by Smoke, Lucy
His jaw clenched, his eyes turning fiery and molten. "Is that what you want?" he asked slowly.
I shook my head. "I'm not making a decision right now," I huffed. "I'm asking if, hypothetically, I did choose one of the others and it wasn't you, how would you feel?"
Marv blew out a breath. "Well, yeah, I wouldn't like it."
I nodded. "Would you ever be able to work with me and whoever I choose and not get jealous?"
"I..." He trailed off, looking at me as if searching for the answer I wanted. That was the problem, though—the answer I wanted, neither of us had. "I'd have to get over it?" He formed the statement as though it was a question and grimaced as though he didn't like the thought.
"That's it then?" I asked. "You and two others would have to just 'get over it'? Am I that easy to 'get over'?"
"That's not what I meant," he replied, his brows lowering to form a crevice between them. "I mean that we'd just have to accept your decision."
"And if you couldn't?" My heart hammered in my chest. "I don't know if I could get over it if you were choosing between me and one other girl much less three or four."
"So, what then?" he asked, frustration clear in his tone. "You want me to just choose you and these hypothetical girls?"
I flinched. That wasn't what I was saying. I was just trying to make a point and show him how difficult this was for me. It wasn't as easy as he and the guys seemed to think it was. They seemed to think that I could just spend time with all of them and then Bam! I'd have a decision made. But then I thought about it. If Marv had to choose between me and other girls, what would I do? Would I just give up and walk away because he hadn't chosen me right off the bat? Or would I do something else?
"Maybe," I began, "maybe I'd be okay if you had me." I swallowed roughly. "And if you couldn't choose, at least I'd know that I, at least, had some part of you." I pulled away from him and his shocked expression and turned back down the path. "But that's never going to happen, so let's just go."
Chapter 8
The moment I saw the dark SUV in the driveway, I knew Knix and Bellamy were here. Despite my conversation with Marv, and the thoughts on choosing between the guys pulling my mood down, I couldn't contain my excitement. I raced up the steps and into the house, leaping on the first person I saw, which just so happened to be Bellamy.
“Bellamy!" I squeezed my arms around his neck as his wide palms hooked under my thighs and lifted me against his chest.
Chuckling, he nuzzled into the side of my neck. "I missed you too, Sweetheart."
"What about me?" Knix asked, coming around the corner from the hallway. The moment Bellamy released me and let me slide down his front, I attacked Knix as well.
"I missed you too!" Knix laughed and lifted me up in much the same fashion as Bellamy. Knix, however, was much taller and I scrunched my head down, trying not to hit the ceiling. "I tried calling you guys, but it went straight to voicemail." There was a question in my tone despite the statement and, when Knix finally put me down, Bellamy shot me an apologetic look. Marv stood to the side, a frown on his face.
"We left our phones in Charleston," Knix said, “and got new ones for the trip.”
"Why?" I asked.
Bellamy and Knix shot each other an enigmatic look. "Does it have something to do with Iris?" a new voice asked. All eyes turned towards the doorway at our back, where Texas and Grayson stood side by side. Marv didn't say anything, but if his rigid features were anything to go by, then he was obviously displeased by Grayson's question.
Knix frowned. "Not exactly, but we've been doing some research on our own. There's been some questionable activity with the rehabilitation facility that your brother was checked into."
Grayson stepped forward, expression clouded with frustration and maybe even a little anger. Texas followed, almost as if he was standing by to watch what he would do, ready to step in if necessary. "What kind of questionable activity?" Grayson demanded.
"Maybe we should all take a seat?" Bellamy suggested.
Grayson scowled but didn't say anything more as we all moved into the living room and took our seats. Knix stayed standing while Bellamy sidled up next to me, and Texas plopped down on the floor between my legs. I smiled back at him and slid my hands into his hair, finger-combing the strands when he tilted his face up to grin at me. Knix stood at the front of the room and crossed his arms. Whenever he got into his team lead role, he seemed to appear larger—more imposing, if that was possible.
