“I have a problem with what happened out there tonight.”
“Jesus, Rowan, you need to take a beat and think about it.”
“Why?”
“Because those two men were on Stanley’s payroll, and they were here to do the job I refused to do.”
I gasped. “They were?”
“Yeah, baby, they were,” he said. “You still got a problem with what happened here tonight?”
I blinked back tears. “I don’t understand. I don’t have the money. I don’t even know where the money is.”
“I do.”
“What?” I squeaked.
“A friend of the club found the money.”
“Where is it?”
“Clarence split it over a bunch of shell corporations, all with variations of some flower. Starlight—”
“The Starlight Express orchid?”
“Yeah,” he said. “She just hasn’t figured out the password. She will, it’s just gonna take—”
“I’m pretty sure I know the password.”
“You do?”
“Yes. We can get the money now,” I said.
“Ah…”
“What?” I rasped.
“It’s possible there’s another party involved. Someone who double-crossed Clarence, so we should leave the money where it is right now, even if we know the password until we find out exactly what we’re dealing with.”
“Oh, my god,” I breathed out, the tears suddenly overtaking me.
“Baby, you okay?”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t think I am.”
“Come here,” he whispered, pulling me close.
“It’s my favorite flower. It’s really hard to keep alive, but my grandma had them everywhere and she taught me how to care for them,” I sobbed into his chest. “They’re so pretty, and I told Clarence all about them. He surprised me one day by having one delivered so we could have it in his home and admire it together.”
Scooby stroked my back and kissed my temple. “He sounds like a nice man.”
“He was thebest,” I rasped. “I really don’t know how he ended up with an idiot kid like Stanley. Honestly, he’s pure evil, and Clarence was always so good to him.”
Frustrated that I couldn’t get close enough to Scooby, I shrugged out of his jacket and slid my arms up under his vest, burying my face into his chest again.
“We’re gonna sort this out, Rowan, okay? I won’t let anything happen to you, but we really do need to sit down and talk because you need to understand some shit before we go any further.”
I sniffed, tightening my hold, not wanting to let go, but knowing he was right. I took a deep breath and stepped back, wiping my tears with the back of my hands and nodding. “Follow me.”