Indecent Danger (Danger Incorporated #3)(18)
“Good morning to you too, Mister Obvious. Of course I’m here. You told me to come. So I grabbed the corporate jet and here I am. Does this joint have room service? Because I’m starved.”
Shane strolled past Travis and tossed his duffle on the couch. His cousin was six years younger than Travis’s forty-two but no one would ever miss the family resemblance. Shane had the same green eyes and dark hair although he wore his slightly longer.
“It’s a five star resort so I would assume they have room service. Let me go see if Aubrey is awake and we can order some breakfast.”
Travis didn’t get far; the woman in question shuffling out of the bedroom wrapped in a hotel robe and yawning widely. Her hair was mussed and her eyes were sleepy. She was gorgeous. He’d never seen a woman look that good fresh out of bed, and his chest tightened with lust and some other emotion he didn’t bother to name.
“Hungry, baby?”
He held out his arms and was gratified when she came into them willingly and without hesitation. He’d been actively working on that since they’d started dating, letting her know that his embrace was a safe place to be.
“A little. Mostly I have a nasty headache.” Aubrey rubbed her temples but gave Shane a big hug and a smile. “Did you have a good flight? Did you get any sleep on the plane? We should order breakfast—you must be hungry.”
Travis chuckled as Aubrey went into caretaker mode. She always did this with him or any of his family, and of course Shane was eating up all the attention with a spoon.
“The flight was fine and I did get some sleep. As for breakfast, I was just telling this ugly * that room service sounded pretty damn good. Omelets and hash browns for everybody.”
“And bacon,” Aubrey added perusing the menu. “Should I just order a little of everything and we can share?”
“Order a lot of everything,” Shane corrected, “and we’ll share. I could eat a buffalo and still have room for dessert. Plus coffee. Lots of it. We have some work to do this morning.”
That snagged Travis’s attention. “Did Jason find anything?”
“He sent a text a few minutes ago that he’s emailing you some information. He sounded tired. I think he and Jared have been up since you called him last night.”
Travis wasn’t going to feel guilty about that. Anything they could dig up that would take suspicion away from Aubrey was well worth the loss of sleep. He fired up his laptop and opened the email from Jason, perusing the attachments. His brother and colleagues had done a fine job for such short notice.
“Are you going to keep us in suspense?” Shane asked, trying to peer over Travis’s shoulder. “Tell us what they found.”
“I knew Bruce was an * but I had no idea about this. It’s a powerful motivator for murder.”
Aubrey was over his shoulder now as well. “What’s the motive?”
Travis leaned back and gave her a smile. “Money, baby. Money.”
They had a lead that didn’t point in Aubrey’s direction.
Things were looking up this morning.
* * *
Shane shoved another forkful of hash browns into his mouth as the three of them sat around the dining table and ate breakfast. Aubrey had quickly showered and changed into a casual sundress and sandals before the food arrived. “So Bruce had a gambling problem? Who all did he owe money to?”
“Bookies, friends, and probably his wife and Martin. That wasn’t his only vice. He liked fast women and booze as well. Your basic trifecta of sin,” Travis answered with a shake of his head.
It appeared to Aubrey that Bruce Livingston hadn’t changed much since high school.
Shane refilled his coffee and then Aubrey’s as well. “Think he stole from Martin’s firm? A guy like that wouldn’t think twice about crossing a few lines of legality.”
“He might have,” Travis admitted. “Although Martin didn’t say anything about money being missing. He only talked about insider trading. But now we know why Bruce might have been motivated to do that. If he owed that much money and was getting heat from his bookie then he might be pretty desperate.”
“I don’t feel sorry for him,” Aubrey muttered, pushing her plate away. “I know that sounds terrible but he caused all his own problems. He was like this in school too. Everything was always someone else’s fault. Another reason I stayed far away from him. I am sorry he’s dead, though. No one deserves to be murdered.”
“He sure as shit isn’t the most sympathetic murder victim I’ve ever seen.” Shane waved his fork in the air. “Honestly he sounds like a real douchebag. According to Jason this guy would have stolen candy from orphans. It’s actually kind of surprising it took someone this long to kill him.”
“Unfortunately they chose the weekend I was here. That cop thinks I did it.”
Shane patted her hand. “I spent a few years in the public defender’s office cutting my legal teeth in the beginning of my career, and I can tell you that cops are going to put you on the defensive when they question you. It’s just a tactic and it doesn’t mean that they think you’re guilty. Hopefully this Prather guy is keeping an open mind. He’ll need to with all the suspects he’s going to have. Even if he arrests someone the prosecutor is going to have a bitch of a time with reasonable doubt. If they don’t have some decent forensics this case will be a defense attorney’s dream.”