"The Greenwood Rehabilitation Center is owned by a corporation that, for all intents and purposes, specializes in the healthcare industry," he started.
"For all intents and purposes?" Grayson asked. Marv shot him a look that was obviously meant to shut him up, but Grayson didn't see it and I released Texas' hair, reaching over and touching Marv's arm to stop him from saying anything.
Knix sighed, ignoring the subtleties going on in front of him and focusing his gaze on Grayson. "The corporation appears to only have a select few actual physical locations—Greenwood Rehab being one of them—while according to their social media, website, marketing, etcetera, they have a far reach. They don't. They used to have a much farther reach before another corporation bought them out. The current head of Greenwood Rehab, Bernard Holding, was introduced just after the buy-out."
"So, he's the new corporation's go-to man?" Marv leaned forward as Knix nodded. Grayson eyed Marv with barely suppressed irritation.
"It appears so."
I shook my head. "I don't understand—what does Josh's rehab facility being owned by a new corporation have to do with anything?"
It was Bellamy who answered. "Because the new corporation is H. B. Holdings, and H. B. Holdings is a dummy corporation for drug running."
"What?" My face wasn't the only one that paled. Grayson stood abruptly and looked at the rest of us, shock and dawning horror crossing over his face.
"I put my drug addict of a brother in the hands of drug runners?"
I stood, sliding around Texas and moved towards Grayson, but he backed away, halting my movement with raised palms. His hands trembled as they dropped back down to his sides and he shook his head, but the horror and guilt on his face never left.
"Grayson, it's not your fault. How could you have known?" I assured him. Inside, my mind was chaos. My best friend was missing. Josh was missing. And now dummy corporations and drug dealers were in the mix? God, I didn't know how this could get any worse.
"Grayson, calm down," Knix urged with a soft tone. "We still don't know if the fact that the facility is run by H. B. Holdings and Josh and Erika's disappearance have any connection."
"No connection? How could it not? They're probably in there, selling drugs to addicts! I toured this fucking facility. I paid for it out of pocket. They probably automatically assumed that Josh was just another rich guy with a problem. He's the perfect target." Grayson's voice became louder and louder the more panicked he got. "Fuck!" He turned and slammed his fist into the wall. "How can you say it's not my fucking fault? I'm the one that put him in there."
Even Marv seemed to reserve some sympathy for Grayson as he unleashed.
"Let's just calm down," Bellamy said. "There's more."
Grayson's shoulders trembled with emotion. He rarely seemed to ever let anything get to him. It was hard seeing him so upset. But with Bellamy's words, his arm dropped away from the wall and he rubbed his hand roughly down his face and retook his seat, avoiding looking at the rest of us. Texas reached up for my hand and tugged me back. Even as I sat back down, however, I kept my gaze on Grayson. Knix waited until everyone was resettled before dropping the ball.
"We left our phones back in Charleston because Bellamy and I are going undercover in the Greenwood facility," he said.
My eyes widened. "How are you doing that?"
They exchanged looks before Bellamy spoke up. "The facility allows outside contractors to come in for things like artistic therapy," he answered. It didn't surprise me much when he co
ntinued. "I'll be going in as one of those contractors as an assistant teacher for art therapy.”
"You're planning on asking around and trying to find any evidence of them selling to the residents," Texas said. Though it wasn’t a question, Bellamy still nodded.
"What about what Texas and Grayson found?" Marv asked before looking to me. "Harlow actually discovered something when she met with Erika's advisor today."
All eyes turned to me. Once, I might have shrunk down, but I had been with these guys long enough that I was comfortable sitting forward and meeting their gazes. "Erika planned on taking a break from the university," I relay. "She knew she'd be leaving." And, that, I still didn’t understand.
Knix frowned but nodded my way. “Good work. We’re getting more information at least.”
“When do you and Bellamy start?” Texas asked, leaning forward. “Do you think I could get in as a security or IT guy?”
