Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“Could you tell me what happened to Finn?” Kola asked, his voice nasally.
George cleared his throat. “Apparently one of the donors at Casino Night, which was a fundraiser for something wetlands—I wasn’t really listening—asked Finn to go into a back area where they were having an actual money game. He told Finn that he didn’t feel comfortable without someone being there, as there was, like, a hundred grand in the pot.”
“Ohmygod,” Anne gasped.
George glanced at her, and then back to Kola.
“Now, I thought he knew better than that,” George told my son. “There is a rule that there is never to be any non-Sutter business on company time. In this instance, I can see where the lines got blurry, as they said whoever won would donate a percentage to the cause, but still, Finn should have called me if he wasn’t sure.”
Kola nodded.
“We’re gonna have a talk about that, he and I.”
“Not a mean talk, though,” Hannah contradicted, wrapping both arms around his one.
George’s brows furrowed, but he didn’t argue. “Apparently Mr. Strood, visiting from Vegas, was quite taken with your boyfriend, and when Finn turned down his offer of drinks and a late-night dinner, he slipped some GHB into the club soda Finn was drinking.”
Hannah caught her breath.
“What?” Kola asked.
She bit her bottom lip.
George tipped his head at Kola, which was her cue to speak.
Hannah took a breath. “When you’re working in your capacity as a bodyguard, you’re only supposed to have bottled water unless it’s an event you’ve attended more than once, and even then, only on a case-by-case basis.”
“Why?” Anne asked her.
“For precisely this reason,” Hannah answered. “Finn shouldn’t have been drinking anything out of a glass or with a straw—that’s just not safe. It has to be a closed screw-top lid.”
“Correct,” George seconded. “Drops can be placed in a straw, and of course a pill or any kind of powder can be added to an open-bottle drink with or without a lid, and can go easily into a glass. Now, he was probably thirsty, and they didn’t have any bottles or whatever. That’s not my problem. He could have excused himself or used his comms to ask someone to bring him a bottle. As he didn’t follow protocol, that’s conversation number two we’re gonna have.”
“Yes, but I’m sure he didn’t mean to not follow––”
Lifting his hand, George shook his head, interrupting Kola. “I’m not firing him, but he needs to think about his safety and, even more importantly, that of others. If he allows himself to become incapacitated, he can’t take care of anyone and definitely couldn’t keep them from being assaulted, kidnapped, or anything else. Lots of scenarios that he needs to be aware of.”
“I see,” Kola whispered.
“But what precisely happened with this Livingston whoever?” Sam asked, taking a seat again next to his son.
“When I got there, our third-shift guys had taken over, and the men in the back were still playing, though no one from our team was in the room with them anymore, as everyone else has been with us longer than Finn and knew that a personal game was beyond our scope. But when I got there, I went to speak to the men and asked what had been put into Finn’s drink.”
“And they just told you?” Eammon asked, surprised.
“I suspect not,” Hannah said as George turned to look at her. “What did they say?”
“It was crude, and you don’t need to hear it, but I let them know that I needed my questions answered.”
“But why would they tell you?” Anne was still in the dark.
“I explained who I was,” George told her.
She was looking at the handsome younger man in the suit and tie and, I was guessing, wondering what in the world would have compelled the man to answer. “I don’t understand what that means.”
“I think I do,” Eammon said softly. “The way you took care of things at my brother’s house—you have a reputation for fixing things, don’t you, Mr. Hunt?”
“Yessir, I do,” he apprised him. “So, once I gave them that information, one of the men immediately called last hand, and another one pointed out that it had been Livingston Strood who had roofied Finn.”
“At least the other men were helpful.”
“They allowed your son to be drugged and said nothing, ma’am,” he told Anne. “They deserve what they get, which is to be banned from all further Sutter events, and worse, to be placed on a list that keeps them from interacting with Aaron Sutter himself.”
“Really?” Eammon asked him. “Mr. Sutter would do that?”
“No, sir,” George answered. “I placed them on a list, and I have that discretion to do so, just as Hannah does. We’re both trusted members of the Sutter family.”
Eammon turned to Hannah. “I had no idea you worked for Aaron Sutter,” he told her.