Deceptive Truth: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 4) by Olivia Jaymes (psychology books to read .TXT) 📗

to admit that I tend to walk away when I'm angry or frustrated," he found himself confessing softly, taking a step back. He needed to cool off. It was getting far too heated. "Arguing in my house growing up wasn't productive and no one listened to me anyway."

"I'll listen."

Two simple words. They'd punched him squarely in the gut so he had to concentrate to breathe in.

"I believe you."

Knox didn't know what else to say. He did believe her, but he wasn't ready to talk about maybe falling in love. Not yet.

Jenna slid off her chair and picked up both their empty plates. "After cleaning up, should we take a look at the files your firm sent?"

"We can. There's about two years of credit card data plus a year of Lori's phone records. Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Let's do it."

"Then I'll help with the dishes," he offered. "The sooner we start, the sooner we'll be done."

He could only hope that her financial records held a clue that would eventually lead to some answers.

It was almost four in the morning when Tom arrived back home. Jenna and Knox were heads down in the living room over the electronic files that had been sent over. She'd learned a great deal about her missing sister in the last few hours, not the least of which was that Lori had been spending a lot of money. Then it had abruptly stopped a few weeks before she'd disappeared. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she'd been spending that money on Callum Owens. There'd been expensive dinners, clothes, and trips.

Tom looked exhausted, the lines around his eyes deeper than they had been this morning.

"You look like you're ready to fall over," she said. "Did the meeting go well?"

"It did but I'm tired as hell. It seemed to go on forever. I'll probably fall asleep the moment my head hits the pillow," he declared with a grimace, stretching his arms over his head. "Of course, I still need to be up early tomorrow. We're in delicate negotiations right now."

"Then go ahead and go to bed," Jenna urged, elbowing Knox. "We'll be quiet down here."

Tom looked longingly up the stairs. "A bomb could go off and I'd sleep through it. Are you sure though? You two look like you're busy. I can help if you like."

"It's fine," Knox assured him. "We've got this. Honestly, we'll be done soon. Probably another half hour should do it."

"I'm not even going to argue," Tom said with a tired smile. "I'm just going to be grateful and go upstairs to bed."

"We'll see you in the morning," Jenna said to her brother's retreating figure. He grinned and waved before heading upstairs. "Tom works all the time but he loves it."

"If you're going to be working long hours, it helps to love what you do," Knox replied with a yawn. "Damn, hitting the sack sounds good. How much do you have left?"

"I'm done with the phone records. Are you finished with her finances?"

Knox had insisted on taking the more difficult records, saying that he was used to it.

"I have a few more months to go but as we've already talked about, the patterns are clear. She spent a whole lot of money after meeting Cal and then stopped when they broke up. I swear the next time I see my brother I'm going to punch him in the mouth. He's such a loser. He makes a decent living. There's no reason for this shit."

This was the second time that Knox had said he wanted to punch his brother. She was beginning to think that he just might do it too. At this point, she'd cheer him on.

"When are you going to talk to him?"

It was a loaded question. She'd asked it before but they'd found out quite a bit since then.

"Right after we talk to that Brett guy from Lori's work. Right now Cal and Brett are on my suspect list."

"I'm glad you're finally going to talk to him. I'm anxious to hear what he has to say for himself."

Knox tapped Jenna's iPad. "From what Lori's phone records tell us, he wouldn't leave her the fuck alone even after she ended things. Cal's never liked it when other people make decisions. He likes to control everything around him. When I ask him about it, he's just going to whine about how life isn't fair. That's his usual go-to."

"You'd think by now he would have realized that life usually isn't fair."

"Life has been more than fair to Cal," Knox ground out, his teeth gritted together. "He leaves messes in his wake and expects others to clean up after him."

It was beginning to dawn on Jenna the Knox had issues with his older brother. Not just little ones but really big ones.

"You don't like him at all, do you?"

He didn't reply at once, instead jumping up from the floor where they were sprawled out on a bunch of cushions.

"I don't hate him..."

"But you don't like him."

"No, I don't like him." Knox sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sometimes I just can't believe I'm part of the same family. Randy and I are pretty normal, but my brothers and sisters... Shit, and don't get me started on my parents."

"Is your dad still contacting you?"

"Yes, and I keep avoiding him."

"Maybe you should just talk to him. Get it over with."

"You're starting to sound like my brother Randy. Why should I give him five minutes of my day?"

"Not for him, but for you. Tell him once and for all that you're done."

"I don't care to even spend that much time with him. I've