It sounded like those brothers needed some bonding time. “Well, you should know I don’t suspect you. I had a bad reaction to Lucy being involved at all. I’m seeing things much more clearly today. I’ve got some questions I want to ask, and the first one is about how the father’s will is structured and who benefits from Brock dying.”
“Anyone who ever had to serve him.” Van grimaced. “See, that’s where my brother would smack the back of my head and call me a dumbass because I said that out loud.”
“I was thinking more in a financial sense. Like I said, if this had been about anger, I would bet on a different method of murder.” This hadn’t been a crime of passion. This was a cold, calculated kill. It likely hadn’t hurt that the out of towners would view Bliss as some sleepy place where the local law enforcement wouldn’t have much pull with the state investigators. A person with wealth and privilege often thought those things would protect them from the responsibility of their actions. He’d met plenty of people who believed they were far smarter than they actually were. “I know it’s stressful, but I truly believe this is going to be okay. Give us a little time and be careful around the Fosters. Are you working today?”
“No, it’s my day off. I’m planning on going back upstairs and hiding for the rest of the day,” Van admitted. “I only came down to sign off on some paperwork. I actually saw one of the fuckers coming down the hall and ducked into the break room.”
“One of the siblings? Why would they be here in the employee wing?”
Van shrugged. “No idea. It was the younger dude. He must have swiped a key card from someone. Not that it’s a hard thing to do, but I don’t know why he would come over here unless he wanted to start some shit. You don’t think he’s going to confront me, do you? Or Lucy… Ty’s with her, right?”
Ty wouldn’t let Lucy out of his sight. But Ty also wouldn’t know how to deal with an angry confrontation. He might lose his shit, and then he would be in trouble, too. “Which way did he go?”
Van gestured toward the west end of the hall. “He was going that way. He could get to the stairs. The key card would make the east elevators work, but you have to use it with an employee code, and he wouldn’t be able to steal one of those. The stairs only require the card.”
So he was trying to get into the employee housing units. Michael didn’t like the sound of that. He pulled his cell out and quickly dialed Ty’s number.
It went to voicemail.
He started down the hallway, dialing Lucy. She didn’t answer either.
“Should I call security?” Van followed behind him.
“Yes,” Michael replied. “Tell them we have a potential problem and then stay in the break room.”
He jogged down the hallway, trying to pull up Nate Wright’s number on his phone.
“Hey, we don’t want any trouble.”
Michael stopped before he turned the corner because that was Ty’s voice.
He went still for a moment, his blood chilling as Chet replied.
“If you didn’t want any trouble, then maybe that bitch shouldn’t have killed my brother.”
Michael’s heart rate tripled as the endless, awful possibilities ran through his head.
“I didn’t kill anyone, Mr. Foster.” Lucy sounded calm and cool. “It wasn’t me.”
“No one else would have wanted him dead. We talked about it all last night. He was my brother, and it’s my duty to avenge him.” Chet was anything but calm and cool. His voice shook.
Michael eased around the corner and got lucky. Chet was facing away from him. It looked like Lucy and Ty had come off the private elevator that led to the Roberts’ suite. Chet was roughly thirty feet away, and he was holding a gun. Michael couldn’t get a good look at it from this angle.
He had to be careful. He didn’t want that gun to go off and possibly hit either one of them.
“You don’t need revenge on me.” Lucy was behind Ty, who’d obviously placed his body between her and the gun.
“That’s not what my sister says. I’m the man of the family now, and I have to fix this problem.” Chet’s whole body was trembling. “My father can’t do it, so it’s up to me.”
Michael caught the moment Lucy saw him. Her eyes went wide, but she didn’t draw attention. Ty had backed her against the wall. He’d run out of space, and Michael could practically feel his partner’s fear. He wouldn’t be afraid for himself. Ty would be terrified of losing Lucy.
“You don’t have to do anything at all,” Lucy said.
“I can’t leave it. I can’t. He was my brother.” Chet sounded tortured. “He was a Foster. We’re not like the rest of you. Brock taught me that. We’re kings. We were born that way, and someone has to teach the peasants how to behave.”
His arm raised, and that was when Michael leaped. He launched himself onto Chet as the gun went off, the sound shocking in the small hallway. Michael tackled the man, landing his full weight on him and bringing them both to the floor.
“Get the gun,” Michael commanded.
Ty picked it up as the elevator doors opened and Nate came out, gun drawn and ready, Cam at his back.
Nate quickly holstered his weapon in exchange for a pair of cuffs. “Damn it. What the hell is going on? Security called. They said they caught someone trying to assault a couple of employees outside this elevator.”
Chet’s body bucked. “Get off me. What the hell are you doing?”
Nate knelt down and had the man in cuffs. “Arresting you, though I don’t have a place to put you until we can get off the mountain. Cam, let’s strap this fucker to the back of a snowmobile and take him to jail.”
“You didn’t bother to arrest the woman who killed my brother.” Chet’s eyes were red enough that Michael wondered if he was on something.
Michael got to his feet and looked over to where Ty was still standing in front of Lucy, obviously not sure the threat had passed.
Or he was trying to protect her from more than Chet. Michael’s heart clenched at the thought that Ty might be trying to protect her from him.
“No, I haven’t.” Nate helped Cam haul Chet to his feet. “But I do think you’re right. I think a woman might have done this. Now it’s all about proving it. But you don’t worry about a thing. You’ve got your own problems.”
“I’m going to sue this place for everything it’s worth. I mean it. I will not be treated this way,” Chet vowed.
“And yet you are,” Cam assured him. “Hope you’ve got a good coat. It’s going to be a long trip down this mountain.”
Cam started to haul the man off. Nate turned Michael’s way. “I’m going to need a report. I take it he came looking for revenge.”
“We’re okay.” Lucy moved to Ty’s side. “Michael was here. He saved us.”
“You made it easy, baby. You both did. You stayed calm.” He needed them to know how proud he was.
Ty’s shoulders shrugged. “There are a couple of things you learn to do as a citizen of Bliss. Don’t fuck with the beekeeper who supplies Stella’s creamed honey. Aliens like to probe you so eat your beets. And stay calm when someone pulls a gun because someone always pulls a gun.”