And then Angie did something she never had before. She wrapped her arms around her brother and hugged him. And he hugged her back, his tears leaching into her gray hair.
“Uv you too, Et.”
And then Angie went into her room and closed the door.
Temple stood there breathing hard and trying to get his emotions under control. He finally managed that, and then he crossed the hall, opened the door to the room next to his, and studied the wall that both spaces shared. He closed the door and pulled out his phone and called one of the private detectives he’d used in trying to track down Nash.
Into the phone he said, “Look, it suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t ask a basic question about all this. Namely, that place operated by this Isaiah York guy? Whatexactlydoes he use it for?”
Temple listened intently for a couple of minutes.
“Okay, it would have been good if you had briefed me on that without my having to ask, but better late than never. And just to show my displeasure for your total incompetence, I’m not paying your last bill. No, I’m not fucking kidding. Sue me, asshole.”
Temple clicked off.
Talk about hiding in plain sight. But I’ve got to be sure.
He had a sudden thought and raced down the stairs. In the dining room one of his staff was starting to clear off the table.
“Don’t touch that glass! Get me a dishcloth and a big plastic baggie,” he ordered the young woman. “Now!”
She raced off and shortly returned with both.
Temple used the cloth to lift up the glass that Nash had drunk from. He put it in the plastic baggie, sealed it, and walked back to his bedroom.
Along the way he smiled and said, “Okay, Dillon Hope or whoever the fuck you really are, your ass is mine.”
CHAPTER
55
DILLON?”
Nash turned to see Mindy hurrying out from one of the home’s exterior doors. He’d been checking his emails and was about to leave.
“Yeah?
She stopped in front of him. “I. . .I could use some advice.”
“Mindy, full disclosure, even before he brought it up at dinner, Rhett had mentioned what was going on with you two.”
“Did he also mention that he hit me?”
“What?” Nash exclaimed. When she pointed to her swollen face, he added, “I asked him about that and he said you’d had some dental work done.”
“The only dental work I’ll have done is to fix a loosened tooth from when he slugged me.”
“Did you call the cops?”
“I can’t.”
“Just because he’s rich doesn’t mean he can use you for a punching bag. It’s against the law. He assaulted you, that’s a crime.”
“But I can’t prove it.”
“You don’t have to. You can tell the police your story and then they can investigate. It’stheirjob to prove it.”
She started to cry and Nash put his arms around her. “Mindy, it’s okay. Look, I can drive you to the police station if you want.”
