Something Wilder(78)

Red flooded her vision, blanketing everything around her in a fiery glow. “?‘Just… head home’?” she repeated. “?‘Laugh our asses off’? Are you kidding me right now?”

She glanced to Leo, who couldn’t seem to pull his attention from Bradley’s face. “You pushed Terry,” he said tonelessly.

Jay and Kevin stepped out into the dappled late-afternoon sun. “What’d he say?”

Bradley waved them off. “Don’t worry about it.”

Jay pulled his gun out, resting it meaningfully against his leg. “What’s that mean, Brad? ‘You pushed Terry’?”

Goose bumps moved like icy fingers along her skin.

“Bradley. And I didn’t push him,” Bradley said irritably. “He let the situation get out of control when he pulled a gun in broad daylight. It was his own fault he went over the cliff.”

“But Terry’s dead, man?” Kevin, to his credit, seemed genuinely upset by this.

“He is,” Bradley said. “And like I said, it was his own fault.”

Kevin had barely moved, clearly unable to process this. Finally, he looked over at Leo and Lily. “Terry died, and you lied to us?”

“?‘Lied—’?” Leo cut off, coughing out an incredulous laugh. “You held us at gunpoint and tied us up with zip cuffs. I didn’t exactly feel like we were betraying your trust.”

Bradley’s patience snapped. “This is a stupid fixation! Get over the Terry of it all. You weren’t even there to see what a disaster he was. I was trying to pull him away from the edge and he was freaking the hell out. Did I push him? Maybe! It’s all a blur! I did you a favor. Now there’s one less person to split the money with.”

“We wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for him,” Jay seethed.

“You guys know him from Reddit, for fuck’s sake!” Bradley shouted. “I’ve known him for years. Terry wasn’t the super-rugged outdoorsy dude you think he is. Wearing a vest with seventy pockets doesn’t make him capable, it just makes him overdressed. Yes, he knew more about Duke Wilder than any of us, but only on paper. He couldn’t even keep his mouth shut and be likable for four days! And there were so many chances to take the journal, but he was as stealthy as a grizzly bear in a wind chime factory. He couldn’t even zip up his fucking backpack properly.”

Lily was so mad she was practically levitating off the ground. She nodded to Jay’s gun. “His aim better be good because if I get to you first, I’m gonna reach down your throat, grab your balls, and show ’em to you.”

“Lily,” Leo whispered in warning.

Bradley grinned at her in genuine delight, showing a row of pearly teeth. He pushed his golden hair off his forehead. “You are so different than any woman I’ve ever seen Leo with.” He stepped forward. “I know you won’t believe me, but I’m genuinely bummed about how this is going down. It didn’t have to go this way, you know?” He gestured behind him, as if the decision that led to all of this was just past where they could see. “The original plan was to take the journal and pass it off to these guys. But Terry left it sticking out of the bag, and Nicole noticed, and it all went to hell. I’m just here for the cash. I’m not here for all this drama.”

“The cash?” Leo said. “You don’t need this. You have—”

“An associate professor’s salary and a fuckton of debt. It’s impossible to get out from under it,” Bradley admitted, looking vulnerable for just a moment.

“Dude. How much—”

“Enough,” Bradley cut Leo off. “We’ve been planning this for so long, it just really pisses me off that it got this complicated.”

Heat rose to the surface of Lily’s skin. “Are you implying that you have some claim to this money because you’ve spent so much time planning to steal my father’s journal? Are you really saying that right now?”

“Like I said, it’s a finders keepers situation, darling,” he told her. “Those were clearly Duke’s rules, too. You can’t even tell me you’re sure he wanted you to have it.” Lily made to bolt forward again, but Leo held her back. Bradley laughed. “You’re so fiery. I like you, Lily Wilder. I think you liked me, too.”

Then he winked at her.

She lifted her chin to meet his gaze. “Eat shit, Brad.”

This only delighted him more. “I get it, Leo. I get why you were so hung up on her for so long.”

Beside her, Leo was not amused. “Why did you even bring me and Walter here?” Leo asked. “You could have come with Terry and done this on your own. You didn’t have to drag us into it.”

“Do you really think Lily wouldn’t notice if her journal went missing?” He grinned proudly at Leo. “Terry was the one who’d done all the digging into Duke Wilder’s past. He was the one who convinced me the money is still out here. But I was the one who thought to distract her with her ex-boyfriend.”

Leo, finally, looked genuinely wounded rather than angry. “You said you didn’t know Lily was the girl from the ranch.”

Bradley shrugged. “It wasn’t that hard to piece together, dude.”

“This is boring as hell.” Jay pointed his gun at Lily, and Leo tensed at her side. “Can we get back to the point here? The first directions were wrong. Drop the knife and take us to the right place.”