Punc crossed his arms on his chest. “Then start paying child support.”
Doug put his hands on his hips. “She’s practically grown. I’m not paying—”
“Leave.”
Doug hesitated, then he eyed the garage which was empty except for Punc’s bike. “What the hell? What’d Savannah do with the products?”
Punc closed his eyes and took in a calming breath. He opened his eyes to see Doug was alarmed. “Your selfishness is off the charts, man. The merch has been dealt with, and—”
“How was it ‘dealt with’? It wasn’t yours to deal with at all.”
Punc took a step toward Doug. “It put my woman and her sister in a dangerous position.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“There wasn’t heat on you because the cops learned you had counterfeit goods to sell? Not that hard to connect the dots between you and your ex-wife.”
“Did you sell it?”
Punc shook his head. “Someone else sold it.”
The week after they ambushed Frank, Razor found a flea market vendor willing to split the profit from selling the items.
Doug ran a hand over his head, making his thinning hair disheveled. “How much did you sell it for?”
“It doesn’t matter, Doug. Half of the money went to the person who moved the merchandise, and the other half went to Catalina. You aren’t getting a single nickel of that money… consider it payment for back child support.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are?”
Punc stepped into Doug’s space, even as he spied Catalina parking the Buick in the street since Doug had parked in the dead center of the driveway blocking her entry. “I’m the man who took care ofallthe trouble you brought to Savannah’s door. You fucked up and made a bad investment. Take the loss and move on.”
Doug narrowed his eyes. “You know, Frank asked me all kinds of shit about you. Now, I can’t get a hold of Frank at all. Cops came around asking me if I knew where he’d gone. I’m thinking I need to point them in your direction.”
“You do that, and I will never talk to you again, Dad,” Catalina said from behind him.
Doug’s face blanched and he turned around. “Catalina, my sunshine! Don’t you worry about me and Ted, it’s man stuff.”
Cat’s eyes widened and filled with irritation. “I’m seventeen, not seven, Dad. I heard what you said, and if the first police officer comes around here, I’ll tell them you’re lying. I’ve never seen Savannah as happy as she is with Punc. If you do anything to mess with that, I’m cutting you out of my life every way I can.”
Doug jerked his head toward Punc. “He killed Frank.”
Catalina shook her head. “No, he didn’t. And even if he did, I wouldn’t care. That man followed me from school and threatened to send his customers here. I was scared out of my mind that day, and even more scared after Savannah was attacked. I called you when she was in the hospital, but you weren’t anywhere to be found.”
“I was in jail, Cat.”
Cat quirked her lips while giving him a wry look. “Surprise, surprise.” She shook her head again. “You need to go, Dad, before I say something I’ll regret. I got homework, and your Kia is in the way.”
Doug grabbed Catalina’s hand. “I’ll go, honey. But please unblock me.”
“I’ll think about it, but no promises.”
Doug trudged to his SUV and Catalina scurried to the Buick. Punc walked down to the end of the drive to check the mail while Cat moved her vehicle.
After she parked in the garage, she tugged her backpack out of the passenger seat, slung it over her shoulder, and faced Punc. “I meant what I said, Punc. You make Savannah extremely happy, and I won’t let Dad do anything to screw with that.”
Punc’s lips formed a small smile. “I appreciate that, but you don’t have to worry about it. I didn’t kill Frank, and no amount of investigating will turn up any evidence to that end.”
Cat’s lips pursed, just like Savannah’s did when she wasn’t sure if she wanted to say something. “This doesn’t say much about me, but I had hoped you killed him. Otherwise, where did he go?”
