Dead and Dusted by Lily Webb (most recommended books .TXT) 📗

than me. I should’ve been trying to get away from Brady as quickly as I could, but there I was playing hardball with him like an investigative journalist or something.

Brady glared at me, but all I could focus on was the vein throbbing in his right temple. “I normally wouldn’t tell anyone this, but given the circumstances, it’s relevant. I have a chronic health condition,” he said and pushed up the sleeve of his robes on his left arm, revealing a grey, scaly wound that seemed to grow up and down his arm as if it were spreading. “It’s from a gargoyle attack about a year ago. One of them swiped me, and it probably won’t be much longer before I turn into one myself, but until then, flare-ups with pain require me to step away for a while.”

Even though I didn’t know how that stuff worked, I deflated with embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I just—”

“Went on what that little cauldron stirrer told you,” Brady completed my sentence. “Yes, I figured that out already. But let me tell you something: Evie Church doesn’t know half as much as she thinks she does, despite all her eavesdropping and gossiping.”

“So, I take it that means she doesn’t know about your health?” I asked, still feeling like the biggest jerk in the world for assuming the worst of Brady.

Brady shook his head. “No one does — except for Mr. Marth. When my, erm, illness took hold, I handed in my resignation letter immediately because I knew I couldn’t provide Mr. Marth the same level of security he’d hired me for, but he refused it on the spot. He told me he still trusted me with everything, even his life, and didn’t think he’d ever find anyone to replace me. He promised me he’d keep it our secret, and he kept his promise, unlike me…”

My head spun listening to Brady’s story. I didn’t have a clue any of this was going on — and never would’ve guessed judging from his intimidating presence — but that just went to show that I could never really make assumptions about others or what they were going through. Which made me wonder, was Brady internally blaming himself for what happened to Leland? If I were in his robes, I probably would’ve done the same thing, even if it wasn’t true at all.

“Anyway, to answer your question — as ashamed as I am to say it — no, I wasn’t really outside the restroom,” Brady said, and my heart jumped into my throat. “I had a flare up I couldn’t ignore, so I stepped away for a moment to take care of it, but when I came back and found Leland still hadn’t left the bathroom…” he trailed. So, he really had lied, but at least now I knew he had a perfectly good reason to do so. “But Jorah was there the whole time, and he swore to me that no one went in or out of the restroom. I have no reason not to believe him.”

“So, we’re back to the letter then?”

Brady nodded. “Exactly.”

“You’re Mr. Marth’s head of security, so I assume you know about all his potential threats. Do you have any idea who or where that envelope might have come from?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I think the deal that’s at the center of this weekend has something to do with it. Ever since rumors started swirling about Starforce Tech negotiating with the government for the land on Mount Starfall, the threat level for Mr. Marth has gone up dramatically.”

I jolted as a thought struck me. “Do you think this could’ve been someone’s way of trying to sabotage the deal?”

“I think that’s exactly what this was. Whether they meant to kill Mr. Marth is another issue, but they definitely wanted to stick a wand in the gears.”

I sighed. “Well, mission accomplished. You have any ideas about who might have wanted to do that?”

Brady hesitated for several moments. “I don’t have any proof, but I think Ms. Chamberlain has plenty of motivation. What better way to win a contract than to take out your competition?”

I wasn’t sure I was ready to jump to that conclusion, but based on Zadie’s cutting attitude, I had to admit she definitely seemed like the type to do whatever it took to win. But would she really go that far and do it so brazenly? If she wanted Leland dead, wouldn’t it have made more sense for her to make it happen before she and Leland were under the same roof? I knew nothing about Zadie’s financial situation, but if she was bidding for a contract for public land, I had to assume she could’ve afforded to hire someone to do her dirty work for her.

“She seems way too smart to have done something so sloppy.”

“Maybe, but this also could’ve been an impulse. She may not have planned it.”

“I guess, but how did she get her hands on fairy dust?”

Brady shrugged. “It’s not that difficult, especially if you have access to the resources that she does.”

“All that just to win a business deal? It seems like a stretch.”

“It would’ve been more than just a business deal for her,” Brady said, looking at me with a conspiratorial twinkle in his eye. “There’s more to the history between Mr. Marth and Ms. Chamberlain than you probably know.”

I’d gotten the sense that the two of them had a story, but it hadn’t occurred to me until now that that might matter. “Like what? Did they date or something?” I asked, though I couldn’t picture the two of them together.

Brady chuckled and shook his head. “Oh, dear Lilith, no. Ms. Chamberlain used to be an employee at Starforce Tech. In fact, she was Mr. Marth’s right-hand woman. He trusted her with everything, and he was grooming her to be his successor.”

“Why do I feel like there’s a big ‘but’ coming?”

Brady smiled. “Because there is. Things were going great between the two of them, but