Sway (Landry Family 1)

He nods his head, his bottom lip between his teeth, and flashes Graham a look before going back to checking sports scores or whatever he was doing.

“I need to talk to you for a second,” Graham says, getting my attention.

“I’m here,” I shrug, getting impatient. “Talk.”

He lifts off the chair and squares his shoulders to mine. “Alison went to work tonight and there was an incident.”

“Define incident,” I growl, a chill tearing through every cell in my body.

“She was attacked.”

“What?” I bellow. “Is she all right? Why am I just finding this out?”

“She’s fine,” Graham says. “There was a witness, a guy she works with and I’ve been talking with him off and on all night. He’s filing a witness report now in case something happens. He saw it all.” He thinks a second before speaking again. “He volunteered to answer any questions you might have.”

“Alison is okay though, right?” I say, taking a step towards Graham. My heart is beating out of control. I knew something was wrong tonight. I felt it. Motherfucker, I knew it and I should’ve been with her or had her with me. Fuck!

“She’s okay. Really. She . . . um . . .” Graham winces. “She was attacked by Lacy McKay.”

“What!?” I boom.

“We don’t know what was said,” Graham says. “We just know what Isaac, the guy she works with, saw. And that was Lacy slapping her and then claiming Alison hit her back. But she didn’t.”

“Fuck,” I hiss, grabbing my phone again to see if she’s responded yet. “I need to see her. I need to be with her. Where’s Troy? I need to get to her house.”

“I’m sorry, Barrett. She’s not there,” Graham says simply.

“Where is she?”

“Hey, guys,” Linc interrupts loudly. “You’re gonna want to see this.”

“Not now, Linc,” Graham warns.

“Trust me.”

“Lincoln, no one gives a fuck about golf scores, all right?”

He casts an angry look our way. “Okay, how about this? Does this get your attention?” He bends closer to the computer screen. “I’ll wire you another five thousand this morning. If Barrett pushes back about the pregnancy, we’ll come up with fake ultrasounds. Don’t be bothered by that. We’ve talked to Lacy and she’s on board, ready to see this thing out until the very end.”

“What the fuck is that?” I say, racing to the desk. I’ve broken out in a cold sweat, my stomach churning, as Graham and I look at the screen. Emails upon emails from a web-based account under Nolan’s name. “Oh my God.”

“It gets better,” Linc says. He clicks another message.

“Release the info about Baker. That should shake him up. Maybe it’ll make him withdraw altogether.”

Graham takes the mouse and clicks another message.

“I’m having him tailed. As soon as we can get a decent shot of the girl, I’ll have it sent anonymously to the media. Just play it cool, be supportive. I have a guy that’s going to take some pics of the kid. Maybe that’ll make him rethink this. Talk soon. Hobbs.”

I step back, my hands shaking at my sides. My brothers watch me and I can see the fury in their eyes that I feel in mine.

“That son of a bitch,” I growl.

“Why would he do this?” Graham mutters, shaking his head.

Lincoln stands and faces me. “Because he’s a sneaky bastard. I told you not to trust him.”

“I’m going to kill him.” I grab my phone and send a quick text to Troy to come get me. I need to find Alison, find Nolan, do a million fucking things, and I don’t know where to start.