Chapter 40

LYNN

Jeremy.

Fucking Jeremy.

Mother fucking freaking Jeremy!

I knew he was slick, but I never imagined he could be so slimy. Who does something like that? Stealing from a friend—and almost burning down their mom's house? All while pretending to be so concerned about our family. What a complete and utter asswipe! Maybe he's a sociopath—that could explain a lot.

"Lynn, can you track down Doc and remind him about that script for José?" Nora asks, forcing me to snap back to the job at hand.

"Oh, sure." I abandon the inventory list that—let's face it—I wasn't doing a great job with anyway and head to the next room and then the hall in search of Dr. Bhatia. But my head continues to swirl with Joey's revelation. And with the fact that, instead of chasing Jeremy down or calling the cops, Joey came to tell me.

I've had to completely set aside any feelings I might have about Joey going ahead to Raleigh and interfering like he obviously did. The importance of his discovery outweighs both his reasons and any potential feelings I have.

There's so much to plan and consider now that I know about Jeremy's betrayal. But one thing keeps nagging me, and I'm afraid of what it means.

Somehow, I thought it would feel a whole lot better finally being the one in the know, the one leading the charge. But this doesn't feel good in the least. Instead of wanting to come in to save the day and show everyone I can kick ass too, all I can think about is how this news is going to break hearts and cause more pain. And there's nothing to celebrate or feel proud of about that.

Dad, what am I doing? Did I get it all wrong?

"Lynn? Hey!"

I look up at the sound of my name to find Gunner Nix, the Arrows' left fielder and Joey's friend, entering the hallway from a door up ahead. Despite my distraction, I muster a smile since he's not responsible for any of this mess.

"Hi, Gunner."

He hooks his thumb over his shoulder toward the door he just exited. "Any idea why our boy is acting like somebody peed in his Cheerios this morning?"

Crap. "Uhhh…" What am I supposed to say?

Gunner's eyes widen. "Oh. Damn." He's obviously added two and two together.

"No! It's not…I'm just… he's…" I finally cough out a frustrated laugh and drop my chin, eyes to my shoes. "I'm still not fluent in English, apparently."

Gunner kindly chuckles at my very lame joke. "I should probably just mind my own business." God, he's almost as nice as Joey.

Freaking Joey.

"No." I exhale, absently taking in Gunner's appearance. He's an incredibly handsome guy, built like a movie star, and friendly too. And he has absolutely nothing on Joey freaking Martel. "Have you ever gotten what you wished for and then wondered why it sounded so damn important in the first place?"

"Oh." His nose wrinkles as his hand goes to the back of his neck. "Elizabeth is better at the existential life questions. But I absolutely kill at sports trivia and history."

I can't help but smile at him. "It's okay. I'm just thinking out loud."

Gunner gives me a half grin. "Try to take it easy on our boy, yeah? He's a little lovesick."

I roll my lips between my teeth at his words, unsure how to respond. In the end, I simply nod and say, "I gotta run."

He lets me go, and I continue my search for Doc, but my mind keeps racing for the rest of my shift—and the Uber ride to Blue Bigfoot after.

* * *

"If you're hereto chew me out, get in line. Sunny started inventing new words because the English language doesn't seem to contain terms to adequately capture my degree of stubbornness for not calling the cops on your Dante guy." This is Carter's greeting when I close the brewhouse door behind me to give us some privacy.

"Oh, believe me, I'm still pissed about the car key stunt, but I have some news that takes precedence." Oh, how I'm dreading this. But I've concluded a few things from my afternoon of nail-biting. And the first one is that Carter deserves to hear about Jeremy first.

Cart keeps looking back and forth between the kettle thermometer and his notebook, his dark eyebrows scrunched together all the while. I take a step closer, preparing my words, but he beats me to it. "Well, in that case, if it's about your boyfriend going to Raleigh to talk Guy Taylor into helping you confront Eddie Dante without your brothers or the cops there to back you up, I already got an earful about that this morning."

I stop in my tracks. "What?" What is he talking about?

He finally looks my way, and I swear there's a hint of a smile behind all that scruff on his face. "Martel. He made it clear when he called me this morning that we're a bunch of overbearing idiots, especially if we think he's going to help us steamroll our sister. He also suggested we grow up and enter the twenty-first century. Oh, and—I almost forgot this part—that you've got more smarts in your little finger than the rest of our heads combined, so we should trust you not to unnecessarily endanger yourself when all you want to do is stand up for your family and do everyone proud. I'm pretty sure I got all that right."

I try swallowing, but my throat is too dry. I finally manage to croak out, "He said that?"

My brother nods and drops his notebook to the work table beside him before perching his hands on his hips and studying me. "Did Cash give your keys back?"

I shake my head, and Cart rolls his eyes. "I'll go grab them from the office."

When he moves to leave, I step in his path. "Wait!" We got sidetracked, and I need to tell him about Jeremy.

Once again, he beats me to it. "I know we get carried away. We owe you an apology."

"No!" Crap! "I mean, yes, and thank you, but no! Not right now, Carter." I grab his forearms, and he lets me lead him back to the table. "I have some upsetting news."

Something in my tone gets through because his expression changes to wary alertness.

"Joey came to see me," I begin. "He went to Raleigh today to meet with Guy Taylor like you said. He ran into Jeremy on the street, and when Guy arrived a minute later, he identified Jeremy as Eddie Dante. Jeremy, Carter. Jeremy is the one who stole Larry. And maybe even started the fire."

I can't read my brother's expression now, and when I open my mouth to continue my explanation, he cuts me off.

"That's not possible."

"That's what I said too at first, but Joey is positive."

"No way." He shakes his head. "Did they both talk to Jeremy?"

"Well, no. I don't think so." I shake my head now, remembering Joey's story. "No. Just Joey. If the three of them had talked together, the whole thing would already be out in the open. Jeremy doesn't know he's been busted."

Carter chuckles and pulls from my grip, causing my pulse to pound in my ears for the second time today. "Lynn, this is a misunderstanding. Jeremy probably looks like Dante from a certain angle. This Taylor guy caught a glimpse of him in passing and made a mistake."

I consider that, but then I remember the look on Joey's face—the panic in his eyes. And the fact that he came racing back to Asheville to tell me what he found.

"Carter, Joey is sure."

But Carter isn't listening. He throws his arm around my shoulders and laughs. "Look, let's get your keys, and then I'll tell the boys we're going to let you and Joey take point on this whole Dante thing with Taylor. Martel's plan sounded fairly safe, all things considered."

"Carter, I swear to God, if you don't listen to what I'm saying, I'm going to nut punch you."

That, thankfully, makes him pause and face me again. "Lynnie, I know Jeremy. He's always had my back, even when I don't ask him to. When I tell you he's not involved, he's not involved."

And since I know my brother, I know it's no use talking myself blue in the face about this right now. What I need is to get my keys and then get some proof.

And I know just the man for the job.