Chapter 32

THIRTY-TWO

ELLIS

Leland sidles up next to me. “Ellis.”

“Yes?” I ask.

“If I were you, I’d just throw myself off this boat to not have to listen to him,” Everly says.

Leland gasps. “Everly, you willingly got on the boat .”

“With the promise of pushing you off. And if I could stand without getting murdered, I would do it.”

“You are going to grow to like me, and you’re going to love it,” Leland threatens.

Weirdly, Everly doesn’t seem so certain.

“Ellis, you sweet summer child,” Leland says as he presses into me, and since Cassel is to my right, I’m just pressed tightly against him in an attempt to get away.

“Why do I always end up being the sausage?” I whisper.

“Don’t talk about sausages around Leland, he gets easily confused,” Cassel says.

“Will you guys stop so I can explain our plan to Ellis?” Leland asks.

“You better hurry up; we’re going to be reaching land soon.”

This slowly settles in before I look at them in shock. “Why the hell did you wait until the last minute? You said there wasn’t a plan and now there’s a plan, and am I the only one who doesn’t know it?” I ask in disbelief.

“I got… distracted,” Leland says.

“You sang the song from the Titanic movie for half the trip!”

“Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it. It’s fine, Ellis. You’re with me.”

“Everyone ready?” Cassel asks.

“For which part?” I ask.

“Ready,” Micah answers.

“Ready to get off this damn boat with you,” Everly says as the guy slows the speedboat. It causes it to drift toward the island, but before we can reach it, Micah and Everly just hop off into the water.

“Why are they leaving us?” I ask.

“It’s part of the plan,” Leland explains.

“Jackson?” I ask.

He startles awake. “Huh? What? Sorry, I fell asleep. Leland’s singing does that to me sometimes.”

“It’s like a lullaby,” Leland says proudly.

“Or like his brain’s way of protecting him,” Cassel retorts. “Leland, Ellis, you’re up next.”

“I want to go with you guys,” I say as I point, in case they’re not aware of who “you guys” are. I make it pretty damn clear when I grab on to Jackson.

Leland simply pries my fingers off Jackson’s body. “You’re with me. We’re going to be sneaky sneaky, okay? Now put your tasers in that case—it’s waterproof—and come with me.”

“I couldn’t have done this half an hour ago?”

“What if you had to tase a shark?”

“We were going so fast my skin was being sucked off my bones; I don’t think we were going to come across any sharks.”

“That’s my boy,” he says, and with that, he just dives off.

Why didn’t I stay home? Why didn’t I take him up on that offer to sit tight in his house? Watch a movie. Kick back. Play with my new bird and sit with his dogs. Waylon would have gotten home later, and he seems pretty normal besides the whole… drug-making thing.

“Better get off, kid,” the captain says, and when Cassel gently guides me off the boat, I’m given no choice but to dive into the abyss.

Thankfully, swimming is something I know how to do, and I manage to reach the shore with little issue. I actually reach it faster than Leland does, which makes me question if I could just swim back to the boat and beg the guy to take me home. But as soon as I’m on shore, I hear Leland’s silenced gun go off and jump.

“I’m just taking down a camera. Cassel will need a minute to drop their whole system.”

“O-Okay,” I say.

“You look stressed.”

“No, definitely not stressed. Nooooo clue how you got that idea. Such a weird idea to think I’m stressed. What do I have to be stressed about?”

“Hey, last time you were on this island with the incompetent Tavish. This time, you’re on it with me. You’ll be super okay, mkay? Now get your tasers out and get your butt cheeks clenched. We’re going in quietly. Tavish sent me a text before his phone was taken to let me know that Arthur’s daughter is alive and on the island. Our job is to grab her.”

“She’s alive?” I ask in shock.

“Sure is. But enough of that. Follow my ass.”

“Okay.” I hurry after him as he moves along the trees. He’s heading in toward the mansion as I see men wandering around a garage. I assume that means we’d go away from the men, but nope, he rushes right toward them. Then he motions toward the two men before he does some weird hand signal that I’m really hoping he’s not expecting me to understand. There’s like a flick… and is that the signal for a turtle? And why is he now drawing a line over his neck? And now it looks like he’s throwing some dice?

What the fuck does any of that mean?

I’m so confused that I don’t notice he’s stopping at the edge of the building until I’ve slammed into him, shoving him right out into the open.

I watch in horror as the two men turn right around and look him dead in the eyes.

