A Modern Love Story (40 page)

Luc’s voice sounded so distant, so sad. That culminating with the fact she missed him something fierce
and
empathized with what he was going through, had her wondering what she should do…if anything at all.

The phone ringing brought Robbie out of her contemplations, and she nearly answered out of habit before stopping herself. Glancing at the caller ID, she saw it was no one she knew, and let the machine pick up instead.

This is Sam Tombs calling for Lawson Selwyn regarding the Colin Byrne investigation. If you could please give me a call at your—

Robbie snatched the phone, fumbling it before shoving it at her ear. “Hello?”

She heard the man clear his throat. “Yes. Is Lawson Selwyn available?”

“No. He’s out of town right now. What is this about Colin?”

The silence was brief. “I apologize. I was told this was a secure line, and I could speak freely.”

“You can. Colin is my uncle.”

This time the silence was longer. “May I have your name, please?”

“Robbie Byrne. The L’s— I mean, Leah and Lawson are…were…my foster parents.”

“Have you spoken with Mr. Byrne recently?”

“No. Actually, I’ve been
kinda
worried ‘cause I
haven’t
heard from Colin. Why are you calling Lawson about him? Who are you?”

“I’m a private investigator.” He paused. “Mr. Selwyn did list you as a possible contact, but I never thought I’d need to. I apologize if I seem caught off guard. Your foster father hired me to verify your uncle was who he said he was.”

“He did
what
?! I can’t believe—”

“He was correct in doing so, Ms. Byrne.”

“What do you mean?”

“The man is not who he claims to be. It seems he was hired to play the part of Colin Byrne. His true identity is Richard
Hawstone
.”

Robbie was stunned into silence. It was a full minute or two before the man spoke.

“Are you still there?”

She mumbled a response.

“I imagine this is a shock for you.”

“Talk about the understatement of the year,” she muttered. “Who the hell hired him?
Why
did they hire him? What the hell is going on?!”

“I was unable to make contact with Colin Byrne myself. By the time I deduced he was hired for the role, he’d disappeared. I was very discreet in my research, but I imagine somehow he caught wind of the investigation. As to who hired him—does the name Kate Wiles ring any bells?”

Robbie thought about it. “Not at all.”

“How about Payten Carmichael?”

“Sonofabitch!”

*****

 
“Wait, Robbie. Calm down.
What
did he say?” Lizbeth grabbed Conrad’s arm, nearly in a panic herself from the sound of Robbie’s tone.

“Colin isn’t even my damn uncle! That bitch Payten hired him! Probably to get me out of the way so she could sink her fucking hooks into Luc! Shit. Luc! I have to get a hold of him.”

Lizbeth’s mind was racing to keep up. “He’s in the mountains. Last we heard, he’s heading home tomorrow. Are you positive about all this, Rob?”

“Yeah. The L’s had hired a PI to check out Colin—thank God they did! Jesus, Lizbeth. What else did that bitch pull? First this, then the fake pregnancy. I mean,
who
does that?!”

Lizbeth’s shoulders jerked back. “What fake pregnancy? She’s not pregnant?!”

“No. Luc called and left a message on the L’s machine saying she faked it.” Robbie sniffled, then huffed a breath. “She played us. She played
all
of us.”

“That bitch is going down. I don’t give a shit if she’s lawyer. No one should be able to pull this kind of shit and get away with it.”

“My thoughts exactly! Look, I’m coming home. I’m packing my stuff right now. Try to get a hold of Luc and tell him what’s going on. I’ll keep trying, too.”

“Do you want me to call the cops or something?”

“Not yet. First, I’d like to have a word with that bitch.”

*****

 
“Payten. It’s Kate.”

“Yes, Kate. I assume you received your…retainer?” Payten leaned back in her chair.

“Yeah, I did. And I did as you requested. Got a hit, too. Apparently the Selwyn’s hired their own PI and he found out about Richard. Not only that, he knows about me and you.”

“Shit.”

“Robbie Byrne’s on her way home now. You’re her first stop. Just wanted to give you a heads up before I jet.”

“And where do you think you’re going?” Payten asked, drumming her fingers on the ink blotter in front of her.

“I’m laying low until things blow over.”

“Coward.”

“It’s called self-preservation. You’d better start thinking about covering your own ass, too.”

“Already done. Take care, Kate.”

Payten crossed her legs as she slowly twisted back and forth in her chair, taking stock of her surroundings. “So this is where it ends,” she murmured, her lips curling in satisfaction. “It’ll be perfect.”

Chapter 16

Luc came home first thing the next morning, and dove right into the weekly inventory. He knew it’d be best if he kept himself busy. Three days in complete and utter solitude had leveled him out enough to feel steady, but if he sat around doing nothing, he was bound to get fucking twitchy again.

