“That will come crashing to an end pretty quickly. But I sure appreciate the offer. I’ll have to think about it. If I do tell McKenna, it won’t be until after her honeymoon. No sense in ruining her big day.”
“I’ll be there for you. Just call me.” My lips invert a moment. “Do you think Zeke sabotaged Julian’s equipment that night?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. But Julian said the strangest thing to me that night. He was trying to persuade me to tell McKenna about the Collective, and I told him to leave me alone—that I hated the fact he had dirt on me and was willing to hold it over my head to get what he wanted.” She rolls her eyes. “Deep down, I wondered if his altruistic move to have me confess was just another ploy to try to land me in his bed. Anyway, I guess we’ll never know. But what he said was that he didn’t consider what he knew about me as dirt, but that he did have dirt on someone there—enough to bury them alive.”
“What kind of dirt?” My adrenaline spikes as I lean in.
She shakes her head. “He didn’t say. He did mention something about taking the case to the sheriff’s department. That it was too dangerous to simply jot down in one of his notebooks.”
“Notebooks?” My goodness, there’s a book out there somewhere!
“Oh yes, Julian was notorious for documenting everything. He had to, he’d get inspiration for his acts just about anywhere, and he’d have to stop and write the information down before he forgot any important details. He got to the point where he wrote down just about everything he wanted to remember in those hallowed books of his. But don’t go expecting to find them. He had them under lock and key somewhere. Probably his home office. I’m guessing the sheriff’s department has probably already confiscated them.”
I’m guessing not.
The lights dim a notch and the sound of raunchy music starts up as the room ignites with screams. Before I know it, all of those familiar faces who showed up for my impromptu bachelorette party are standing around me in a circle clapping to the beat.
A couple of men dressed as police officers head my way.
“Excuse me, miss?” The beefy tan one with a mean look on his well-chiseled face points my way. “I’m going to have to arrest you.”
“For what?” I squawk as my body heat spikes. Jasper is going to stomp our relationship out like a grease fire if I keep ending up in the pokey—the pokey that employs him no less.
The other beefy officer steps forward and smacks his nightstick against his palm.
“For looking too hot to handle.” He sheds a toothy grin.
A hard groan comes from me as the reality of this raunchy situation starts to take shape.
The two men begin a hip-swaying dance, and in a New York minute their clothes go flying, and women are screaming at the top of their lungs.
The one with the toothy grin scoops me up and hoists me over his shoulders, and much to the delight of the entire room, he gives my bottom a couple of quick pats.
Before I can demand to be set down, or admire his lats, another set of men head in this direction—one of which I happen to be engaged to at the moment.
Here’s hoping that moment isn’t fleeting.
Leo gravels out a dark laugh. “Hey, Bizzy. I’m just here for the food. Nice to see you hanging out and letting your hair down.” Figuratively and literally, he says, moving past me as he makes his way to Emmie.
“Jasper.” I manufacture a smile. “What a surprise to see you here.”
His brows hike a notch. “You can’t possibly be as surprised as I am.” He shoots the man holding me a death stare, and soon I’m in Jasper’s arms as a crooked smile begins to bloom on my face.
“How did you know to find me here?” I give his tie a quick scratch. “And by the way, I had nothing to do with this.”
“My mother invited me to dinner. As soon as I saw she wanted to meet at the Salty Wench, I had a hunch there would be trouble.”
“Hey? Maybe I can use that as my new surname. Bizzy Trouble.”
His chest bumps with a laugh as the music grows slow and moody. “You do realize Wilder is only a hair off from trouble.”
“It must be fate,” I say. “How about we hit the dance floor, and then maybe we can graze our way through that buffet on the table?”
“When in Rome.”
Jasper and I opt to make out like teenagers while moving our bodies in time to the music, no holds barred, lots of tongue action. I figure it serves Gwyneth right to have to witness it after demanding that Jasper witness me in the arms of another man.
We drink, eat, and do our best to be merry for the next few hours until we decide to call it a night.
By the time Jasper and I get home, it’s almost eleven.
A devilish smile percolates on his lips. “I don’t feel like saying goodnight.”
“Lucky for you, I don’t either,” I tell him. “You up for a hot date?”
“Your place or mine?”
“Julian Fletcher’s place,” I say. “Rumor has it, he’s got the dirt on someone in one of his prized notebooks, where he kept all his best secrets.”
“Bizzy.” Jasper gives a long blink. “You’re going to go through with this no matter what I say, aren’t you?”
I nod his way, and he gives a deep sigh in response.
“Now, who do we have to see about gaining access to his home?” I ask.
He presses those quicksilver eyes my way. “The lead homicide detective in the case just so happens to have a set
