couple years back, Madewell hit pay dirt in some mines in Virginia. We found a load of a certain type of mineral that was in demand for those shatter-proof cellphone screens. By that point though, most of our industry was abroad so we didn’t have enough trucks and equipment stateside. So we were buying trucks from everywhere to help with this increase in production. And one of the companies we bought vans off of was a company called Blue Boy.”
“What the hell kind of name is Blue Boy?” Liam asked, leaning against a bookshelf.
I shrugged. “I dunno. I think they were like a denim manufacturer. But then, who knows why they had so many large trucks and vans. Either way, my dad bought them all up. We were in such a rush during that time though that we didn’t bother repainting all of them. We just slapped our logo over the old one and sent all the trucks and vans to Virginia.”
I took another sip. The tea felt soothing and good in my stomach. “As part of Blue Boy, all the trucks and vans had this little cartoon boy on the back doors. As the van drove off today, I saw the little Blue Boy cartoon.”
Liam’s brow furrowed. “So somebody was using a Madewell van to come kill you?”
I shook my head. “Two years after the find in Virginia, our American production reduced. Once again, our big time money was coming from our mines abroad. So we reduced our load here. We sold off a lot of the excess equipment we had bought and a lot of our vehicles.”
I paused, feeling a shiver slowly run down my back. “We sold off essentially all of the old Blue Boy vehicles. Actually, we were able to sell them off in one huge package sale since there was a company at that time who was in need of additional trucks and vans.”
Liam’s eyes narrowed as if he could tell what I was going to say next. “And who was that?” he asked with a flat tone that indicated he knew exactly who it was.
“RL Co.,” I said softly. “Ron Lawson bought all of our Blue Boys.”
***
“Well,” Liam said, straightening up and crossing towards my desk. “What will our plan be?”
His face, gorgeous as a male model’s, was serious and lined as he asked the question, clearly set for action.
I, on the other hand, hesitated. “Wait,” I said, putting down my tea carefully. “This attack doesn’t prove Lawson was behind the first one.”
Liam raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t it?” he asked.
“No, it doesn’t,” I said firmly.
“Does it matter?”
“Yes, it does!” I nearly shouted. “I want my family’s murderer more than anything else but if I’m intending to kill a man in revenge, I want to kill the right man.”
Liam waved an arm towards the large windows, the windows I had been looking up at right before the shooting.
“And you don’t think making an attempt on your life just now also warrants some retribution?” he demanded.
I looked at him. “So now we’re possibly killing two men,” I said evenly.
Liam huffed a humorless laugh. “Kill all three, I say,” he said cavalierly. “I’ve seen those kinds of men multiple times in multiple forms. None of those three are worth keeping alive. If you’re not sure who did it, then take all three out.”
“Are you always so dismissive of lives or are you just being that way now because you want our bargain to come to a close?” It dawned on me how
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