I’d found a parking spot three blocks away from the Lucy in Cherry Creek North but as I was hoofing it up to the store I saw Darius’s Silverado parked three cars down from the front door.
Lee and his boys always managed to do that. It was some kind of voodoo but they had parking magic.
It was annoying, especially after driving by Lucy (twice) to find a parking spot that Darius obviously got after me and hoofing three blocks.
Darius was sitting behind the wheel of his truck. I stopped outside Lucy, where Darius and Brody were supposed to meet me, and sent a salute his way to get his attention even though it looked like his wire-rimmed shades were aimed my way.
He lifted a hand and did a full finger curl indicating I should haul my ass to his truck.
Badasses.
Save me.
I sighed and moved to his truck, yanked open the door, climbed in and turned to him.
“I have a full day and I need to shop,” I said by way of greeting. “So if we can multi-task, that’d work in a big way for me.”
“Then it’s good this meetin’ is gonna go fast because my ass is not gonna be in that store,” Darius replied by way of his.
I knew it.
Whatever.
“Is Brody coming?” I asked. “I texted him and he hasn’t replied.”
“He’s neck deep in used energy drink cans, his eyes are bloodshot and he’s glued to the computer. He’s on a mission to find out who’s writin’ those books and he’s runnin’ up against wall after wall. He’s taken this on as a personal challenge. I think the only break he took since this all went down was to go to Luke and Ava’s thing.”
This surprised me.
“He’s made no headway?”
Darius shook his head. “None at all. He hacked the publisher’s systems and they don’t have that woman on their books. Not electronically. Whoever she is, she obviously knows about Brody and took precautions. Calls to them brought nothin’ back either. They say Kristen Ashley is a penname, the author is adamant about anonymity and they’re not at liberty to give out further information.”
Stymied.
Shit.
“Is there a legal route?” I asked.
“Lee looked into that,” Darius answered. “His attorney asked if there was anything untrue or defamatory in the book. Unfortunately, there’s not. So he’s f**ked.”
“What’s Brody doing now?”
“Checkin’ blogs, reviews, anything that might give some hint or start a trail to the author. He’s also tryin’ to pick up a thread on financials since the bitch is local and she has to be gettin’ paid.”
I thought it prudent to inform him, “Just to say, Ren has mentioned he’s also looking into this. He’s not happy it’s gone down and he and I are up eventually so, no pressure on Brody, but I think it would be good if Lee found whoever she is before Ren does.”
“Zano is no way gonna find her before Brody,” Darius spoke what was very likely the truth. “But, advice. You gotta brace. This woman, whoever she is, knows this crew. She knows us well and she’s taken precautions. She’s covered her shit so deep there may be no answer to that question, even for Brody, definitely not for Zano, and all you all might just hafta suck it up.”
I was actually okay with that. Truthfully, though I would never share this with my BFF and brother, I was itching to dig into their book. Though I’d likely skip the sex parts.
“Right, movin’ on to Smithie,” Darius said.
I nodded.
“Seein’ as when I asked Brody if he could take some time to run Smithie’s guy, he threw an empty can of Red Bull at me and Lee would probably get up in my shit if I tore his head off, I let him be.”
I grinned.