After we docked, it seemed like we drove forever through an unfamiliar town. Even though I slept on the ferry, I was still exhausted. We were on our way to a cabin that my dad said we owned.
We pulled up to the cabin, and I was surprised that it wasn’t bigger than it was. I was so accustomed to everything being large that this didn’t seem like it was anything my dad would own.
“Are you sure this is ours, Dad?”
“I am, son. Your great-grandfather owned this. We own miles and miles of the surrounding land.”
“Does anyone know we’re here? Or that we’re coming here?” I asked.
“I spoke with Lars this morning. He knows.”
“Does he know about Mom?”
I tried to control myself and not cry. My dad put the car in park and reached over to hug me.
“He knows, Griffin.”
“What … what if he tells?” I began to panic because I worried the police would take me out of school and put me in that juvenile hall place.
“Griffin, son, relax and listen to me. These secrets are safe with Lars. He will never tell anyone. You are always safe with your uncle, no matter what.”
“No matter what?” I asked again for confirmation.
“No matter what. I promise.”
I let go of my dad, sat back in my seat, and stared at our small family cabin. Dad told me what we were coming here to do when we left Grand Rapids this morning. I wasn’t sure I could do it, but he said it was my chance to prove to him that I was an Evans man.
“Ready?” he asked. I nodded and wiped my eyes with the back of my shaking hand. “Okay. Behind the cabin, there will be a blue wheelbarrow. Go get it and bring it to the trunk of the car.”
We got out of the car, and I ran up the small hill to fetch the wheelbarrow. It actually felt good to run after being cooped up on the ferry ride and then in the car for a while.
“Blue wheelbarrow … blue wheelbarrow,” I said over and over until I rounded the back of the cabin. “Ah,” I murmured when I spotted it right away.
Tightly, I gripped the cracked and worn wooden handles and hurried back to the car. My dad stood at the back of the open trunk and nodded his approval as I neared. When I looked inside the trunk and saw the black body bag that my mom was in, I doubled over and threw up.
Two nightmares,two nights in a row. I stared at the ceiling, annoyed that I had woken up from another nightmare this week. They were always disruptive, but having them during the workweek made them even more bothersome.
It wasn’t quite three in the morning, and I had a long day ahead of me too. While I was trying to get images of my mother’s dead body out of my mind, another troubling thought entered in its place … Riley’s mother, Audrey.
As warped as it was, I agreed with my family’s stance on cheaters, but I didn’t agree with Lars where Audrey was concerned. And maybe it was because I knew that kid would be shipped off to some temporary home until he was adopted. At fourteen, chances would be slim that he’d make it out of the system. There was a chance my aunt and uncle would keep him, but either way, it weighed heavily on my mind.
Wide awake now, the only thing on my mind was what Lars had said to me yesterday.“Groom Riley for Evans Financial, Griffin, but do it from a distance.”I got out of bed and paced around for a while as I thought about how to achieve this. The easiest way to do anything was through money.
I went downstairs, logged on to my laptop, and opened the website to my bank. I opened a new account under my name for the time being. Tomorrow, I would contact an attorney to put the account in a trust under Lars’s name. That way, Riley wouldn’t think it came from me.
If I were to groom Riley, I’d prefer him to attend the University of Michigan for his business degree, just like I did. Judging by the oversized U of M sweatshirt he wore yesterday, I’d say he’d be perfectly happy attending the school. I quickly calculated what the tuition cost would be for six years, added in some incidentals, and a cost cushion. I stared at the calculator and cocked my head to the side.
“Not bad,” I mused.
I transferred an even two hundred thousand from one of my accounts to the new account. There. Step one of the grooming process had already been started. More words from my talk with Lars worked its way into my head.“Riley idolizes you. Haven’t you noticed?”I guess I needed to start paying a little more attention to Riley. The fact that he did admire me would make this much easier. Since he was sixteen years younger than me, he would be a good next in line for Evans Financial.
* * *
With my coffee in hand,I strolled into the lobby of Evans Financial, smiled at Monica, the receptionist, and struck up a friendly conversation with her. Monica was recently married to one of the guys in the accounting department. Unlike Monica, he wasn’t much to look at, but he made a lot of money. Lars had mentioned Monica’s name specifically as one for me to try to bait at the party.
“Good morning, Monica,” I greeted her with a smile and set my coffee cup on the writing ledge in front of her.
“Hello, Mr. Evans.”
