Hudson’s gaze followed Kole as he tapped on Muntz’s square. “Someone on this wall coerced this asshole to frame Hades. Now, who was it, and how are we gonna get Jabba the Hutt to talk?”

The idea that came to Hudson was so absurd, yet so perfect, it almost took his breath away. “We’re going to squeeze him.”

35 MORGAN

“You’re gonna need more than caffeine to get through this weekend.” Bennett grinned at Morgan from the driver’s seat as she lowered the Starbucks cup from her mouth.

She smiled back, trying to mask her nerves. They’d just pulled onto I-94, the beginning of a 190-mile stretch of highway between Black Harbor and Loomis, Wisconsin. The Reynoldses’ cabin overlooked a 2,400-acre body of fresh water named Lake Noquebay. It was remote. It was wooded. And according to Google, it was twenty degrees colder than even Black Harbor.

You Reynoldses like to settle on lakes, Morgan noted when Bennett emailed her the details last night.

Lol it’s where we dump all the bodies, he replied.

I’m sure it will be great, she typed back. I always wanted to do something like this.

Investigate your family. See what makes you people tick. Although it was our family, technically, wasn’t it? And she was one of the you people.

But Bennett didn’t need to know that. Suddenly, she felt her stomach drop as he sped up to get around a semi. She watched the yellow lines on the road zip by like lasers. Riding with Bennett felt like being in a space capsule. He weaved expertly in and out of traffic. The speedometer read 86 mph. At this rate, they would arrive within the hour. “Do you have a secret identity as a race car driver or something?” she asked.

“In my head, yeah.” He grinned, reminiscing. “My dad and I came up here a lot when I was young. He used to let me drive when we got farther north and the freeway quieted down. A secret he took to his grave, I’m sure. My mom would kill him to this day if she found out.”

A knife of silence sliced between them. Bennett looked suddenly sullen, as though the memory had taken something from him. He swallowed, and then: “I’m really glad you decided to come. Usually everyone’s paired up but me.”

“Really?” Morgan knit her brows. Bennett was handsome, with a full head of hair, a winning smile, and money in the bank. How was he as single as she was? “But Carlisle and David…” she pointed out.

“Are basically a couple,” he said, and Morgan was jarred with the memory of the two of them holding hands at the Christmas party. “Then there’s Blake and Cora, Mom and Don, and me. Sometimes Uncle Christopher shows up, but … he’s not exactly who I want to ring in the New Year with, if you catch my drift.”

Morgan forced a smile. “Well, you don’t have to resort to Christopher this year.”