“Who the fuck are?—”

Leland flicks something from his hand so damn fast that I don’t even see it until the guy is reeling back as a piece of what looks like candy hits the ground. “My motherfucking eyeball! My eye!”

“If you keep crying, you won’t have either eye.”

“You son of a?—”

The second guy lifts a gun, but before he even has it up in the air, Leland has shot it right out of his hand, busted the man in the face with the palm of his hand, and choked him out. The other guy still hasn’t recovered from his eye being fucked with and I’m just gaping at it all.

“Shhhh, now. There’s really no sense at all in hollering and throwing up a fuss, now is there?” Leland asks as he grabs the half-blinded guy in a choke hold while he casually reaches down to pick up the candy he’d blinded the man with. He dusts it off on his pants as the man thrashes and eventually succumbs.

Leland holds the candy out to me as he drops the unconscious man onto the ground. “Do you want it? It’s watermelon flavored. It’s like… I love watermelon but don’t love watermelon candy, you get me?” he asks as he whips some duct tape out of what must be a waterproof bag.

“N-No, I don’t want some candy that was just in some guy’s eyeball.”

“Suit yourself,” he says as he tucks the candy in the guy’s shirt pocket. “There, so he has something to remember me by.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to remember you!”

“Ellis, don’t be foolish. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve dreamed about me,” he says as he starts taping the two guys together.

“What… what kind of dream?” I ask.

Leland looks over at me and winks. “You know what kind of dream.”

“Is it too late to go with Jackson’s team? Actually, how did we pick teams? Was it like in high school where everyone got to pick first, and I was last choice?”

“You were first choice. Everyone wanted you. You’re too cute to not want. But I am king among these men. I get first choice. It took a lot for me to leave my sweet fence climber to Cassel, but I did it for you. Now let’s go.”

He stops what he’s doing and retreats back to the man before plucking the candy out of his pocket.

“I thought you were leaving that for him.”

“I was, but I’m really craving a snack right now. Swimming always makes me hungry,” he says as he pops it into his mouth and hurries on his way. “Okay, we’re nearing the house. If Cassel is doing his job properly, the security system will be down. This house is massive, so we’re going to split it by floors. You and I have the topmost floor.”

“Are we scaling up the side of the building?”

“No, we’re taking the stairs.”

“Oh thank god,” I say.

“I mean… god might be a bit… excessive. I generally go by Leland, but I don’t ever want to prohibit anyone’s love for me,” he responds. “Now, there are two guards at the door. You’re going to stay right here and I’m going to come back for you. Got it?”

“Super got it.”

“Okay! Perfect! I’ll be fast. I’m sure you know all about that, being with Tavish.” He tosses me a wink and then slips off toward the door. It’s like watching my very own action movie as he just rushes off to fuck people up. And I find myself weirdly mesmerized by it. I sure as fuck don’t ever want to join in or be a part of it, but it’s fascinating how good he is at it!

That is, until I see someone creeping around the corner.

Leland didn’t mention a third guy. What if he doesn’t see him? What if he needs help?

No… NO, I should be good. I should just stay back…

What if I got Leland hurt? Or even killed?

I pull the taser out, immediately drop it and scoop it back up. I have to be within what? How many feet? I don’t remember! Twenty? Twenty sounds good! I’ll just… go, and I’ll… uh… tase him and Leland will be fine and yes. I will accomplish this.

I creep forward, holding the taser tightly in my hands. As I try to figure out how far twenty feet is, I finally get within an appropriate distance. The guy is fixated on Leland; he has no idea I’m here. I’m just going to tase him. Tasing isn’t bad… it’s not as bad as shooting a man’s finger off. Definitely not that bad.

I’m going to motherfucking save Leland. I’m going to keep this man from getting too close to him. Keep him from?—

I pull the trigger and watch as the two darts skim right on by the guy and bounce off the side of the house. It’s like the man’s head is on a fucking swivel. It snaps over to me so damn quickly that I’m left just gawking there.

And then I do my final act of defiance and fling the taser at him. It hits his broad chest, bouncing off to where he steps on it as he starts toward me.

He doesn’t say a damn thing, just comes after me as horror settles deep into my bones.

What have I done? What the absolute fuck have I done?

I start grabbing for the other tasers, but I didn’t have them ready, and now I’m fumbling, and I need to be running.

The man snatches me up with ease as Leland comes around the corner.

“That is mine,” Leland says.

