The Wrong Guy (Cold Springs) by Lauren Landish

Author:Lauren Landish [Landish, Lauren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montlake
Published: 2023-12-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

JESSE

News of Chrissy’s breakdown and deconstruction beats me to town, and Puss N Boots is already packed to the gills with people gossiping away about it. That all stops when I come in.

“Shhh, Jesse’s here.”

“Did Chrissy really kill Jed’s new woman and bury her in the concrete of one of the town houses?”

“I heard Robbie arrested her and she’s at the jail tonight, waiting for a transfer to Newport Hospital for a psych eval.”

What? I shake my head at the crazy paths the gossip vines can take. Holding up my hands, I try to calm the chaos so I can set the record straight. The last thing we need is people thinking Township is haunted by Lucy’s ghost. There would be tents outside the front gates with T-shirts for sale faster than you can say “Area 51.”

“Nobody died, nobody was buried in concrete, and nobody got arrested.” Instead of being good news, a groan of disappointment goes through the room.

“Well, what happened, then?” a voice calls out.

I climb up on the bar and shout, “Hey!” Still not getting silence, I whistle loudly. Once I have all eyes on me, I explain, “Jed was letting Lucy stay at Township as ‘security.’” I don’t do the air quotes, but with my intentional drawl and raised brows, everyone knows what I think of Jed’s plan. “Chrissy found out. I guess you could say she came out to evict her—”

“Preeetty sure you mean kill her,” someone hollers.

I clear my throat, impatiently waiting for silence again. “Evicting someone was apparently her right, since she’s part owner of the whole development. Or so her lawyer and Officer Milson say. What matters is that all the damage is fixable and you’ve got my word, it’ll be perfect before it’s sold.”

That development might be Ford Construction’s, but everyone knows I’m the man building it, and my reputation for solid, quality work is unquestioned. I won’t let Jed and Chrissy’s divorce battle royale jeopardize that.

Aunt Etta comes out from the back, frowning deeply. Every single one of those lines on her forehead represents a whack she’s given my ass when I was a kid. All completely warranted. “Jesse, what the hell are you doing on my bar? You’d best getchur ass and those dirty boots down from there right this minute if you know what’s good for you.”

She might as well be the principal breaking up an after-school fight, because everyone scatters like roaches, quickly going back to their pool tables and dinners so Etta doesn’t yell at them too. I jump down, my boots echoing loudly on the wood floor. “Sorry! Wanted to explain once and be done. It’s been a long-ass day.”

I grab a towel and a spray bottle to clean the bar off myself, looking for Aunt Etta’s acceptance of my apology. She narrows her eyes, and with a flip of her dark braid, she disappears into the back again, and the whole room releases a collective breath. That hair flip of hers is deadly

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