Corbin (The Theriot Family 2)

“What the hell are we doing here?”

“It’s one place where no one will find us.”

He shook his head. “Rob knows—”

“Rob is dead.”

“You’re absolutely sure?”

“I told you I saw his body. He was already starting to rot. Unless he comes back as a zombie, you won’t be seeing him again. Since he’s alligator food now, even that’s not going to happen.”

“He’s…” Travis swallowed hard. “You…”

“What did you want me to do? Bury him behind my shop? Call the police to investigate? Of course I got rid of the goddamn body.”

“That’s… good.”

I didn’t like how scared he sounded every time I mentioned Rob. I knew Rob had dumped him as soon as Travis was no longer useful to Rob’s plans to become a big man in the crime world, but that should have made Travis angry, not scared. “He threatened you?”

Travis shook his head.

I laid a hand on his arm. “What did he do?”

“I can’t… I can’t talk about it.”

If the asshole wasn’t already dead, I would track him down and put an end to him like I should have when I’d first gotten out of prison. I was angry with my brother. I didn’t know if I’d ever fully forgive him, but if Rob had hurt him even more than I knew… If he’d…

“Please don’t make me think about it. I’m glad he’s dead. That’s all.”

I’d find out more later. “Tell me who he was working with.”

“You’ll get yourself killed.”

“So that means you know, but you’re—”

“Protecting you. I didn’t do that before, but now… Just go back home and stop asking questions.”

He had to know me better than that. “I only started asking questions because someone is obviously trying to frame me for his murder.”

He fiddled with the lock on the car door, pushing it closed and then open again. “If you haven’t seen him since—”

“He came to see me once, about a month ago. He was scared, not at all the man he’d been. He begged for my help, and I told him to fuck off and that if he ever showed up at my place again, I’d kill him. Everyone in the shop heard me.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah. So now you’re going to tell me what I need to know.”

Travis shook his head. “I’ve only heard rumors. I don’t know anything for sure, and you do not want to fuck around with the people I’ve heard whispers about. You need to ignore this.”

“A former friend’s dead body in my shop? I’m supposed to just ignore that?”

“The more you push, the harder they’ll come for you. I don’t want you to die.”

A bitter laugh escaped me. “You could have fucking fooled me.”

Travis recoiled like I’d hit him. I pointed to the couch, and he sat while I started a pot of gumbo. I didn’t like how thin he was. He looked like I could knock him down with nothing but a hand on his shoulder. “Are you using?”

He shook his head. “No. I quit. All of it. I don’t even fucking drink anymore.”

I thought of the beer I’d placed in the fridge. I’d need to get rid of it. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Fuck yes, and it hurt like hell. Grandma Jeannette’s friend Loretta sent me to rehab. She used up all her savings, then she got sick, and… I won’t fuck this up, not when she did this for me.”

Shit. I didn’t want to feel sympathy for him, but I did. I still wasn’t ready to believe him a hundred percent, but my gut told me he was telling the truth. Then again, he knew how to tug at my heartstrings, and he knew what few other people did—that I was soft inside. I thought I’d lost that in prison, but a few months out in the world again, spending time with the people I worked with and realizing the Theriots were good people despite how cold they could be when it came to business, had helped me find that part of myself again.

I spent a few more days with Travis. We formed an uneasy truce, but he still wouldn’t give me the names I wanted. He insisted that if he found definitive answers, he would let me know, though he still thought I was safer without the information.

I ignored his warning. “Find out what you can, but don’t go looking for trouble.”

“Does that mean you finally see sense, and you’re not going to push this?”

“No, it means I’m trying not to get you killed. I want you to stay put.”

“What? I can’t. I have a job.”

“You have a shit job, and losing it is a hell of a lot better than losing your life. If whoever killed Rob is settling scores and dredging up the past, you’ll get caught up in it.”

Travis huffed. “What am I supposed to live on out here in the swamp?”