“Yeah?” the man asks as he lifts a gun and presses it against my head.

“Sure as fuck is. Now do you want to give him back to me or do you want to start crying? Those are your two options.”

“I don’t cry,” he says.

Leland gives me a look. It’s an odd look. It’s a confusing look. His eyes are going wide and he’s doing some weird head tilt thing.

My captor is now tilting his head in confusion like he’s mimicking Leland because he’s equally confused. Is this some wild tactic like hypnotism or something? Then Leland’s eyes get really wide and I’m just fucking bewildered. Like… is this some kind of secret assassin code? Is he expecting something out of me? There’s a motherfucking gun to my head! What the hell am I going to do? I’m just going to sit right here and question why the hell I didn’t listen to Leland and hide.

Like… what possessed me to try to become a hero? That was never going to work!

Leland does something weird with his mouth as my eyebrows knit and then he just sighs and lifts his gun, shooting the man in the shoulder. I swear I felt the fucking bullet whiz right by me.

The man cries out as he jerks back, ripping me back with him.

“Don’t go down with him, Ellis, what are you doing? Are you going to just take a nap?” Leland asks.

“You nearly shot me!” I cry.

“I would never nearly shoot you.”

“You… fucker,” the man yells.

I roll away as Leland aims his gun at the man’s head. “I felt the bullet.” I look over at my arm, needing proof that I’m not bleeding to death, when I see a hole in the sleeve of my shirt. “Look at my arm! What if I’d moved ?”

Leland looks confused as he kicks the gun away from the man. “Why would you have moved? I told you to stay perfectly still.”

“Did you?” I ask, wondering what kind of telepathic nonsense he thinks he’s acquired. Especially when all I saw was him making some weird fucking facial movements. “He had a gun to my head.”

“He sure did, but the safety was on. He knows he’s not supposed to kill you, so it’s fine.”

“My heart says it’s not.”

“It was super-duper sweet of you to try to save me, but I knew he was there,” he says.

I gape at him. “You did?”

“Yeah. I told you there were two guys.” He points to the one he’d taken down then points at the other like maybe I can’t count to two.

“I… thought you meant two over there.”

Now that he has the guy taped and bound, he smiles at me and then ruffles my hair. “You did good!”

“Did I?” I’m more than a little skeptical about this.

“Like… I’d give you like a D plus, definitely.”

“I suck at this.”

Leland grabs me by the shoulders and squeezes them. “You’re out here, aren’t you? Hell, you’re probably the bravest of all of us. Maybe you have no idea what you’re doing, and maybe you can’t shoot a man who was like seven feet from you—and he was a big man… like… did you see the size of those muscles? Like a fucking brick house.”

“Are you trying to make me feel better?” I ask, quite unsure.

“But you’re still here, aren’t you? You’re determined to help Tavish… I mean, maybe you have questionable taste in men, but you’re here. And that counts for a whole lot.”

I look over at him before nodding. “Y-Yeah. I’m here.”

“You sure as fuck are. Now let’s go fuck some shit up.”

“I’ll watch you fuck shit up.”

“Deal,” he says as he rushes into the building without reservation. It’s like I’m in my very own action movie as a mere spectator as he knocks a woman down and then trots on up to the third floor. He pushes open a door before punching a man right in the face, throwing him back into the room and coming out with a hollering woman.

I’m left just gaping at how smoothly it all goes. Like how?

“W-Who the fuck are you?” the woman asks.

“Your worst nightmare,” he says. “Or your favorite. Depends. Now walk. We have a date with your father.”

“I’d really rather not,” she objects as I realize that this must be Jasmine.

“Too bad,” he says as he slaps some tape over her mouth and starts marching her on her way.

This is the woman who started it all… or was it my father who started it? Fuck if I know, and fuck if I even care at this point. I just want it to all go away. I just want it to be Tavish and me.

I want my mom and Sienna to be safe. I want everything to be okay.

I really don’t think I’m being too greedy.

When Leland reaches the door, Everly and Micah are already waiting. They give Leland a nod, so he starts knocking as quickly and obnoxiously as he can until I can hear Arthur yell, “What the fuck? What the absolute fuck do you need?”

Leland pushes the door open before shoving the woman in first while he adopts some odd high-pitched voice like he’s pretending to be her. “‘Papa! I need you to stop being such a little dick-faced piece of shit! I’m so glad I took after my mother and don’t look like you.’ Is what I assume she’d have said if I hadn’t taped her mouth shut. Funny, huh? I’m hilarious. I know. I know.”

