Then again, at the rate I was going, there was a chance my life wouldn’t last all that long anyway. Could James and I really take on someone as powerful as Gerald Knox and live to tell the tale? It was the two of us against an organization.
Then it hit me that James had already taken down an international organization. If anyone could do it, he could. I just needed him to tell me how he’d pulled it off. So far, I’d asked very few questions about his past, trusting him to tell me when he was ready. Maybe I needed to press him on this one.
But first, I needed to talk to my father.
He was probably at his law office, but he didn’t have a direct line to his office, and I didn’t want to talk to anyone there. I called his cell.
“Hello?” He sounded nervous, likely because it was an unknown number. Or was he nervous for another reason?
“Dad, it’s me.”
He gasped, and his voice broke. “Harper. Thank God.”
“I heard you called Louise asking about me.”
“You wouldn’t answer my calls.”
“Maybe I don’t want to talk to you.”
“You wanted to talk to me last week,” he said, sounding steadier now. “You were supposed to meet me at the park.”
“And I told you the next day that I changed my mind.”
“I’ve heard from Nicole Knox.”
I was silent for several seconds. It didn’t surprise me that she’d reached out to him. I knew they’d been in touch. Dad’s partner had seen them together at the park in Jackson Creek. We’d both mistakenly thought she was his mistress.
Hardly. He’d been doling out a warning about my mother.
“And?” I finally said.
“You don’t seem surprised.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Actually, I should have known she would contact you, but somehow, it never occurred to me. I must be slipping.”
“This isn’t funny, Harper,” he snapped. “Nicole wants you dead.”
“I’m sure she does. I suspect I’ve given her quite the scar on her arm.”
“You need to give her whatever she wants. If you do that, she’ll let bygones be bygones.”
I laughed again, this time for real. “You really believe that? After I shot her?”
“She’s given me her word.”
There was no way he could be that naive, but I let it go for now. “And what exactly does she want me to give her?”
“Don’t play stupid, Harper. We both know you found the file your mother hid in that safe deposit box.”
“I think that’s the first truthful thing you’ve said to me to since I was a kid.”
“That’s not true or fair,” he snapped.
“Isn’t it?” I prodded. “Why did you ask me to come home this past winter?”
He hesitated. “Because I love you. I was worried about you.”
“Yeah.” Skepticism dripped off the word. “I’m not buying the I want to be a good dad act. Not anymore. It had a good run, but we’ve moved on. So tell me the truth. Wouldn’t that be a nice change?”
