“What about the old man?”
Albie straightened himself up. “Follow me.”
He opened the front door and I hesitated to follow him in. Maybe I was scared of a ghost flying out or a trap door opening beneath my feet. He looked over his shoulder and waited.
Rolling my eyes, I took a tentative step inside and looked around. The inside didn’t match the outside. It was clean and portraits were hanging, probably worth thousands, maybe millions.
Sauntering over, I recognized one.
Years ago, in high school, there had been an art show that my high school had thrown for sophomores. I had painted a woman doing dishes while a little girl had done homework at the kitchen table. Bright reds and yellows had filled the canvas of the project that I had titled, “Only Sunshine.” Tears pulled behind my eyes but I blinked them away.
My father was still a bastard.
One purchase of a high school painting wasn’t going to change that detail about him.
“He had someone show up anonymously to purchase but he didn’t want you or Lisa to know,” Albie touched my shoulder and I sighed at the mention of my mother’s name. It’d been a long time since I heard someone else reference her to me.
“Is this what you wanted to show me?”
He smirked down on me. “No. It’s something else.”
Following once again behind him we went over to the double doors and he opened it. There was a steady hum, and wires and tubes were going everywhere. There was what looked like a hospital bed and laying it was my father. He had an oxygen mask covering his face.
“What in the hell?” I gave an uneasy whisper.
“Yeah…”
I stayed where I was in the doorway and leaned against it. My father’s eyes were open and they looked cold and lifeless. But I knew that he was aware and that he could see me.
“He has stage four emphysema,” Albie shrugged. “He’s on a hell of a lot of medicine… he’s weak. Max is pretty much running the business now.”
Max, I thought.This was why he wanted to tell me about the twins. They were safe now.
“Shit,” I murmured.
I couldn’t make myself go to him. There would always be an ocean in between us and not even a medical diagnosis would change it. Finally, when my eyes could take it no longer, I turned away.
“Guess it wasn’t either of you.”
I began to rub at the back of my neck. If it wasn’t him, then who in the hell would do that to me. It was my lifeline along with the crew of Tainted Ink. Maybe the arson investigator would be able to shed more light on the situation for me at some point.
“I’ll walk you out,” Albie said and closed the door to my father’s room.
Not even bringing myself to look back, I let out a long deep breath. We stood on the porch, the product of Michail Francis. Probably a lot worse for wear than we were letting on.
“I’m sorry about your shop,” Albie offered. “I’m sorry about so much shit, but mostly for bringing that piece of shit into your life.”
I smiled. “Don’t worry about Lucien…he’s not all bad.”
Albie dug around and pulled out another cigarette. I watched the smoke curl in the air. I hated cigarettes.
“You should stop smoking,” I told him.
He chuckled. “Maybe you should invite me for dinner at the fancy mansion Lucien owns. I might meet my end quicker.”
“Sounds like a date, brother.”
Before I dashed from the porch, I dropped a kiss on Albie’s cheek. I knew it’d be a while before I saw him again. Just hoped the next time it was not some bullshit with him. Giving a wave, I got into my car only to find that my cellphone, which I’d left in the passenger seat had blown up with a million texts from Lucien.
