"What happened? Is it Bryce? Did he—"
Scarlett cut me off with a shake of her head. "No. I mean, yes, it's Bryce, but—" Snapping shut her mouth, she spun to retrace her steps, closing the door carefully. Turning back, she took two steps into the office and stopped, gripping her hands in front of her.
Eyes on me, she started to talk. "Bryce confronted me in the family room, said he wanted me to help him find items in the house that he could sell. He stashed some things he'd already taken in my duffel bag, and he said if I refused to help him, he'd tell you to search my stuff to prove I was stealing from you."
Scarlett paused to draw in a breath and cross her arms over her chest. "I know he's your family and I'm a stranger you met after I broke into one of your cottages. I know you have no reason to believe me, but I swear, I didn't steal anything."
I stared at her, keeping my face impassive. "What else did he want?"
Scarlet rolled her eyes to the ceiling, a little of her spirit coming back. "The same thing all spoiled dickheads want, but I told him that was where I drew the line. He didn't appreciate it when I said I'd rather go to jail than sleep with him, but a woman has to have standards."
Royal's bark of laughter sounded through the computer speakers, drawing a faint smile to Scarlett's lips.
"What's in your duffel bag?" I asked.
"Other than my clothes and toiletries? I have no idea. I came straight here after Bryce left. But he said he salted it with things he's stolen from the house. He said he had a way of getting things past security. And he said if I put those things back, he'd just do it again."
Griffen typed something into his phone and looked up at Scarlett. "Hawk's on the way." Griffen's phone beeped. He glanced down at the screen. "He said two minutes." Griffen narrowed his eyes on Scarlet, seeming to absorb everything he needed to know in a glance. "Sit down before your knees give out on you, Scarlett." He waited until she crossed the room to one of the couches. "What did he threaten you with? Specifically."
Scarlett sank slowly to the edge of one couch, her shoulders drooping as some of the tension drained out of her. Griffen typed something else into his phone as Scarlett answered. "Specifically, he said that if I didn't help him steal from you, he'd have me thrown out of the house. When I said I wouldn't sleep with him, he threatened me with jail."
"Motherfucker,” I muttered. My head snapping up, I threw a look at both my brothers.
Before I could get out a word, Griffen staked his claim. "Dibs. You hit him last time. It's my turn."
"I get a shot after Griffen," Royal added. "Maybe if we catch him trying to fence something, we'll have enough to throw him out of the house."
"We can only hope,” Griffen said. He sent me a look, his eyes meeting mine then dropping to the phone in my pocket. One dark eyebrow raised. It was like he was reading my mind.
I withdrew the phone from my pocket and held it up so the screen was facing Scarlett. "Who is Thatcher?"
Scarlett shot to her feet, her neck craning as she frantically searched the room. "Is he here?" Abruptly, she realized why I'd held out the phone and snatched it from my fingers. Tapping the screen, she pulled up the call history.
I'd had some vague plan about using Thatcher's call to pry Scarlett's secrets from her. Staring into her stricken eyes, I couldn't do it. Scarlett wasn't even trying to hide her fear, and the sight of it was a knife in my chest.
"He said he's fine," I assured her. "I told him who I was and where we were. He said he was on his way here and that he was okay. I tried to get him to wait until I could put you on, but he said he wasn't supposed to have the phone and he hung up. When I called back, it went straight to voicemail."
Scarlett plopped down on the couch so fast I thought her legs went out on her. Bracing her elbows on her knees, she leaned over and rested her face in her hands, a jagged exhale shaking her body. Was she crying? Shit.
She whispered to herself, her voice floating up through the curtain of her hair, her face still buried in her palms. "—never trust my gut, but it's always right—can't make it worse."
Pulling herself together, Scarlet sat up, finger-combing her hair back from her face and wiping away the moisture beneath her eyes. After taking a deep, steadying breath, she looked at the three of us, Griffen and I in front of her and Royal still on the screen.