“Bradford,” Knight’s voice sharpens again. “They took his workstation laptop, which uncovered a lot of shit. They know he killed his dad. They know about his sister’s boyfriend. Now, we have the Ridgecrest fire. Youdon’thave a handle on him. You can’t save every single fuck-up sent your way.”
“He’d be the first failure for me,” I admit, which actually carries some weight.
“And me, too.” He pauses. “But he’s like a good horse with a broken leg. Sometimes a bullet is the best recovery there is.”
Fuck, it’s really going to come to this.
“I’ll update you.” I hang up on Knight before he can keep driving his point home. Let the asshole sit with consequences of his protégé.
My mind conjures up the final scene for Cade, walking him out to the furthest field, a hole already dug. Turner could do it, but I wouldn’t let him.
I’ll have to do it.
And that makes my stomach sick, no matter how much of a pain he is—no matter how much relief might be mixed in with it.
I shut my eyes and lean my head against my hand, impulses pounding at the door of my body, desperate for some kind of release.
Besides, it’s all almost over with Cade.
So, maybe I should let myself have it.
Chapter 26
Jenna
“Can you tell me anything?”I clear my throat, as soon as Parker answers the phone. “I made the payment.”
“Yeah, I see that, but again…” Parker’s voice trails off, and I can hear the fatigue in his voice. “I keep hitting walls. I can’t tell you much. I can’t even access Calvin Bradford’s files. All I can tell you, is what you already know.”
Then why did I just pay you again?
I pace the perimeter of my apartment, the sun long having sunk beneath the horizon. “I understand my brother’s history…”
“And your involvement, correct? Because Jenna, with all due respect, you’re listed in all of his cases—with the exception of Lubbock.”
“Yes… But…” I take a deep breath. “There was the house fire when I was younger.”
“You were eighteen, Jenna.”
“Yes…”
“And boat fire that resulted in the death of your then-boyfriend?”
I squeeze my eyes shut, tryingnotto remember what happened. Or the confusion. I don’t know. “It was an accident…”
“Your brother offered to help Sam Morris rework the fuel line. Consequently, your brother ensured that Morris was the one who got in the boat,alone, and when he started the engine, the boat had an explosion due to fuel vapor ignition.”
“I know,” I say through gritted teeth, irritation burning in my chest. “My brother didnotdo anything on purpose though. They worked on that boattogether. That was proven to be an accident.”
‘You can’t let him fucking talk to you like that,’I hear my brother’s voice in my head. ‘He’s a piece of shit, Jen. He needs to be taught a fucking lesson.’
I swallow hard, pushing the blip of memory away.
“I hear you, I do,” Parker sighs, dragging me back to reality. “But there’s a broader pattern here. When you were eighteen, there was a fire in your family home. The body of Monty Kellan was found so badly burned they couldn’t determine the cause of his death. Coincidentally, your mother was outside at the time, smoking a cigarette, and your brother carried you from the house.”
“It was the gas stove…” I plop down on the shitty couch that came with the fully furnished apartment and start to pick at the hem of my sweatshirt. “I don’t see what you’re trying to say, anyway. If you don’t want to help me, then why did you take my payment?”
The PI is quiet for a few beats. “Iwantto help you, Jenna. I want you to find your brother, so you can have closure, because I think that’s what you’re seeking here. I think we both know what you really want to ask. However, Idon’tthink you need tohelphim. I think he needs to be put where he belongs. You may think that the people around your brother caused you and him trauma, buthecaused you more.”
