Across the Vanishing Sky (Starlight Grove, #1)(106)

“Your new attorney.”

I felt heat at my side and glanced over to see Wylder. There was an expression of suspicion lining his face. “Did Dex hire you?” he asked.

Maren shook her head. “No, Orion Archer did. He said he’s a friend of Ms. Winslow’s and that he wanted to help.”

“A friend?” Wylder choked out, his eyes bugging.

Maren looked between the two of us. “Is that not true?”

“No, no, it is. We just… Orion doesn’t usually…” I struggled to explain.

“Orion doesn’t usually deal with people if he has any way of avoiding it,” Wylder finished for me.

Maren nodded slowly but still seemed a little confused. “Well, he contacted me via email. Told me what was going on. And it just so happens, I don’t love manipulative assholes and specialize in family law. I can send you my credentials—”

“Already got them pulled up,” Wylder said, studying his phone. “Harvard Law.” His eyes went wide. “Jesus, you clerked for a Supreme Court judge?”

Maren’s lips twitched. “It was an experience.”

Wylder glanced up at me. “She’s a certified baddie.”

Good. That was good. But it also wasn’t. “Ms. Robinson—”

“Please, call me Maren.”

“Maren,” I amended, my palms going sweaty. “I don’t want to waste your time. You might be too expensive for what I can—”

“Oh, my fees have already been covered. Orion paid the retainer.”

A mixture of emotions swirled through me. Warmth, shame, hope. “He did?”

“He did,” Maren said with a soft smile.

Wylder scrubbed a hand over his face. “That’s as good a seal of approval as I’ve ever seen.”

It felt like a hug from the brother who could barely stand to be in the same room as me—even more than the chocolate cake.

“I’ll pay him back,” I whispered. “It might take me a while, but I’ll pay him back.”

Wylder reached over and squeezed my hand. “Don’t lessen his gift. Let him do this for you. I think it’s good. It’s the first time in years he’s reached out.”

My stomach twisted, but I understood. I didn’t want to belittle his gift. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Maren. “Okay, what do we do first?”

“You give me everything you have on Vincent Faber. And then I bury him.” There was joy on Maren’s face. And I knew then that she was a warrior for justice.

I just hoped it was enough.





44





DEX





My eyes ached, and I tipped my glasses up to rub them. Reaching for the tiny bottle next to my computer, I deposited a few drops of solution into each eye. It did nothing.

I knew why. I’d slept for maybe two hours last night and was running on Lightning Energy drinks and Kit Kat bars. But I was making progress. I might’ve hit a dead end when it came to Nova, but I hadn’t with Vincent. I’d found a handful of things that said he had secrets.

Old Vinny boy hadn’t been very smart. He thought his last name and billions would protect him, but it wouldn’t. And I’d found endless bookings with an escort service that catered to darker desires. And there was something about his latest business dealings that had me wondering if they were completely legal.

But I needed more time. There wasn’t enough yet to get Vincent to back off—or better yet, send him to prison. Because Brae deserved to breathe easy and not have this asshole breathing down her neck.

But I’d seen the rich and powerful slip through the system before. And I wasn’t about to let Vincent do that. To be assured of his destruction, I needed more. Unfortunately, he was hiding that proof somewhere. I just needed to locate it.

Cracking my neck, I glanced out the window and stiffened. Brae’s SUV was back. I checked the clock on my computer screen and cursed. It was already five. I couldn’t sworn it had been noon just a second ago.

I shoved my chair back and swiped up my phone. It only took me a matter of seconds to reach Brae’s cabin. She’d given me the extra key, but I still knocked. I didn’t want to scare her, and I sure as hell didn’t want to risk her pepper-spray wrath.

Voices sounded inside, along with a happy bark from Yeti. The dog had gone from hating me to loving me a little too much. My neck hurt because she’d taken to lying on my head during the night, and the nearly one-hundred-fifty-pound dog was not good for my spinal health.

The door swung open, and Owen grinned up at me through the glasses I’d superglued. “We saw you on the camera app, so I got to open the door.”

“Pretty damn cool. Have you—?”

My words were cut off by the massive furry beast that slammed into me. Her paws went around my neck as she attacked me in some sort of hug, peppering slobbery kisses all over my face.

“Help,” I choked out. “I’m being attacked.”

Owen burst out laughing. “Mom! Yeti’s strangling Dex.”

Footsteps sounded as I struggled to get free of the dog. Instead, I got a mouthful of fur.

“Yeti, down,” Brae commanded.

The dog hesitated for a single moment and then leapt off me, all four paws landing on the floor.