“I’m not going to let you throw my money away,” his father said.
Hismoney. “I thought the money in the trust was mine.”Part of it, absolutely, was from his mother’s life insurance policy.
“You’ve proven yourself incapable of any type of responsibility,” his father said.
“What happened toI served my time?”
“That’s enough. This conversation is?—”
Milt leaned in. “Dad. Please. I killed this girl’smother.”
“Do you really think that if you offer themanything, they won’t try to take itall? This house? My cars? Every last penny I’ve ever worked to earn?” His father looked practically feral as he spat the words out.
Jesus Christ. “Well, maybe theyshouldtake it all,” Milt shot back. “It still wouldn’t be enough!”
His father was horrified—even more so than he’d been when he’d found out that his son had killed a woman with his car. “We’re done here,” he said.
“I don’t think we are,” Milt stood up. He’d gotten taller over the past four years. And he’d bulked up considerably from time spent in the prison yard.
There was a flicker of fear in his father’s eyes. And although Milt had learned a lot from years of therapy and counseling, he liked it—that feeling of power over this man who’d always been in control. He knew he shouldn’t, but he did.
So when his father ordered him, “Go to your room,” Milt laughed. Go to hisroom?He was twenty-fucking-one.Go to your roomwas no longer an order that he’d follow.
“Go to hell,” Milt said quietly, leaning over, his hands braced against the top of the desk. And yes, his father pulled back from him, the flicker turning into full apprehension. “And you better watch out, old man, after four years in prison, I just might help you get there.”
For the first time in his life, his father had nothing more to say.
As Milt walked out of the library, the gratification he’d felt from that ridiculous threat had already faded and he was annoyed that he’d lowered himself to his father’s level. But all right. He’d gotten an answer to his question, so he headed upstairs. To his room.
Where, in anticipation of his father’s awfulness, he’d already gathered boxes of files from his trial—a trial he’d never had because he’d taken that plea deal. But the team of lawyers recommended by Ernest Harper had prepared for trial, extensively. And their boxes of notes and audio tapes from discovery were all stored in the attic.
One of the boxes had included an old computer of his father’s—a giant, outdated laptop that he’d already coaxed back to life and gotten working again. It would come in handy as he searched for the evidence he’d need to convince Frank Santana to file a civil case that he should’ve filed four years ago—to sue the hell out of both Milt and his father.
In hindsight, Mick knew that what he should’ve done in that moment was hire his own lawyer and pursue the money from the allegedly dissolved trust. But he was still just a naive kid at the time, and despite his pathetic attempt at intimidation, his father seemed invincible. But maybe, just maybe, with young Milt’s help, the Santanas could bring him to his knees...
His pocket buzzed, and Mick opened his eyes to the near-blinding blueness of the Palm Springs sky. The pool. The hotel towering above it. Emily in the chair beside him, still smiling her way through the end of her book.
It was his burner phone, he realized, and he pulled it out to find a text message from Starrett, Sam. He was the taller ofthe two investigators—the not-gay one, although who could be sure, and really who cared, anyway?
Starrett’s message was concise:Please call ASAP.
It was entirely possible he was texting because they’d already found Emily—who put down her book with a contented sigh.
“So good,” she said, standing up and stretching. “Pool?”
“Absolutely,” Mick said, sticking both of his phones underneath his towel and his own book, which he’d barely started. Maybe now that she was finished, he’d read hers instead. He could use a good laugh.
He’d call Starrett later, while Em was in the shower.
He followed her now into the sparkling coolness of the pool.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Present Day
Sherman Oaks, California
Mission Day Two
