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"You’re involved, either way," Mike explained "He was your employee, and you had an altercation with hi to need a statement Now, rumor has it that you and both of your brothers were at Marnie’s recently, and there was quite a scene This or, and his body was still e tried to revive hih theThere are also sole"
"I punched him before his death," Slade ad on his face"
Mike nodded, jotting a few notes "Thanks, but there’s ing I don’t believe for a second this , not high enough for the long fall necessary to break someone’s neck
Yet it appears that’s what happened It takes uess to kill a man that way None of this adds up"
Dex looked around the roo froet up there? Did you move a chair? A table?" Mike wiped a hand across his face and looked like he would really rather be fishing "That would be question nu has been moved except the body, and that was only moved in an attempt to revive hione" Slade came to several conclusions, none of them pleasant Preston hadn’t been the tallest ht feet He would have needed soht "So unless he jumped, then someone helped him up there Thator did so on at Black Oak that I should know about?" Mike asked "Any takeover attee?"
Corporate politics could be nasty, but Black Oak Oil was solid They weren’t developing anything another co oil and refining it
Slade had a bad feeling that this wasn’t about Black Oak Oil at all This was about Hannah
Everything had been about her, he suspected, like the virus being uploaded to the site Someone had followed his obsession over three thousand miles That was sick dedication
Soined
"Where are the techs, Scott and Lyle?" Slade asked, his voice hoarse
He ran through the series of events and came to one conclusion: The murderer--and Hannah’s stalker--had to be one of them Lyle had been in the office when Dex had carried Hannah out Scott had planned an "i what it was, either could have easily found out where he and his brothers had taken her Either could have uploaded the virus
"As far as I know, they’re at the lodge I was going to head over there and talk to theo anywhere until tomorrow The only way out is by plane, and Ji to Marnie," Mike explained
Whichever tech was the guilty party, he wouldn’t want to leave He would still want Hannah--quickly--before anyone had tiure out that Preston had beenHannahto the house Anyone with access to a car could do that
His blood running cold, Slade punched in Gavin’s number He would tell his older brother to take Hannah into the mountains Gavin knew that terrain in a way Scott and Lyle wouldn’t
Hunting cabins dotted the mountainside Anyone asn’t familiar with the area would need a map to find them She would be safe Gavin would shoot anyone who ca Poor signal all of a sudden His phone was useless
"I can’t get a signal" Panic threatened to overtake him He picked up the nearest landline and dialed the house
After ten rings, he gave up Dex stared at hiood news
Slade wished he could lie "He isn’t answering"
Dex swore "I’reed "Sheriff, we’re going to need to borrow a car"
Hannah left the bathroo a bitout She’d likely get in trouble for re it, but she seriously doubted that Dex or Slade had intended that she wear it all day
Besides, she wouldn’t really ht actually like it
Hannah Craig liked spankings Bye bye, good girl
But irl Maybe it just made her honest with herself She’d spent soto be what everyone around her expected that she’d forgotten to just be her
As hard as shewith loving threeanyone Why did there have to be a boundary on love?
She didn’t bother to close the curtains as she walked into the bedroo bay s offered an a It was such a change fro su seemed lush and vibrant in air so fresh and crisp that it was a joy to breathe
She felt truly alive for the first ti, but it was o because she was s But the Lord above knew that she’d said soretted She didn’t think Gavin would hurt her again And if he did, Dex and Slade would kick hih the s, and Hannah opened the French doors that led to the patio with a smile She was only dressed in her robe, but there wasn’t anyone around to see her
It was nice to be alone for a
She breathed in the slightly chilly air and thought seriously about dropping the robe to feel the breeze on her skin If she did, the brothers would find her that way, lounging naked on the patio, reveling in her newfound sensuality Dex would be the first to attack her, and Slade would follow, their hands, lips, and tongues roa her body feverishly
She would look up, and Gavin would be watching, waiting to see if she would let hi love with hi to talk Well,to try She couldn’t let her fear rule her If Gavin walked out again, then she would deal with it That was a risk every worasped the tie of her robe She was just about to let it drop when she heard a voice