“Okay.” Sapphire wrote something down. “What else?”
I looked at Mitch. “Tell her about the body you and Charlie found in the cave.”
“Another body?” Sapphire’s head came up fast.
“A skeleton, actually,” Mitch said. “He’s been there thirty-seven years.”
“Thirty-seven! Jesus. That’s very specific.” She sat back in her chair. “Go on, fill me in.”
Mitch and Charlie walked her through how they’d found that body. The flash flood. The cave. Finding the skeleton with the crack in his skull and the bag of jewels in his hand. Charlie’s boss and Bob threatening them with a rifle because of the jewels.
“You said the skeleton had been there thirty-seven years. How do you know that?” Sapphire asked.
Mitch looked at Xavier. “You want to take over from here?”
Xavier leaned forward, rubbing his hands together as if he’d been dying to have his turn. “My mother and Frank had an affair, and there’s a possibility Frank is my biological father.”
Sapphire’s pen hovered over the page. She swept her gaze between Xavier and Cassidy. “I’m sorry.” She held up her hand. “I thought you two were together.”
“We are,” Cassidy said.
Sapphire opened her mouth. Closed it.
“I’m not Frank’s biological daughter,” Cassidy said. “I’m not related to any of these guys by blood.”
“We only found that out a couple of days ago,” I said, then jerked my chin toward Xavier. “At the same time we found out we might have another brother. It’s all news to us since Frank disappeared.”
Sapphire’s pen dropped to the table. Her gaze swept around us, slowly and deliberately, like she was watching her case unravel thread by thread. “What the hell is going on in this family?”
“That’s exactly what we’ve been trying to figure out.” Mitch’s voice came out flat, wrung dry. “Every single thing we’ve told you tonight—the skeleton, Xavier, Cassidy, the money—we only found out after Frank rode off and didn’t come back.”
“And there’s the diamond mine,” Bella said, rubbing her hand over Declan’s arm. “And how Frank nearly got those miners killed.”
“Yeah, that’s a whole other story,” Declan muttered.
“Plus, there’s what’s in these notes.” I nodded at the crumpled pile in the middle of the table. “Half of this is news to us, too.”
“Frank’s an asshole,” Mitch said. “We know that better than anyone.”
“Yeah, but I never pegged him for a killer.” Cassidy drummed her fingers against the table. “Did you?”
“Nope.” Mitch shook his head. “Or a bloody money launderer. I thought he was too dumb for that.”
“Right.” I dragged my gaze back to Sapphire. “We’re only just figuring out how much of a bastard Frank really is. Same as you.”
Sapphire let that sit for a beat, her eyes unfocused like she was trying to fit the fucked-up puzzle together. Then she flipped the Chivas box lid open. “Then we need to figure out where he is and get to him before Bob does.” She pulled out another folded page. “Let’s keep reading. Who wants another one?”
“Still working through mine,” Declan said, picking up the note in front of him.
“Me, too.” Xavier tapped his note. “This one’s about my mom. You should read it next, Sapphire. It explains what happened to that pilot.”
“I’ll grab it when you’re done.”
Charlie raised her hand. “I need another one.”
“Hey, what about that foolscap pad?” I asked. “You thought you might?—”
“Oh God, I forgot about that.” Sapphire reached into her backpack and pulled it out.
