Tangled Web: A Small Town Romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 6)

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  “Mr. Cortell—“

  “Andrew,” I interrupted.

  “Right,” he smiled tightly. “My name is—“

  “Andrew!” My head swiveled at the sound of Jack’s booming voice. I sighed and nodded to him as he approached the booth.

  “Jack, how can I help you?”

  “Did I just see you jaywalk?”

  My eyebrows shot up as I gaped at him. “I’m sorry, what?”

  He nodded out the window. “Yep, I saw you on the way over here. Jaywalking is against the law.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “As a heart attack. I’m afraid I’m gonna have to fine you.”

  My jaw dropped as he pulled out his pad and started writing me a ticket. He finished up and handed it over with a smile.

  “You have a good day now.”

  The man across the table from me snorted. “You must have really pissed him off.”

  “You have no idea,” I grumbled.

  “Anyway, my name is Bartholomew Henning.” I pulled my lips tight to keep from laughing at the name. He couldn’t help that he was named Bartholomew. “My father recently passed away and all of his finances were wrapped up in a trust that went to his wife.”

  “Your mother,” I clarified.

  His face tightened and he shook his head. “My step-mother.”

  “Ah, and I take it you didn’t get along with mommy dearest.”

  “You could say that.”

  “Okay, so what do you need? I’m not into illegal shit, so don’t ask me to steal money.”

  A glimmer filled his eyes and he grinned. “I don’t need you to do anything illegal. What I need from you is to catch a murderer.”

  Okay, I did not expect that. I leaned back in my seat and waited for some kind of explanation.

  “I’m glad I’ve caught your attention.”

  I held up my hand. “Before we go any further, why me? You could have contacted any number of PIs that do this shit for a living.”

  “I’ve heard about your skills. I’ve done my research on you. Before you started your little PI business, you were a hacker. One of the best.”

  “I don’t do that anymore.”

  “I’m sure your skills still come in handy when you need them.”

  “But you’re looking for a murderer. I’m more into cybercrime. Where did you say you’re from?”

  “Buffalo.”

  “New York?” He nodded. “How exactly do you expect me to find a murderer in New York when I live here?”

  “Because she’s here, in your quaint little town.”

  I huffed out a laugh, scratching at my jaw. “Are you shitting me?”

  He smirked at me. “Not at all. Would you like to hear more?”

  I wasn’t sure. I was intrigued for sure, and this would be a lot different from other cases I had worked, but how the hell was I going to catch a murderer? Wouldn’t this be something for the police to figure out? I was good at stuff online, but there had to be more than what I was seeing.

  “I’m listening.”

  He pulled out a file folder and turned it to face me, opening it up to reveal a woman that I wasn’t expecting at all. She was young, close to my age, and she was sexy as hell. She had long, dark hair and a face that could both lure a man in and slay him all at once. She was fucking gorgeous. In the pictures in front of me, she was dressed in fancy clothes, nice clothes that screamed money.

  “This is my step-mother.”

  “A little young for that job.”

  “Precisely.”

  “And why is it that you assume she’s a murderer?”

  “Because my father died of a heart attack at the age of forty-seven.”

  “That’s not exactly proof.”

  “And the trust was signed over completely to her, all his assets were in her name.”

  A little more convincing, but still not enough to go on. “I’m still not convinced.”

  “They were only married for a year.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You’ve never heard of someone dying a year into marriage?”

  He pulled out a second folder and opened it. “This is Matthew Grimes, age eighteen. He grew up with Lorelei Henning, or Lorelei Colson at the time, but mysteriously died of a heart attack at the age of eighteen.”

  My brows furrowed and I pulled the file closer, reading through the details. “It says that he had a heart condition.”

  “Yes, but the doctor also said that it would have taken extreme stress for his heart to give out as it did. Then, several years later, she started dating Murray Claybourne, a financial advisor. He died mysteriously in a single person car accident. The police reports say that he fell asleep at the wheel.”

  “But you don’t think he did.”

  He shook his head. “There’s evidence that another person was in the car that night, but they never did find out who that was.”

  “So, you think she was in the car and caused the accident?”

  “The police report shows that Murray was driving erratically. The tire marks show that he was skidding all over the road.”

  I nodded. “Like if someone was jerking the wheel and trying to cause it to crash.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Why do you think she would have killed these two people?”

  “I think she’s a black widow.”

  My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “She would have to have some sort of gain for her to be a black widow. Did you find any evidence of that with the first two deaths?”

  “That’s why I want to hire you. I want you to dig into this woman and find out if she is what I think she is.”

  I had to admit, this was much more intriguing than I initially thought. I picked up the picture of her and tried not to let my body react to her, because she was incredibly beautiful, but she also might be a killer. But she was also living in this town, and the last thing we needed was a serial killer on the loose. Been there, done that.

  “If I take this case, I do things my way. I need time to properly investigate.”

  “Done. I’ll also send over all the information I have on her and my father.”

