Chapter 12: The Full Tape

I took the phone out of his hand and pressed play.

Nine seconds.

A door bangs open. A woman in black walks in. Words, but the sound is cut. A bottle swings.

Lance goes down holding his head.

Then the clip starts over.

No earrings. No ice bucket. No "she's slow."

Just me, swinging.

The account that posted it had been made at four in the morning. It had one post.

The comments were already in the thousands.

Psycho.

Imagine being his brother and marrying THAT.

She drives a ferry? Who lets her near passengers?

Rem was already on his feet.

"He did this. Last night, after dinner." He was typing. "I'll have our lawyers on it in an hour."

"No."

"Etta..."

"Rule two. No Beckford anything." I put the phone down. "If your lawyers fix this, it's a Beckford fight. This one's mine."

My phone was still ringing upstairs.

I went up and answered it.

It was the operations manager at Conway Ferries.

He was a decent man. He sounded sick.

"Captain Lane. I'm sorry. Corporate's seen the video. You're suspended, effective now, pending review."

"Pending what review?"

"Whether we can keep a captain on the water who's gone viral for assault."

I sat down on the edge of the bed.

My grandfather's company was suspending me.

One phone call to Bainbridge and it would be over in five minutes.

And every person on that pier would find out why.

"I understand," I said. "Thank you for calling me yourself."

I hung up.

Then I called Dina.

She was at Rem's front door in thirty-one minutes, in pajama pants and her leather jacket, with a laptop under one arm.

"Good morning, Mr. Beckford," she said, pushing past him. "Nice house. Nice abs. Where's my girl?"

Rem looked at me over her head.

"She does this," I said.

Dina spread the laptop open on his kitchen table.

Keep reading free with an account. Start The Hidden Heiress: Married to My Ex's Brother from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.