I rake a hand through my hair, tipping back my head. I search the ceiling for the will to live and find killer mold there instead.
“I didn’t want to see you in person, but I’ve been trying to get a SIM card sorted out.”
“Pay phones exist.”
“They’re too risky, and also too public. Ideally, I wanted to get in contact with you before now about the fire.”
“About the insurance payout, or to check in on me?” I scratch my scalp, my head swirling with too many thoughts and emotions. But the second I lock eyes with my father, all I feel is grief. “You have a grandson, by the way.”
“Yes. I thought the boy was yours.”
Unbelievable. Still just as distant as he was back when he was in my life.
And the phrase “in my life” is putting it very loosely, seeing as he was always galivanting off somewhere, forgetting about school pickup and dinner.
Even nine years and one child later, I’m still pulled into my father’s mess somehow. He owes an astronomical amount of money to a man who is pushing for time, and needs my help.
“My hands are tied if you think I can help you with this.”
Let’s be honest—he didn’t call me here to check in on my well-being. This is about him escaping trouble. He’s done well to avoid it for this long, and has no doubt been running from the bad guys ever since I was a child.
“I set my house on fire for money,” I say. “Crazy, I know, but at the time I thought it was the only choice I had. Sonny—the grandson you’re not entitled to meet, by the way, needed some new clothes. He deserved better, and finances were running incredibly low. A small insurance payout would’ve gotten him some new clothes, and other things he deserved to have.”
“Small” is the key word here. Bad things always start small. It was the same with my father’s gambling.
His genetics have always been inside of me…
“You set the house on fire?” He purses what’s left of his lips, confused. “I thought it was the hire.”
“What?”
“He broke into the property the day before the fire. I assumed he planted an explosive in there or something that would obliterate not only you and the house, but me. Death is coming for me, Piper. He must know that I don’t have the funds to pay.”
No matter the outcome, my hands are still tied with the loss assessor investigation.
Except now I have information.
I know who broke into the house the day before it went up in flames. All I have to do is memorize the Chevy license plate next time it’s loitering, and send it over to James Taylor. It should push the investigation forward. It might even get me a payout.
But my father would pay the price…
21
CALEB
“I was getting worried”is the first thing that comes out of my mouth when she finally returns.
I was counting down the time on the clock. Minutes passed, and nothing. I was only one more minute away from going in there and rescuing her.
Nothing about her father sits well with me. Piper never went into elaborate detail about her past, but I knew what kind of man he was as soon as she told me about him. Gambling. More interested in bees than his own daughter’s school progression. What a prick.
She collapses into the passenger seat, and I start the engine not a second later. We’re out of there in a flash, driving down the road to head back to town.
“He’s in serious debt. And my father is in no position to pay.”
“So, what’s the verdict?”
“To put it simply—death.”