  “Not necessary. I do my own research, and that’s the only way I do things.”

  He looked like he wanted to argue, but just nodded. “One thing you will need are the terms of the trust. You won’t be able to get that from anyone but me.”

  I smirked at him. “I think you’d be surprised what I can get.”

  “I have no doubt. That’s why I came to you. But please remember one thing as you go forward. Lorelei is very deceptive. She’s conned everyone into thinking that she loved my father very much. She played the part perfectly, even in front of my brother and sister.”

  “Then what makes you so sure that she did this?”

  He stood up and buttoned his jacket. “There’s one thing you’ll realize about my father as you dig through his life. He was a bastard that didn’t care about anything or anyone. He put on a great show, but he was ruthless and he never let anyone get in his way. He never would have handed over his assets to his wife, who doesn’t even have a business degree. He would have set up a board of directors with me as CEO.”

  “He wouldn’t have just handed over the reins to you?”

  “No, he didn’t even trust me enough for that. If people really knew him, he would have been hated more than any man on the planet. That’s how I know that Lorelei had something to do with his death. She pretended to love him too much.”

  And with that, he strode away, leaving me with the files he had created to compel me to take the case.

  I carried the pizza boxes up the steps to Eric’s house and grinned when Kat opened the door. “Hey, quiche-girl.”

  “You guys really need to stop calling me that.”

  I leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek as I passed. “Not a chance. You can take the Millennial out of the man, but not the nicknames. They’re here to stay.”

  She eyed all the boxes hungrily. �
�Did you bring me a cheese pizza?”

  “What do you think?”

  “I think you would do it just so I had to share a pizza with you again, and then you could hold it over my head for the rest of my life.”

  “Would I really do that?”

  She narrowed her eyes at me and nodded. “Yes, you would, because you want to be my favorite brother.”

  I smiled big at that. Kat had a special place in my heart and always would. “Top box.”

  She squealed slightly and snatched the box off the top. “You’re the best.”

  I blushed, because hell, this woman had the ability to make me buckle at the knees for her, not in a boyfriend kind of way. Still, I craved her acceptance. She was the sister I always wanted. I liked the other girls also. Hell, they were all awesome in their own way, but Kat was the first, and she always took care of me.

  “Do you have any interesting cases?” she asked as she opened the box and pulled out a slice.

  “Actually, I just met up with a new client this morning. It’s…definitely interesting.”

  “Yeah? Can you tell me about it?”

  I shook my head. “Client confidentiality.”

  “Yeah, I forgot that you’re a professional hacker now and all.”

  “That’s right. A regular gumshoe.”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “If you were a regular gumshoe, then you would wear one of those funky hats and hold a magnifying glass.”

  “I haven’t ruled that out yet. I think I need to create a style all my own, something that really speaks to who I am.”

  “Like Hacker Holmes.” I cringed. “Ooh, or Detective Web.”

  “Those are both terrible names. Besides, I already told you that I’m the Hacker of All Trades.”

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you’re a gumshoe.” She pulled out her phone and started typing something.

  “What are you doing?”

  “What you guys do.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  She looked up and grinned at me. “I’m polling the town.”

  I reached across the table to snatch the phone, but she stood suddenly and raced into the other room. My eyes widened in shock and panic. She was running. I ran after her, afraid she was going to trip or fall. Neither was acceptable in her condition.

  “Stop running!”

  She flopped down on the couch, laughing, but I didn’t find it funny. “Are you hurt? Is everything okay? How’s the baby?”

  I leaned over to check her over, but she slapped my hand away. I started freaking out big time, running my hand over my head as panic took over. “Oh shit. This is not good.”

  “What’s not good?”

  I swallowed hard and pulled out my phone, shooting off a text to Eric.

  “What are you doing?” Kat asked. “What’s wrong?”

  “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” I laughed humorlessly, shaking my head that she just didn’t get it. “I can’t believe you don’t get what’s wrong.”

  “I can’t believe that you think something is wrong.”

  I started pacing the room, wondering what the hell was taking Eric so long. It was absolutely ridiculous. She was here, all by herself. What if something had happened?

  The back door swung open and Eric charged in, his face full of panic. “What the hell happened?”

  I glared at Kat, turning the heat to Eric. “You want to know what happened?”

  “I’d like to know,” Kat muttered.

  “I caught your woman running. Running,” I said harshly.

  Eric turned his gaze on Kat and shook his head. “You were running? What the hell were you thinking?”

  “What was I thinking? I’m still trying to figure out what the hell you’re thinking!”

  “Me?” Eric said incredulously. “I’m not the one that’s pregnant!”

  “So, I can’t run if I’m pregnant?”

  Eric’s eyes widened and he looked like he was grasping for sanity, and then he exploded. “No! Do you have any idea what might have happened?”

  Kat looked at both of us like we were insane. “Um…I might have gotten some exercise?”

  “Exercise,” I huffed, turning to Eric. “She thinks she would have gotten exercise. Can you believe this?”