Arthur jumps up, but Micah and Everly have a gun on him, and Leland has a gun on his daughter. “How the fuck did you get in here?”

“Let me tell you, but then we’d have to wind it back some years. Dark night, PI scuttling?—”

“Not that far back, dear god,” Micah says.

“Fuck. Fine. Wind it back an hour. We took our little boat and were like vrooooom and then we jumped off, and then I was like punchy strangle, and then I scurried inside and then your daughter was like ‘Ooh, Daddy sent me a stripper’ and I was like ‘Oh, you sweet summer child, I only strip for one man.’ And then here we are.”

His retelling is significantly different than what I remember.

“We have one more guest coming and then we’re all set to go,” Leland says as he tosses some tape to Tavish. “Tape his ass to a chair. Leave his toes and fingers free in case I get bored and want to start taking them off.”

“I will have you killed,” Arthur growls.

“How?” Leland asks. “Don’t make me laugh. Look around you. You literally have no one left.”

Arthur grits his teeth. “Goddammit.”

Tavish pulls up another chair and helps Leland tape Jasmine to it. I’m assuming we’re waiting for Jackson and Cassel, but when the door opens, the last person I expect to be with them is my father.

“Dad?” I ask. “How the fuck did you end up here?”

“We brought him here,” Leland says.

“We did?” I ask in confusion.

“Yeah, he was in that box you tripped over.”

“But… I was… talking to him on the phone right before we left and then…”

“Yeah, Jeremy said he had to wait forever for you to finish talking before nabbing him. Jeremy and Henry then stuffed him inside the box. Henry claimed he didn’t want to do it, but he sure looked like he was having fun in the pictures Jeremy sent me. I’m almost disappointed I wasn’t there to watch,” Leland says with a sigh.

I watch as Dad is shoved down into a chair. And suddenly, I realize that these people who have fucking haunted me no longer look as terrifying as they once had.

“Let’s begin,” Tavish announces. He rips the tape off my father’s mouth as Leland gets the tape off Jasmine’s mouth.

“I will play judge, jury, and executioner,” Leland declares. “I have a secret, and it’s that I’m really fond of the executioner part, so please keep that in mind. And begin!”

Dad’s eyes latch on to mine. “Shawn, please, these people?—”

“Don’t you dare beg me,” I interrupt. “I lost all trust in you the moment you watched that man drag me away. I want to hear the goddamn truth. All I’ve heard are fucking lies.”

“I haven’t fucking lied,” Arthur says. “Your father tried killing Jasmine! I wasn’t aware it was him until about a month ago. She didn’t know either, and if she did, your father would be rotting in prison right now. Your father is the monster here.”

“I’m the monster? You had someone kill Nate to protect your deceiving monster of a child,” Dad yells.

“He was threatening her. I had no choice. He was blackmailing me, threatening to go to the police with what he’d found if I didn’t give him money!” Arthur says.

“Dad, please, please, tell me the truth,” I beg. “This is the only thing I will ever ask of you again. Please.”

Dad closes his eyes. “I wasn’t lying… about much. Arthur had a life I always… envied. It was like he let me in his life, but I never felt like I could be a part of it. I was like a… charity case.”

“That’s how you saw our relationship? Like I was fucking pitying you?” Arthur asks. “I thought you were my friend.”

Dad looks away. “That’s when his daughter came to me. Somehow Jasmine knew I was caught up in a big drug operation at work. What started as a homicide led me deep into what we soon realized was related to the cartel. Drugs and cartel nonsense was not my department, but I was still providing some information for it, and Jasmine knew it. She talked me into telling her where the transport was going… instead of calling it into the police. She promised me so much money. I was enticed by this idea that I could give you guys stuff I never had growing up. I could do things I never dreamed of doing, so I did what she asked. I practically sold her the information on where a shipment of drugs was going and how to intercept it.

“But it wasn’t enough for her because she’s greedy. She kept wanting more and clearly thought I wasn’t giving her enough fast enough. That’s when she started dealing with my partner in the department. He was ruthless. He was the exact mark she wanted… until he got busted. He wasn’t careful enough, and she fucking knew it. Next day, he mysteriously ends up dead. And I really finally fucking woke up.”

“Don’t act like I killed him. I didn’t kill him,” Jasmine snaps. “He fucked up and the cartel he was stealing the drugs from took him out, and you know it.”

