followed Ambrose up the steps to the porch. Before they went in, Ambrose turned back to face him. “I assume Olivia told you that we’ll be needing your help in the investigation.”
Suddenly all that blood Cord had chugged down wasn’t settling all that well. “What are you not telling me?”
Ambrose frowned at his associate. “I thought you were going to explain everything on the way here.”
“I thought it best to wait until Cord had a chance to get some rest.”
Although she was talking to Ambrose, Cord was painfully aware of the fact she’d kept those intensely intelligent eyes pinned on him. He didn’t need this, didn’t need her pity, but apparently he was going to be stuck with Livi for the duration of the investigation.
“I don’t mean to be rude.” Although that was a lie. “Can we take this circus inside?”
She nodded and led the parade. “We’ll only be here until we can leave for your place at sundown.”
His place? He no longer had a place to call his own. His family had filed the papers to disown him about five minutes after the chancellors had hauled his unsuspecting ass off to jail. He hadn’t heard from any of them since, which was just fine with him.
So what was his personal chancellor up to? Right now he was too tired to ask. Ignoring Livi, he spoke to Ambrose. “Look, I’m really tired. Could you point me to someplace I can crash for the day?”
“Sure thing. It’s been an eventful night for all of us. Give me a minute to lock up.”
But once again Livi stuck her pretty nose into Cord’s business. “I can show you, Cord. I’m going to turn in, too, and your room is right next to mine. We need to get an early start because the drive out to your cabin will take most of the night.”
He started up the stairs first, thinking about what she’d said. Last time he checked, he didn’t own a damn thing, much less a cabin. He didn’t want to rise to the bait, but he had to know. He looked back over his shoulder at her as they walked up the stairs.
“Okay, I’ll bite. What cabin?”
“The one your grandmother left you in her will.”
His grandmother had died? When? She had been his sole supporter out of all of his extended family. And of course, none of the rest of the family would’ve thought to tell him of her passing. A dizzying wave of absolute fury mixed with grief washed over him.
Everything that had happened in the past few hours all hit him at once, short-circuiting his brain and sending him pitching headfirst back down the steps. He made a grab for the railing but missed. His last thought as he tumbled backward was, “This is going to hurt like a bitch.”
Chapter 3
“Cord!”
Livi caught him just before he took a header off the staircase. It was a struggle to stop his fall and keep her own balance. But thanks to her superior chancellor reflexes and strength, she managed to hold on to Cord’s limp body and the railing long enough for Ambrose to give her a hand.
They each took one of Cord’s arms and dragged him the remaining distance to the second floor. Luckily, his room was close by. They heaved him up onto the bed and then stepped back to catch their breath.
Ambrose gave her a narrow-eyed look. “He’d been holding up pretty well, all things considered. What did you say to him that sent him over the edge?”
She flinched under her boss’s scrutiny. “He asked me about the cabin. Turns out he didn’t know about his grandmother’s death. I figured his family and the bitch wouldn’t be bothered to tell him, but I thought the lawyers would have.”
“Maybe you should have kept that particular fact to yourself until he had time to get his head around being out of prison.”
At least Ambrose sounded more disgusted than truly angry when he added, “But then it was probably only a matter of time before it all overwhelmed him.”
She nodded her agreement. “Not to mention the prison had been feeding him only outdated blood for the gods know how long. There are laws regulating how much of that crap they can give the prisoners and how old it can be. It’s just one more thing I’ll be investigating once our boy here is completely in the clear.”
Her boss’s fangs flashed as he spoke, punctuating the anger in his voice. “Damn straight.”
Her own were on display, as well, making her wish she could be alone with that scum warden for five minutes. He’d think twice about mistreating someone like Cord again.
“Do you want help getting him out of those clothes?”
Ambrose shook his head. “I’ll take care of it. You go get some sleep. You’re going to need to be at your sharpest to deal with his clan. I can stay with him awhile to make sure he’s all right.”
“Okay. I’ll be next door if you need me for anything.” Or if Cord did. Especially if Cord did.
She wanted to be the one to stay, but couldn’t risk giving her boss any more reasons to suspect that her interest in Cord’s case was anything more than professional. The truth was she’d been fascinated by Cord Kilpatrick from the very beginning. Fresh out of training, she’d been one of the investigators on his case fifteen years before when he’d first been charged with murdering his business partner. Unlike the head investigator, Olivia hadn’t believed Cord was guilty even then, but hadn’t been able to prove any different.
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