“Not this time,” Marv said. “They would recognize you as one of the detectives that looked at the video footage.”
“Dang it.” Texas slumped back against my legs again before tipping his head back to look up at me. “At least I get to stay here with you, Spider Princess.”
I rolled my eyes before reaching forward to tousle his hair. “In your dreams.”
He grinned wickedly. “You’re right. In fact, that makes me tired right now.” He stood abruptly and lifted me from the couch. I squealed as he swung me around in his arms. “Let’s go to bed and make those dreams come true,” he suggested with a laugh.
“Put her down,” Knix ordered. Both of us blinked at the darkness of his tone and Texas quickly deposited me back on the couch.
“Sorry, boss, I was just trying to lighten the mood.”
Knix sighed, "I know, Tex, and normally I would appreciate that. But this has gotten a little bit more serious than a couple of missing persons. Let's focus."
"Shouldn't we actually go to the police now?" I asked. I looked around the room, frowning. It seemed obvious now that we were in over our heads. It was one thing to take on jobs for Iris. It was another to go looking for people we cared about. And then it was something completely different to involve ourselves with possible drug dealers.
"That would be the best option," Knix said, nodding. "And we would like to, but things aren't that simple."
"Why?" Marv asked, sounding just as confused as I was.
“Because Alex already went to them and the police can’t do anything,” Bellamy confessed. All eyes turned to him.
That didn’t make any sense. “What do you mean they can’t do anything?”
“They’ve been trying to get something on H. B. Holdings for several months, but there is no evidence of any connections to drugs,” Knix explained.
“Then how do you know they do?” Texas looked just as confused as me. Where were we going wrong? There was still so much that hadn’t been explained.
Knix held his hands up placatingly. “There has been speculation for years, but no substantial evidence. They work in the healthcare industry, so it’s only natural that they have access to medical grade drugs. There have been reports of those drugs disappearing or some of their drugs not working—to which a lot of people appeared to have had their pills swapped out for sugar pills or other substitutes.”
“Okay.” I nodded, looking down at my lap before glancing to Marv. “Do you still have that puzzle drawing?”
He blinked before nodding and pulled out the folded-up piece of paper from his pocket. I took it from him and unfolded it, laying it down and smoothing the edges on my lap. “Does anyone have a pen?” I held my hand out and a moment later, someone handed me one.
“What’s this?” Knix asked. At the same time, Bellamy shifted closer and peered over my shoulder as I scribbled some new notes.
“It’s something Marv came up with,” I said. “I’m trying to figure out how all of our puzzle pieces connect.”
I stared at the paper, noting the things we had discovered:
Josh is missing.
Erika is missing.
Erika prearranged her break.
H. B. Holdings owns Greenwood Rehab.
H. B. Holdings might be selling drugs.
I stopped on the drugs. Josh was a drug addict—that’s why he was in rehab. Josh was an addict in rehab for his drug addiction. If H.B. Holdings was selling their medical grade drugs on the side, but no one was catching them, then how were they doing it? And how did Erika fit in?
Erika had been acting strange the last time we met up and saw each other—the night we had gone to that dance club. It still didn't make a whole lot of sense for her to be hitting on guys and trying to get them to buy her drinks if she was still with Josh back then. Marv was right, if there was one advantage that we had, then it was that I knew Erika. I knew her well. She wouldn't cheat on Josh. That's just not who she was as a person. So, that begged the question, why had she been acting like that? She would have told me that she and Josh weren't together if they had broken up. No, she had made it seem like they were still together, and she was just in town to see me and have fun, but what if there had been an alternative reason.
It stung to think of my best friend as though she had been using me, and even as I put the pieces together that didn't really seem to be the case. I closed my eyes and tried to remember. That night wasn't a blur, it was very precise, but I was so focused on the girl in the bathroom that my memories of Erika were a bit fuzzy. What had she been doing when I came back from the bathroom? She had been surrounded by guys.
