Two Weddings and a Fugitive (The Chanel Series Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

But really?
    ‘A couple of days ago. They were moving him and some of his buddies ambushed the bus.’
    ‘So why do you think he’ll be coming after Matt?’
    ‘They found the newspaper article in his cell. He’d drawn a skull and cross bone next to Matt’s name.’
    I let out a giggle. ‘Seriously? That’s all you guys are going on?’
    He took a sip of his cocktail and then followed it up with a swig of his beer. ‘Beer chaser makes it bearable. Almost.’ He smiled at me and then said, ‘It was Matt’s investigation that led to his capture. Plus, he knows now that it was Matt who ruined the Russian operation in Morocco.’
    ‘And?’ There had to be more, surely.
    ‘And we have evidence that suggests he boarded a boat that was headed to Australia.’
    ‘Ready for a top up?’ Bruce sidled up next to Billy and batted his eyelashes.
    I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my cocktail. Perhaps it was a good thing he’d turned out to be my brother. The jealousy caused by watching the whole world try to hit on him would have driven me insane.
    I was going to tell myself that anyway.
    ‘Still good. Thanks.’
    I let out a cough and held up my empty glass.
    ‘Oops,’ Bruce said to Billy. Then he laughed and whispered loudly enough that I could hear, ‘She’s a bit of a lush.’
    I poked my tongue out at him as he ducked back under the gap in the bar.
    ‘Biiiillllyyyy.’ The shriek came from several of the club’s drag queens at once. They had been heading out the back to get dressed for the night’s performance, but now they flocked towards us, bustling around Billy, stroking his arms and running their hands through his hair. A lesser man would have wet himself, but not Billy.
    ‘Hello ladies,’ he said, looking up at them. ‘You all look ravishing tonight.’
    I picked up his martini and took a large sip.
    The Mutual Appreciation Society continued until Bruce finally intervened. ‘Ladies.’ He clapped his hands to get their attention. ‘Shouldn’t you be getting ready?’
    With fingertip waves and giggles they headed out the back.
    Billy swivelled back towards me. ‘You have such great friends.’
    ‘Really?’ I mean I knew I did, I just didn’t expect a guy to see that.
    ‘Yeah. They’re not scared to be what they want to be. That’s pretty rare.’
    He had a point. It took a lot of guts for a guy to stand up and say, ‘I like dressing as a woman.’
    ‘I mean look at Martine.’
    ‘Oh no.’ I held up a hand. ‘Martine is a woman.’
    He cocked his head to the side and stared at me.
    ‘She is.’ I shrugged my shoulders. ‘Martyn is her alter-ego. He’s dull, boring and germ-phobic. He’s an accountant,’ I said as if that explained everything.
    ‘She’s schizophrenic?’
    I squirmed, uncomfortable with such a blunt dissection of my best friend. ‘She’s…Martine.’ In my mind Martine and Martyn were two different people. I tried not to spend time with Martyn. He was awkward.
    ‘Chanel.’
    ‘Speak of the devil,’ Billy muttered as Martine trotted towards us.
    ‘Oh, and Billy. Hello gorgeous.’ Martine leaned over and pressed her lips to Billy’s cheek. I had rung her that afternoon to fill her in. ‘Can’t stay. I’m late. See you in the break.’
    ‘Is your Mum coming?’ Billy took a sip of his beer. He hadn’t seemed to notice that I’d drunk his cocktail.
    ‘Not much lately.’ I raised my eyebrows at him and he barked out a laugh. ‘Besides, the girls have a huge repertoire. She won’t need to work with them for a while yet.’ I met his brown eyes. ‘What aren’t you telling me?’
    ‘What are you talking about?’ He picked up his beer and took a sip.
    ‘What. Aren’t. You. Telling. Me?’ I leant forwards to emphasise my words.
    This time he smiled. ‘And they don’t think you’re smart.’
    I raised my eyebrows, crossed my arms and waited.
    He dragged his finger through the condensation on the bar top from his beer. ‘We won’t be working this