Jaden (Jaded #3)

The police were notified of everything that happened; that my dad’s security team found evidence of fireworks-gone-wrong. When Neil got the news, he was sitting across from me at the breakfast table and immediately looked at me, then Corrigan, and Bryce. His eyes went flat. His lips pressed together in a firm line, and he let out a loud disapproving sigh before murmuring into the phone, “Fine. Yes, canvass any neighbors to see if they could’ve gotten onto the property.” His gaze came back to me and stayed. “But I have a feeling you won’t find much.”


Bryce was at the coffee machine. Corrigan had just sat down with toast on his plate, and I had lifted my own coffee cup to my lips for a sip. Everyone stopped what they were doing. Denton came into the room then and halted abruptly, looking around at everyone. A quick frown appeared, and then he shrugged, sliding into one of the empty chairs. He swung his head around the room with an easy grin. “How’s everyone doing this morning?”

No one answered.

My dad ended his call. The disapproval seemed to have doubled, and he looked among all three of us again, Denton excluded because, hello—puppy dog smile and innocent eyes. No. My dad knew who had been behind the explosions now.

He sighed a second time. “I hope it was worth it… whatever you three did to get here.”

My jaw firmed. “It will be.”

He shook his head and stood up from the table. Taking his coffee and the newspaper, he saluted Denton with his cup. “No offense to your presence, but because of my daughter and her two friends, I’ve found that I’ve lost my appetite.”

“Oh.” Denton frowned. “Okay.” After he left the room, Denton asked, “What was that about?”

“Nothing.” I gripped my coffee cup tighter. “Just . . . he wants me to hide. I have a different opinion.”

“Oh.” He glanced to Corrigan and Bryce, who were still frozen in their state, waiting. And just like that, both finished what they were doing. Bryce poured himself some coffee, and Corrigan bit into his toast. Bringing his coffee and a cup for Denton, Bryce took my dad’s empty seat, and for a moment, all four of us were quiet around the table.

Corrigan finished his first slice of toast and picked up his second. Before he bit into it, he said, “All right. Quiet time is over, folks. What’s the plan?”

Everyone looked at the other. No one said a word. Then I laughed and shook my head. “No one has a clue.”

“Well, screw that. Let’s figure something out.”

Denton was still swinging his head from one end of the table to the other. He leaned forward now. “Wait. You guys are going to figure out who framed Sheldon?”

“You got any ideas?” Corrigan asked.

“No, but—” he stopped, a quick frown appeared.

“But what?” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table. My coffee cup was suspended in front of me.

“I heard a rumor.” He looked to Bryce.

“About me?”

“No, about that model you were dating.” Denton cast me an apologetic look.

I rolled my eyes, but the mere mention of her brought a nice little stabbing pain to me. Lovely.

Bryce looked at me, too. “I swear, Sheldon, I slept with her once. The rest of the time was just making sure she never went off the deep end. That’s all over now. She’s got nothing on me anymore.”

“No.” Denton cut in, stopping anything I might’ve said. “That’s the rumor I heard, not about you or Sheldon, well, not really. I heard her assistant was the one who cut Sheldon’s brakes. The reason why,” he looked at Corrigan, “you had that accident.”

“Wait. What?” Corrigan jerked forward in his seat.

“Where’d you hear that?”

Denton turned to me. “My agent told me. She heard it from one of her clients. You know how that stuff gets around.”

Her assistant cut my brakes? I glanced at Corrigan. She’d been the reason he got in an accident? His gaze was clouded. I couldn’t decipher the emotion, but when he met my gaze and looked away with a cringe, it left a sour taste in my mouth. It also set our next step in stone.

I wanted public. I wanted a confrontation. I wanted to ruffle some feathers, and maybe the real killer would make a mistake.

“What are you thinking?” Bryce had been waiting. He leaned forward. “I recognize that look.”

Denton frowned. “Is it sad I recognize it, too?”

Corrigan turned back, a half grin on his face. He shook his head, a sad laugh coming softly from him. “It’s that look that always gets us in trouble.”

They were right.

We’d probably get in trouble.

I didn’t care, and thirty minutes later after I relayed the plan, they didn’t care either.

“Right.” Denton clapped his hands together. “Now for the best thing. Disguises.”