"Harlow?" Knix's voice sounded far away, and I ignored the question in his tone as I focused on trying to remember. I was close, so close I could practically taste it. What was I not remembering?
"She was..." Her hands, they hadn't been where they should have been. They were...Erika was—I got it. I looked up abruptly, startling those closest to me—Bellamy, Marv, and Texas all jerked back.
"Harlow?" Knix drew my attention.
"Erika needed money," I said. "She was stealing from the guys she was flirting with the night at the club." Marv's eyebrows shot up and Grayson frowned. "Are you sure?" Knix asked.
I shook my head. "Not like a hundred percent, but if she was stealing because she needed money then it was probably for Josh. She's a loyal girlfriend and, to my knowledge, at the time, they hadn't, or I guess, still haven't, broken up. So, it didn't make any sense to me why she was hitting on guys and enjoying them hitting on her so much. Plus, she was never really a club going person. I mean, for our graduation party we just took some of her parents' beers and camped out on the beach. We didn't even consider going to a party."
Grayson got a peculiar look in his eyes as he stared at me. "Do you have an idea?" I asked.
He stood slowly, stepping around Marv and reached down for the paper in my lap. "I think..." he trailed off, focusing on the puzzle drawing. "I think it does connect back to H. B. Holdings, then." He tapped the piece where H. B. Holdings had been written in the space. "And I think I know how they're selling their drugs without anyone knowing."
I gasped, standing abruptly. "Oh, my God!" It was right there! He was right. It was almost too obvious now.
"What?" Texas looked back and forth between Grayson and me.
"You're right!" I proclaimed. I probably shouldn't have been so excited—it wasn't a good thing, but we figured it out. I couldn't believe it.
"What?" Bellamy repeated Texas.
Together, Grayson and I turned towards the group. "They’re selling it to their patients," Grayson said. "Who better to sell to than addicts? They have a whole host of customers at their fingertips." Knix's eyes widened before he nodded. "That makes sense. When Joshua was admitted, he would have seemed like the perfect score for them." A dark cloud passed over Grayson's face and I put a palm on his arm, ignoring the way Marv looked at us with a dark frown and lowered brows. His lip curled in irritation, but he remained quiet.
"Hey," I said, "remember, it's not your fault. At le
ast we figured it out. Let's just find a way to...um..." Actually, I didn't know what we were supposed to do next. I looked to Knix pleadingly.
He cleared his throat, catching on quickly. "We have to get evidence against them," he said firmly.
"That still doesn't explain why Erika and Josh went missing," Bellamy pointed out. Crap, he was right. But before I could panic, Texas came up with the perfect explanation.
"Josh doesn't actually have access to money, right?" he asked Grayson. Grayson nodded. "But they would have thought he did, so they might have sold to him on credit. If he and Erika were still together and she now knows about his problems, then maybe he opened up to her about it. You did say that she was loyal, Harlow; maybe Josh convinced her to help him pay."
"Would they have expected him to pay when he was being released?" Marv finally asked. "I mean it would make sense for him to be unable to pay if he was in the facility since it's pretty rare for patients to be given access to finances unless there are special circumstances."
Texas looked to Grayson. "When was Josh expected to be released?"
"This week," he answered.
Texas nodded. "Then it's expected that he knew his time to pay was coming up and he probably didn't have enough money."
"Do you think Erika went with him then?" I asked.
"Maybe," Texas said, sympathy clear in his dark brown eyes. "If she is, maybe she just didn't want to involve you," he suggested.
"Yeah," I said, "maybe."
Knix clapped loudly to regain our attention. "This is good, guys. Good steps forward. Good work. Now, we just need to focus on each of our projects." He nodded to Bellamy. "Bellamy and I are still going to go undercover and try to ask around. If that is the case, then there may be a few employees there under the drug payroll." Knix turned his gaze to Grayson. “I want you and Texas to continue the search for Josh."