Do you think he was serious about his da telling him to propose marriage?”

I guffaw, righteously. “Oh, I’m certain he did. That was his primary reason for being at the bar and for being drunk. I can feel for him on that score. If you ever set me up to marry someone, especially on terms like Dougall Harris’s, I’d probably need to toss a year’s worth back in one night.”

“That man has no scruples. I can’t believe he’d sink so low and drag his son into that. It’s all because of the women that want him. I see the articles. I know what he’s worth to the female general public. Dougall played that up. Heartless, cold bastard, he is.”

“I don’t disagree, da.”

He looks at me. “You just make sure that the boy doesn’t play the pity card and manipulate you, Laney. There is no telling what Caleb will do for his da’s bidding.”

“I sincerely hope that you don’t think I’m that dense, da.”

He walks over to me and kisses me on the head. Da is a head taller than me, but his heart is as big as he is. “I know you wouldn’t, Laney. I just worry about you is all. These pretty boys, they’re all the same.”

I look up at him. “You think he’s pretty?” I joke.

Another kiss on my head. “I’ll go see that your mama is ready for our meeting.”

“Love you, da.”

“Love you, too, Laney.”

And then I stand there and realize what I’ve done and what it will do to da if he ever finds out.

…And now, on to more mistakes.