Zoey Wildes's former friend from high school, Chester Neidigh, has recently returned to Linville after a twelve-year hiatus and is working as an artist at 3 Count Tattoos. The day after a heated confrontation with another former classmate, Chester fails to show up for work. Worried about Chester's already precarious mental state, Zoey goes by his place to check on him. She finds Chester lying in a pool of blood following a vicious assault.
Since she knew Chester years ago and currently worked with him daily, Zoey gets caught up in helping Detective Tyler Gates with the murder investigation. As she delves more into Chester's life, Zoey finds that his homecoming was not as closely guarded of a secret as she'd previously thought. Several of their former classmates were aware that Chester was back. Because Chester knew some of their darkest secrets and wasn't above taunting them with the knowledge, they all had motive to kill him. The question is-who was so desperate to protect their secrets that they were willing to kill? Determined to uncover the truth, Zoey puts her own life on the line as she works to pin down Chester's killer for the three count.
ONE
Monday December 3rd, 2018
“We aren’t even open yet, and you’re already sleeping on the job.”
Zoey Wilde opened her eyes and watched her twin brother stroll through the combined office and reception area of 3 Count Tattoos. Zack was two minutes younger than she, and a few inches taller. His long, brown hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail, and he had purple bags under his eyes. He looked about as exhausted as Zoey felt. Even though three other artists worked at the shop, Zack had carried the brunt of the business over the past few months. The stress and long hours were catch ing up to him.
“I had a grueling weekend,” Zoey said. “Normally, I have Mondays off to recover. But my inconsiderate boss temporarily changed the schedule—”
“The same inconsiderate boss who lets you nap on the job, make your own schedule, and live upstairs rent-free?”
Zoey stuck out her tongue. “One and the same.”
3 Count was typically closed on Mondays; but, thanks to the holidays— Thanksgiving last month, and now Christmas and the new year coming up—the shop’s regular schedule of Tuesday through Saturday had been thrown out of whack. As majority owner, Zack decided to open the shop on Mondays in December to help make up for the holidays when they would be closed.
When Zoey wasn’t managing the tattoo shop in exchange for a free place to live, she could most often be found in a wrestling ring. For as far back as she could remember, she had dreamt of being a professional wrestler. She’d spent her childhood training and had her debut match not long after her eighteenth birthday. That had been almost thirteen years ago. Despite all the years of hard work both in and out of the ring, Zoey had not made it past the independent scene. Though she had wrestled for several of the top independent companies in North America. She’d also wrestled for promotions across the world.
“You know you’ve been leaving me in a bit of a bind lately,” Zack said. “With everything you’ve got going on, you haven’t been here all that much the past few months.”
“Yes, I have.” Zoey flipped her long, dark brown hair over her shoulder. “Sure I haven’t been here as much as usual—”
“And you weren’t around all that much to begin with,” Zack said, causing Zoey to roll her eyes at the exaggeration. She was still putting in fifteen to twenty hours at the tattoo shop every week. “But ever since you and Justin suddenly became two of the hottest wrestlers on the independent scene, you’ve been on the road more than you’ve been home.”
Over the past few months, Zoey and her younger brother, Justin, had teamed up together several times in intergender and mixed tag matches for promotions across the country. They were a solid team. There was no denying that, but they weren’t as good as she and Zack had been. The twins could practically read each other’s minds. They had been nearly flawless in the ring. She and Justin did not have that same precision.
Teaming together forced Zoey to spend more time with Justin, and it had helped them to finally get along with each other. Yes, she had always loved her younger brother; but, since the day he was born, Justin had been an exasperating pain in her backside. When they were kids, Justin had been the annoying younger brother who wanted to tag along everywhere and always got in the way of his siblings. As he got older, Justin morphed into an immature and selfish adult. Justin’s childish antics infuriated Zoey, and she’d found it hard to get along with him. Lately, Justin seemed to be maturing and was showing some promise that he might turn into a semi-decent human being. Zoey credited Justin’s girlfriend for the transformation.
Regardless of who or what was responsible for Justin’s sudden maturity, Zoey’s bond with her younger brother had strengthened over the past few months. Back in August, their wrestling careers were tied together following the death of Zoey’s ex-boyfriend. Devon Isler’s murder—and their positions at the top of the suspect list—had been an unexpected boost to their careers. The dirt sheets—wrestling magazines and websites that covered the real-life perspective of wrestling and the wrestlers’ lives—had covered Devon’s murder. Because of their past relationship, Zoey’s name came up in most articles, and, as Devon’s final in-ring opponent, Justin was mentioned almost as many times as his sister.
Justin wanted to take advantage of their newfound fame, but Zoey had been reluctant. She didn’t want to profit from Devon’s death. That seemed callous. Justin would only grudgingly admit it, but he knew Zoey was the top draw of the two of them. The sudden interest in him would quickly crash and burn without Zoey by his side. Determined to ride the coattails of his sister’s wrestling career, Justin forced Zoey to take advantage of the situation before interest in them waned.
In the weeks following Devon’s murder, promoters from outside the Wildes’ normal stomping grounds of the Mid-Atlantic region scrambled to book them. Throughout the past months, Zoey and Justin had wrestled at shows in the Southeast and in Canada. In the upcoming months, they were scheduled to spend a week in Mexico City and had bookings on the West Coast and across Texas. They’d even received calls from promotions in Japan, Australia, and Europe. T his past weekend, Zoey had wrestled four matches in three days. Friday night she had wrestled at a show in Baltimore. Then on Saturday and Sunday, she was part of a two-day event in Philadelphia. On Saturday, she had teamed with her younger brother in a mixed-tag match. The match—as well as the rest of the show—had been broadcast live over the internet. Zoey and Justin had won the match, as well as bragging rights as the top intergender team in the company. Then, on Sunday, she and Justin had taken part in taping four one-hour long episodes that would be aired online over the next four Fridays. They’d wrestled on two of those episodes and made an appearance on a third.
“Okay, maybe I haven’t been here as much as you’d prefer. But I’ve kept up with my work.” Zoey jutted out her chin. “I’ve kept the schedule updated and made frequent posts on social media. All the bills have gotten paid on time. I’ve returned all the calls and emails from clients. And I’ve kept the supply closet stocked.”
“Yeah, but you’re not here.” Zack pointed at the desk. “And that’s the reason I hired you. To be here. To answer the phone when it rings opposed to returning messages. To greet the clients when they come in. Without you here, the guys and I have to stop in the middle of our sessions to deal with anyone who walks in the door. And you know how I hate having to stop when I’m tattooing.”
“I get that. But you know that most of the time I’m here, I have nothing to do. I’m just twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the phone to ring.” Zoey smacked her hand on the desktop. “And are you really going to give me a hard time about this, Zack? I mean, I’m more popular than I’ve ever been. I’ve been getting booked by some of the top independent companies again. All the bloggers have been talking about me. This could be it. This could be my last chance at making it.”