“I didn’t fucking say you killed him.”

“And don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it,” Jasmine says. “You’re really going to make yourself into the victim here?”

“Just fucking shut up!” Dad yells. “I told Jasmine I was done. I wanted out before the cartel started sniffing around me, but she wouldn’t fucking stop. She wanted me to finish the job the other guy started. If it went through, she promised me money unlike anything I’d ever imagined having, but I wanted out. I fucking wanted out.”

“For wanting out, you sure didn’t get out,” she snarls.

“That’s when the threats started. She started sending me pictures of you, she started messaging Sienna. She was playing your naive sister. Sienna was convinced Jasmine was some fucking… rich young man who would give her the world. I wanted to protect you two. I wanted to protect my wife. I wanted to protect myself… but I didn’t. In the end… I only knew how to care about myself. I went back into it. I went back, knowing that none of you would ever be safe as long as I stuck with it. Knowing that if the cartel realized what I was doing, they’d kill all of you. And… I can lie to you all I want, Shawn, but…”

“He fucking loved it,” Jasmine interrupts. “He can cry and whine all he wants, but he fucking loved the thrill. He loved the money. He loved all of it.”

“Shut up,” he shouts, but she just laughs.

“Oh, he sure fucking loved it until your mother found out…”

Dad closes his eyes for a moment, seeming to resign to what Jasmine is amused about. “She did what I wasn’t strong enough to do. She found out what I was caught up in… she found out about the drugs and where I’d stolen them from. About the threats… she fucking… she’d do anything for you kids. She did what I could never do. She’s the one who hit Jasmine with a car she’d purchased just for that and tried to kill her.”

Jasmine laughs again, but it’s a cruel sound. “Your sweet innocent mother stood over me as I lay bleeding to death on the road. She made up some lie about working for the cartel. And I knew that if I didn’t do what they said, they would stop at nothing to kill me for the drugs we’d stolen from them. As I lay there bleeding, she spelled out the ruin that would come to all of us if I didn’t fucking die. My father wasn’t involved with the drugs, but she knew I’d drawn his business into it. How else could I afford what I did? She knew fucking everything . And she was going to ruin it all. I didn’t know she was some goddamn… useless woman. Some fucking bitch that had never held a gun in her life. I should have known that if she really worked for them, she would have shot me dead right there.

“But I was naive and stupid, and so I told my father the cartel was after me. I really believed they were going to kill me when they found out I hadn’t died. He paid someone to fake my death. I was tossed into hiding for twelve fucking years because I knew if I showed my face, it was the end. Either way, it would be the end. If the police found out what I did, I would be ruined. My father would be ruined. If they found out I was alive, they’d slaughter me for real this time.”

She shakes her head. “I was stupid to believe it… but I did.”

“Then how’d you find out that it was Zachary and his wife?” Tavish asks.

“Nate Stewart,” Arthur says. “I knew nothing about Zachary’s involvement until fucking Nate Stewart came to me and was trying to blackmail me. I mean… I sure feel like there’s only one goddamn way Nate Stewart knew any of this shit.” He looks over at Dad.

“Wait… you were working with Nate?” I ask. “Did you fucking learn nothing?”

Jasmine laughs. “You’re hilarious if you really think your father is a changed man. He wants to be a victim, but he fucking loves the thrill of it. He loves the money. The excitement. The conniving bullshit.”

I look back at Dad. “You and Nate were the ones who started this all over again? It was dead for twelve years and you fucking revived it?”

Dad shakes his head. “It wasn’t supposed to get out that I was involved or the reason why she was in hiding. They were never supposed to know that your mother was involved. I didn’t know Nate was going to stab me in the back and try to take all the money for himself.”

“You fucking deserve to be stabbed in the back!” I yell. “So you thought you and Nate were just going to get some money to keep quiet? Threaten Arthur with what his daughter was doing and laugh as you bathed in his money?”

Dad swallows hard. “You don’t understand.”

“Which part? I feel like I understand that you are so much worse than I ever imagined. I guess what I don’t get is why you disappeared. If Mom knew and allowed you to stay around for six months, why did you leave then?”

“Oh, she didn’t fucking want me around, I can guarantee you that. She just knew that if she called the police on me or did anything of the sort, Arthur might piece things together and realize that it wasn’t this cartel who wanted Jasmine. The police were fixated on finding who hit and ‘killed’ Jasmine.”