  “No, and frankly, I can’t believe you would be so careless with your life, with our child’s life!”

  Kat put her hands on her hips, her eyes pinched in confusion. “Whoa, back up just a minute here. You think I put our child’s life at risk because I was running?”

  Eric scoffed, looking up at the ceiling like he was praying for divine intervention. I was right there with him. I didn’t understand what the hell she was thinking. “She doesn’t get it,” he muttered to himself. “She doesn’t see how she could have endangered herself or our child.”

  “Well, let’s not be too hard on her. This was her first offense.”

  “Excuse me?” Kat gaped. “My first offense? And what happens the next time I decide to run, or hell, even skip! Are you going to lock me up? Or do I just pay a fine?”

  “This isn’t the time to mess with me,” Eric growled. “That’s my child in there.”

  “I’m aware, since it’s in my body and all. What I don’t understand is why you think I’ll harm our child by running.”

  “You know what? I don’t have time for this right now. I have a business to run. I have things to do.”

  “Well, I’m so glad that you have all those things to do. I have things to do also, and they all include you not being here.”

  “Like I would trust you here by yourself.”

  “Don’t look at me,” I said as Eric glared at me. “No, I have shit to do. She can go hang out with Anna.”

  Eric sighed heavily. “Fine, but any hint of wrongdoing and you’ll be following me around for the rest of the day.”

  I winced. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Hammers and nails…that’s just asking for trouble.”

  He nodded. “You’re right. I’ll just have to have a talk with Anna. Robert would have already talked to her.”

  “What are you two talking about?” Kat snapped. “I’m not going to the office just to sit around. It’s not happening.”

  I glanced over at Eric and he nodded. He snatched Kat up in his arms as she screamed and hit him, but he just stalked out of the house, leaving me to close up after him. Sometimes, you just had to handle things the way only a man could.

  Getting out of my truck, I could hear Kat still yelling at Eric. She was pissed, but that was just too damn bad. When I saw her running around the house, I immediately thought of her losing the baby and how devastated we had all been. I couldn’t see that dead look on her face again, or on Eric’s. It almost tore them apart, and that was just something that I couldn’t allow to happen again.

  “You’re such an ass! I can take care of myself!”

  Eric walked around the truck and grabbed Kat gently by the arm. “Kat, I know you think you can take care of yourself, but—“

  “But nothing!” she screeched. “I do not need to go upstairs and sit with Anna—“

  “You know, she has a point,” I interrupted.

  “Thank you!” Kat grinned, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “What if they decide to go out for baked goods? All it takes is one slip on the stairs. What if both of them fell? Honestly, this isn’t the place for either of them.”

  Eric’s face scrunched up as he considered what I was saying. “You’re right. That’s not safe.”

  “Now the stairs aren’t safe? Are you kidding me? People walk up and down the stairs all the time! I do it at home.”

  “Yeah, I’m gonna have to move the master bedroom downstairs,” Eric said thoughtfully.

  “I’ll come over this weekend to help you out. I’ll make sure Will and Joe can be there too.”

  “Maybe we should install a ramp over the porch stairs,” Eric added.

  I shook my head. “With winter coming, jus
t one slip on the ramp and she’s going down.”

  “That’s true. Maybe I could install a motorized chair.”

  “It’s five stairs,” Kat shouted. “I can walk up and down five stairs!”

  “What does Robert think about this?” I asked Eric. “Does he even realize how dangerous it is at the office for Anna?”

  “Shit, I didn’t even think about talking to him about it.”

  “And what about all these crazy people on the sidewalk? Any one of them could just come barreling out of a store and run right into one of them!”

  Eric snapped his fingers at me. “Good thinking. We need to warn the town.”

  I pulled out my phone and shot off a quick message on the town Facebook page. Caution!!! Three pregnant Cortell women wandering around at any given time. Watch for dangers that may pose a threat to them, and be mindful of where you step. No accidents acceptable!

  “Dammit,” Eric swore. “I don’t know how we’re going to get around the diner.”

  “What about the diner?” I asked in confusion.

  “That small step down after you enter the lobby. That’s a hazard for anyone, but for a pregnant woman?”

  I nodded and then slapped myself upside the forehead. “And what about Joe? He has those old stairs at the apartment? Shit, I left Sofia there this morning by herself. God, I’m such an idiot!”

  I turned to head back to the apartment, but came up short by Corduroy and Jack walking toward us.

  “What’s all the yelling about?” Jack asked.

  “Oh thank God!” Kat shoved past me. “Arrest them!”

  “For what?” Jack asked a little too curiously.

  “For being idiots! They want to lock Anna, Sofia, and I up because we’re pregnant, and apparently, that’s really dangerous.”

  “Lock you up?” Jack grinned. “That sounds like kidnapping.”

  “It is!”

  “Uh, Kat—“ I started, knowing exactly where this was going.

  “And just where were they planning on holding you?”

  “Probably in a bunker until our pregnancies are over,” Kat grumbled.