Half Empty (First Wives, #2)(49)

“You shouldn’t go alone,” Lori told him. “We’ve been up for hours. It’s a long drive.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Lori’s stare said Don’t argue.

“I’ll go with you,” Wade said. He glanced over his shoulder. “I’m drawing a little attention.” He’d noticed the stealth selfie followed by two more people that arrived and didn’t stop staring.

“Okay, but someone needs to stay with the girls.”

“Oh, please,” Lori said.

“Not negotiable, Lori. If this wasn’t random . . .”

Lori stopped smiling.

“I’ll stay,” Jeb offered.

Reed sized Jeb up and down. “Okay.” He turned back to Trina. “Where exactly was this spreadsheet?”



“Do you really think Avery was targeted?” Wade asked once they were alone in the rental car.

“I hope I’m wrong about that.”

Wade watched the lights of the opposing cars as they drove by. “According to Trina, Avery’s the flirty, fun girl. In my experience, the only people that have a hard time with that are other women, and only if a man is involved.”

“Avery probably has many of those enemies, but I doubt a woman did that to her.” Reed concentrated on the road.

“How bad is she?”

“Broken wrist due to a size twelve kicking her. It appears that she tried to block multiple blows to her face. She didn’t do a good job, however, as evidenced by the broken nose that they will operate on later, when she’s stable. Sprained ankle from the fall, maybe. The hit to the head left her out of it for hours, and whether the hits to her face continued after she was out, or before, we won’t know unless she tells us. For Avery’s sake, I hope she never remembers it.”

Wade noticed Reed’s knuckles turning white on the steering wheel. “Who does that to a woman?”

“I don’t know. But I will find out.”

“I’m glad we left Jeb behind.”

“Me too.”

They drove in silence for several miles.

Reed glanced over with a slight smile. The only one Wade had seen on the man since they met. “You’re Wade Thomas.”

“Yes sirree.”

“I saw you in concert in Vegas a couple years ago.”

That surprised him. “At Caesars?”

“Yup. That was a fun night.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” Wade had lived with his fame long enough to know how to accept a compliment without getting his ego in his armpits.

“I have a question,” Reed started.

“Shoot.” Wade leaned his head back, thankful he wasn’t driving. The day had wiped him out.

“I’ve always wanted to know if the band makes money on the concessions.”

Wade smiled. “Yeah. We do.”

Reed nodded a couple of times. “Well, then . . . you owe me a beer.”

It felt good to laugh. “You got it.”





Chapter Nineteen



According to the navigation, they were fifteen minutes out from the house Trina had shared with her late husband. The closer they were, the stranger Wade felt about being there. How odd was it for him to be going there at all?

“Did you know Trina’s husband?”

“No. I met the women after his death.”

“The women?”

“Yeah, Lori, Trina, Avery . . . have you met Shannon?”

“Tall, thin, brunette?”

“Yup, that’s her. No. I never met Fedor. I haven’t formally met Fedor’s father either.”

“Why would you?”

Reed stole a glance, then turned back to the road. “Trina hasn’t told you about Ruslan?”

“If that’s the father-in-law, then no. Should she have?”

Reed shrugged. “You guys just started dating, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then no. I guess she didn’t see the need.”

“Is there an issue with Ruslan?”

“Not lately.”

Wade turned in his seat. “Are you trying to be cryptic? If so, you’re really good at it.”

“None of it is for me to tell.” Apparently that was all Reed was going to say on the subject.

He pulled off the main road and into a neighborhood of big yards and even larger houses. Reed drove up to a gate and put in the code.

The two-story house was dark, as any house should be at two in the morning. Even the porch light wasn’t glowing. They both stepped out of the car at the same time and walked up the steps together. Reed used Trina’s key to let them in.

Wade searched for the hallway light switch that every home seemed to have and turned it on.

The foyer looked as if the occupants were moving. Things were taken off the walls and placed in piles, and the two tables that Wade could see were home to unsealed boxes. Wade moved to close the door and Reed stopped him.

“What is it?”

Reed looked as if he were listening to the silence. “The alarm isn’t set.”

He walked to what looked like a home alarm system and looked but didn’t touch it.

“Maybe Avery forgot.”