“I didn’t discover it until I was in the city.” He opens the thin book, pointing to the back cover where VP-K is written in ink at the top corner. “I was able to connect each of these transfers to accounts made by Victor Petrova. The only question I can’t answer is how did Hugh get it and why?”
I think about what Blake told me, and I remember that night a month ago and the dead trespasser of eastern European descent. I think I know the answers to both of these questions. “How many days has Hugh been gone?”
“Almost a week, why?”
I retrieve the note and hand it to my brother. “Read both sides.”
He quickly reads it and looks up at me. “You checked it out?”
“We counted fourteen days out of the pill bottle. It could be an exact count or he might have brought extra to cover his bases. Either way, we’re in a holding pattern until he decides to reappear and fill in the blanks.”
“Not necessarily. The men in this book all have connections in the city. They’re pretty good at covering their tracks, but I've been searching the names and addresses. It’s mostly gambling and strip clubs.”
“Laundering money the old-fashioned way.” My tone is grim, and Scar is quietly observing.
I’m about to ask his opinion when the tip line lights up, and a reedy old-lady voice leaves a message. “Hutch? Those teenagers are at it again in the woods behind Willow Run. Sounds like a keg party, but it’s too loud on a Wednesday night. They should be at church or in bed. I don’t want to call the police, but it’s a school night. Would your guys handle it?”
The line goes dead, and Scar looks at me. My mind is on Blake waiting for me at the mansion. Crawling between her luscious thighs is where my mind is, but Dirk just got back in town. It’s my turn to take the call.
“Feel like going for a ride?” I look over at Scar, and he takes his boot off his desk, standing.
“Sure.”
We’re two blocks and a medium stretch of country road before the orange light of a bonfire illuminates the trees behind a new subdivision outside the Hamiltown boundary.
“I bet they don’t have a permit for that fire.” Scar puts his truck in park and opens the door.
The woods are slowly consuming an abandoned park with a small covered shed off to the side. We’ve broken up teenage keggers here before, but in this case, the music isn’t loud. The fire is burning in a clearing, and a few teens stand around it drinking and laughing.
“She called to complain about this?” I glance over at my partner. “Hardly seems worth the effort.”
“Old people forget what it’s like to be young.”
Together, we slowly cross the dark grass. I don’t see signs of a keg, but as we get closer, what I do see stops me in my tracks. At the back of the covered shed, Hana sits on the wall with a half-drunk beer in her hands and that asshole Trip beside her looking more serious than he has all day.
A low noise rumbles from my partner, and I place my hand on his arm. “Come around back with me.”
Instead of breaking in on the kids, we follow a path into the trees where we can slip up behind the small pavilion in the darkness.
“You came here because your uncle invited you?” It sounds like an interrogation, and my fist tightens. “Out of the blue? No warning?”
“Blake said we were coming, so we came.” Hana sounds high, and I feel the waves of tension rolling off my partner. “Who cares?”
“You know who cares. You left a lot of shit unresolved.”
Hana’s head falls back, and her eyes closed. “So what.”
“So plenty.” His voice gets harder. “What does Greg want with you?”
“I don’t know him. He only talks to Blake.”
“That's probably for the best.” He steps away then turns to her quickly. “The last time you saw Debbie, what did she say?”
“I don’t remember. I want to go home.”
“Cut the crap, Hana.” He puts his hands on her arms and gives her a shake. “You’d better start remembering. Greg came here for a reason–”
“What reason is that, pretty boy?” Scar steps into the light.
Trip’s head snaps around, and when he sees my partner, his hands drop. “What are you doing here?”
“One of the quaint things about Hamiltown is people call me when kids are misbehaving in the woods. If I don’t handle it, they call the cops.”
His jaw clenches when he looks out at the teens by the fire, but just as fast, his expression melts into his fucking detached grin. “Sounds like it’s my lucky day. It was too early to go to bed, so Hana and I decided to go for a drive. Come on, Han. I’ll take you home.”
He holds out his hand to her, but she wobbles away from him. “No thank you. I don’t want to trip with you.” A woozy laugh huffs from her lips, blowing a lock of hair out of her eye. “Yak yak yak, so many questions. You’re no fun anymore.”
Scar storms forward and picks her up, holding her upper arms. She staggers a bit before shaking her head like she’s trying to clear her vision. He catches her chin, frowning hard as he looks into her eyes.
“It’s you.” Her voice turns soft, and she smiles, blinking sweetly. “I didn’t know you were coming to the party. You’re cute.”
“You’re high as a kite,” he growls in response.
Scar’s wolf eyes cut to Trip, who immediately holds up both hands. “I didn’t do it. Hana’s a grown woman. She gets her own drugs.”
My partner’s expression darkens, and he looks at me. “I’m taking her home.”
With that, he holds Hana under her arm and leads her away from the shelter. As he passes through the group of kids, he barks an order for them to break it up and go home.
One look at him, and they immediately scatter, leaving me with Trip. “You’re giving me a ride back to the mansion.”
He sweeps his arm in an annoying, dramatic fashion. “It would be my pleasure.”
As we drive to Hugh’s mansion, I study my driver. “You said you came here for a reason? What might that be?”
“To find out what happened to the girls, of course. I’ve been staying with them the past month while my mother is… between engagements.”
I’m convinced I won’t get a straight answer out of this guy on anything, but I know one thing. “If you’re smart, which I’m not sure you are, you’ll stay away from Hana. My partner has taken an interest in her, and he doesn’t always color inside the lines.”
“Understood.” Trip’s tone is emphatic, and he adds under his breath. “He’s got his hands full with that one.”
“What does that mean?” I cut my eyes at him.
“How well do you know her?”
“If you’ve got something to say, you’d better say it.”
His eyes slide up and down me, and he shakes his head. “Listen, I don’t like to speak ill of anyone, especially not a friend, but Hana is a user. If your scary partner is smart, he’ll keep that in mind or she’ll use him the same way she uses all of us.”
“How does she do that?”
“In my case, it’s money. Hana doesn’t come into her trust for another few months, and she owes me a lot of money. She owes a lot of people a lot of money.”