Chalk Dirty to Me (Madd CrossFit 3)

His eyes took in my position next to Trinket and he smirked before turning his gaze to my mother and father.

“Mr. and Mrs. Crow.” He nodded at them, offering my dad his hand. “I’m not too late, am I?”

My father shook his head. “No. We were just about to tell her. Glad you got here in time.”

I sighed, my hands clenching into fists.

I didn’t like the way that they were hiding what they knew from me. I didn’t like it that they waited until Will came, either, as if I couldn’t handle what they were going to say.

And hell, maybe I couldn’t.

But they didn’t know that…

“We gave Beau, Cannel’s ex-fiancé, information that would help him find O’Ryan,” my father said without preamble. “I have a couple of contacts still with the US Marshalls. The one that’s in charge of O’Ryan’s case is one of my best buddies from boot camp forty years ago. He told me where they’re taking O’Ryan. And I told Beau.”

I flinched each time they said that asshole’s name, and my brother felt it.

He tightened his hold on my shoulders, but ultimately didn’t call me on the flinching.

Will’s gaze caught mine, and I saw guilt in them.

“What did you do?” I sighed.

“I told him that the douche got off on all of his charges,” he admitted. “I…I…”

“Was hoping that the piece of shit would do the dirty work for you since he’s already ruined his life,” my mother finished for him. “That’s why I allowed him,” she jerked her chin in my father’s direction, “to give him the information.”

“Why are you telling us?” I finally asked. “Why are you…”

Then it hit me.

“You think he’s gonna give us up. Blame it on us?” I wondered.

At this point, I wouldn’t put it past Beau.

“If he gets caught,” Thief leaned back in his chair, “you think he’ll pin on us that we gave him the information. And you want to come up with a plan.”

“I just wanted to be on the same page,” my father corrected, understanding his question. “I wanted to make sure that we all knew what was going on. If, when, Beau gets caught, I don’t want him to start pointing fingers when he realizes he’s going to jail. The dummy can’t commit a crime to save his life, and we already know he’s a weak little bitch.”

I slapped my hand to my forehead. “Dad.”

Will started to chuckle. “I’ll just tell them I told him. My information wasn’t hidden information. And it’s a talk from one man to another. Nothing more. Did you have any evidence that you gave him that information?”

My dad gave Will a look. “No.”

“Then we have nothing to worry about.” He sighed. “And in case you wanted to know,” he looked at me, “that call earlier about ‘you’ wasn’t actually about you. It was just Briana wanting me to get there without delay.”

I’d imagined that was what I was going to hear.

“She won’t stop texting me,” I told him. “I knew as soon as she texted after you left that it was a ploy to get you there.”

Will’s eyelid twitched as I continued. “She called me a whore today, too. Said that I was being selfish, and that I needed to allow you to focus on your career and your nieces.”

“My nieces are on a vacation with my parents,” he growled, looking way beyond pissed. “Let me see your phone.”

I handed it to him with a roll of my eyes.

He shook it at me, as if waiting for the password, but I shrugged. “There’s not one.”

That seemed to annoy the crap out of him, too.

Even worse, he looked like he wanted to take his hand to my backside, which amused me.

It wasn’t like I was responsible for what she was saying and doing. She wasn’t my friend, she was his!

“I don’t recognize this number,” he admitted, pulling out his phone so that he could compare his number to the one she’d been texting me from. “I don’t think it’s her.”

I scoffed and pulled the phone away from him, closing it and putting it back into the space between my leg and the couch.

I then crossed my arms over my chest and tried not to glare.

I didn’t accomplish it seeing as when I looked up it was to find a few pairs of amused eyes on me, and one pair of annoyed ones.

“What?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at my father.

“A few words of advice,” Dad mused, turning his gaze toward Will. “My girl doesn’t like being told she’s wrong, and especially not in front of others.”

Will’s eyes turned to meet mine, and he sighed. “I didn’t mean for it to come off as condescending or anything. I’m sorry. It’s just been a long fucking day.”

Shine scoffed. “Try long as in long decade. I can’t wait until the next.”