Oh.
Oh no.
Oh no, no, no.
The thought hits me like a lightning strike.Goddammit, Brantley.
“It’s his dad,” I say, barely able to get the words past my lips. “Preston’s the one responsible for all this.”
Silas pulls his chin back. “You think Brantley’s father would kill his son? Are you sure?”
“Not directly, but…yeah.”
Holmes looks at me in the rearview mirror. “Why would you say that?”
“What’s the A to Z, son?” Dad asks. He knows how my brain works.
I grip the back of Holmes’ seat. “Can we find out if Brant was turning state’s evidence on his dad?” I ask, knowing I’m right.
“Uh, sure,” Holmes says, his expression tight as he taps out a quick message on the dashboard.
Dad’s jaw tenses as Holmes hitsSend. “If Brantley turned on his dad, that would definitely activate Preston’s scorched earth policy.”
I nod, my stomach in knots. “Brantley knew his dad was a bad guy, knew he was guilty of all the things he’d been indicted for, and he hated how his dad got away with everything.”
“Which is, ostensibly, why he ran for his seat on a platform of anti-corruption, right?” Silas asks.
“Exactly. I mean, yes, Brantley has—had—a drug problem, but I don’t think he would willingly involve himself in fraudunless he felt he had no other choice,” I say, the details tumbling in after the realization.
Holmes is shaking his head. “What would the leverage be?”
“His little sister,” I answer automatically, not sure where I get that from, but absolutely certain I’m right. “Margeaux’s underage, still lives with her father, and Whitaker is exactly the kind of asshole who would leverage his daughter against his son to gain whatever financial advantage he could get.”
“I fucking hate that man,” Dad mutters, his mouth turned down. “Always demanding loyalty, never giving it.”
Definitely history there, but now’s not the time.
Tapping my skull, I desperately try to remember what I knew about Brant’s sister. “Preston would use whatever would get the fastest result. Her college fund, her trust fund, her?—”
Ah fuck.
“Herwhat, son?”
“Her diabetes gene therapy.” I press my palms against my eyes. “It’s the gene therapy, I’m sure of it. He would go straight for the jugular.”
Silas makes a low animal sound. “Just like the guy who made me. Everything in his life is a resource, and it either helps him gain more money and power, or it’s gone.”
The car goes quiet for a moment.
“So now he’s got Brantley under his thumb,” I say, getting back on track, “forcing him into fraud and embezzlement to solve their cash flow problems.”
Silas shakes his head. “But then Brantley gets arrested.”
“Which gives Brant the opportunity to turn on his dad,” I point out.
“Kinda makes you wonder if he got himself arrested on purpose,” Holmes muses.
We sit with that for a moment.