A knock at Hooligan’s door pulled him from his thoughts and he went to see who it was. He looked at the medium-built man in the dreary suit for two seconds before deciding he was a cop.

“Detective,” he said absently, holding the door open for the man to enter.

“Detective Merrill. How’d you know?” he man asked, amused.

“Are you kidding? You scream
cop
.” Luc walked back behind the bar, picking up where he left off with the inventory.

“Why not
Sargeant
then, or Officer?”

“Because you’re wearing a suit. I’m curious though…since when does a detective follow up on a drug report?”

“Excuse me?” he asked, pulling a notebook from his pocket.

“Aren’t you here about all the drug shit?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. Fill me in.”

Luc shrugged. “Someone’s been slipping shit into my drinks. It’s been reported, so I thought that’s why you were here.”

“No. I came on another matter.”

“What can I do for you?” Luc asked, tucking a couple boxes of cocktail straws back under the bar.

“It’s my understanding you’re dating a Payten Carmichael. Is that correct?”

Luc looked up as he shoved his hand in his pocket. His fingers immediately curled around the engagement ring he’d bought for Robbie. Since he’d gone to the mountains, he had taken to carrying it around with him. It was probably a chick-thing to do, but he didn’t give a shit—it calmed him, made him feel close to Rob.

“That is
not
correct. Why do you ask?”

“You are aware her father died, yes?”

“Yeah. We
were
together at that point, but broke up shortly after the funeral.”

“What can you tell me about her?”

“She’s a fucking psychotic bitch, that’s what I can tell you.”

Detective Merrill’s face lifted with surprise. “Seems a bit extreme for a spurned ex-boyfriend. Care to elaborate on that?”

“I cut off all ties when she lied about being pregnant. That bitch played me.”

“Seems she might have done more than that.”

“Like what?”

“We suspect foul play in her father’s death. I’m the investigating officer on the case.” It was obvious the detective was watching for his reaction.

“What the fuck? Are you serious? I thought a fire got him.”

“It was, but first it was blunt force trauma to the head.”

“No shit?”

“A bookcase had fallen on him. Given, there had all kinds of marble bookends and whatnot, but that feels a little too convenient to me. Couple that with a bottle of brandy spilling
just right
to splash toward the fireplace?” He shrugged. “It could have played out like that, but not likely.”

“That bitch is even more psycho than I thought,” Luc muttered, bracing his arms against the bar.

“I could be wrong, mind you. It’s all guess work at this point, but I wanted to get your insight on her. Apparently, you don’t see this murder scenario as too farfetched.”

Before Luc could answer, Lizbeth came wandering into the bar from the back. “Conrad asked me to help out with inventory.” Her eyes came to rest on the detective, then traveled to his badge, now visible with the way his jacket hung open. “Oh, a Mr.
McCutie
cop. What did Luc do now?” She giggled as she snatched up Luc’s clipboard.

“He’s here about Payten,” Luc said with a scowl.

“Oh, good. Robbie got a hold of you. Can you believe that bitch?”

“Whoa,” Luc said, his whole frame tensing. “What about Rob?”

“All that shit with Colin.” She glanced at the detective. “I didn’t think she could get arrested for it, but shit…I’ll take it. I just hope Robbie gets her licks in before you pick her up.”

“What the
fuck
are you talking about?” Luc demanded.

Lizbeth looked to each man’s expression. “Oh, God, you don’t know. I thought for sure she’d get a hold of you. Colin wasn’t her uncle. Payten hired him to get Robbie out of the way.”

“Are you sure about this, ma’am?” Detective Merrill asked, jotting some notes in his notebook.

“Yeah.” She turned to Luc. “The L’s hired a PI to investigate Colin. He told Robbie what he found out. Luc, she was so fucking pissed. I’d almost feel sorry for that bitch Payten if I didn’t already hate her so much.”

“Feel sorry…? Hold up. You said something about Robbie getting her licks in?”

“Yeah. She’s probably over there right now confronting the bitch.” Lizbeth folded her arms across her chest. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about Payten?!”

Luc’s wide eyes landed on the detective. “If she killed her father, there’s no telling what she’d do to Robbie.”

Detective Merrill pulled his keys out of his pocket and raced towards the door. Luc was right on his heels with Lizbeth yelling behind them.

“You can’t go,” the detective barked as he ran to his car. “Stay here. I’ll call you,”

“I can go with you, or I can go on my fucking own. Either way, I’m there.”

“Get in the back.”

Luc jumped into the back of the car on a curse. Detective Merrill grabbed the CB to call for backup as he squealed away from the curb.

Luc fished out his cell phone and went to punch in Robbie’s number before he remembered she’d changed it. “
Fuckin
’ A,” he muttered, then called Payten’s.