“Did Mom know Jasmine was alive?”

“I don’t know… I believe she did. Your mother’s not a killer. She was just smart enough to make them believe she was.”

“So Mom kept you around…”

“She didn’t want to set anything off. She didn’t want anything suspicious.”

“But then you went into hiding and we went into protective services six months later?” I ask. “I don’t get it.”

Dad refuses to look at me.

“Here’s what I’ve learned from my own father,” Tavish says. “Men like that… men who get their kicks from the thrills. They can’t stop. They just can’t stop needing that thrill. My guess? While your mother and father were trying to paint a picture that everything was fine to keep Arthur from getting suspicious, your father started back into something else. When your mother found out, she went into protective services not to keep you guys safe from Arthur but to keep your father from getting her kids killed.”

Dad continues to avoid eye contact as I let this sink in. “She was running from you ? She knew Jasmine was going to keep quiet to protect herself, especially since she had no fucking idea Mom was involved. But Mom went into hiding… to hide from you . Did she tell the police what you did?”

“Not that I know of. She made me leave. She forced me to disappear like I was some monster. I’m not a fucking monster, Shawn.”

“Well… you’re not my fucking father, either,” I say.

“So why Sally? Why have someone take the fall?” Tavish asks.

Arthur answers, “Because people were getting too nosy. We were afraid that if they kept looking, the police would uncover something that would tell the cartel that Jasmine was still alive. We just needed to make it out to be an accident. People don’t look too deeply into accidents.”

I don’t know what to say to that. Did they ruin Sally’s life by forcing her to live in prison for twelve years to cover their own asses? Or did they save her life?

“You said you had footage,” Arthur says. “But I didn’t kill the woman who replaced Jasmine. I hired someone. I assumed… I assumed it was a woman who was already dead. I will pay you well for that footage.”

“Oh, that was all talk. I was just getting you to invite me here. Arthur, how can you not see the way you’ve been jerked around by your daughter?” Tavish asks.

“I am protecting her,” he retorts. “I’m protecting her. If I don’t…”

“No one’s out to kill her. It was all fucking fake. You know that at this point, don’t you?” Tavish asks.

Arthur grits his teeth. “Until that fucking parasite returned trying to blackmail me, I thought everything was going to be okay. My daughter was safe. Then I learned about Zachary’s involvement in all of it. Before that… I thought I was protecting my child. I thought I was protecting my friend’s children. Instead, I was being dragged along. But what now? I’m in too fucking deep. If I could just… make all of you fucking disappear, things could just go back to normal.”

“Or you could admit what happened to the police,” I say.

“And ruin everything?” he asks. “You want me to take your mother down too? She not only attempted murder, she’s known about all of this for years. Hell, she could have been your father’s accomplice. You all fucking step out of my life and I’ll step out of yours and wash my hands of it.”

“You dragged me into your life. You’ve threatened to kill me. You’re the reason Nate Stewart is dead,” I say. “How do you think you’re innocent in this?”

“He was trying to ruin my life,” Dad adds.

“You were trying to ruin mine!” I snap, which he obviously doesn’t care about.

Tavish looks over at me. “Ellis. It’s your choice what happens to them.”

“I want them to be arrested. To deal with what they’ve done,” I say.

“You can try. With Arthur’s standing, he probably won’t get much. He was never the one who physically killed anyone. He probably hired someone who will never be tracked.”

“You think I’ll keep quiet about your mother’s involvement?” Arthur asks.

“You think I should just let you go?” I retort, but he’s right. I don’t want my mother to go to prison. Why couldn’t this bullshit have just stayed dead?

“Your mother did so much to protect you. You’re not going to protect her in turn?” he asks.

“Shut up. Just… shut up.”

Arthur clearly doesn’t want to shut up. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll give you five million dollars and walk away, and you won’t ever see me again. Sounds pretty nice, right? You’d never have to work another day in your life. Treat your mother nice.”

Dad lifts his head. “I hit Jasmine.”

“What?” I ask.

“I’ll tell the police I hit her with my car,” Dad says. “I’m… I might have taken your father away from you, but I’m not going to let your mother get taken away as well. Everything she did was for you and your sister. Everything she did was because of me. I’ll tell them that I hit Jasmine. I tried to kill her.”

“I will tell them you’re lying,” Arthur counters.

Cassel, who I hadn’t noticed had been playing with a computer behind me, turns the monitor around. “Oh man. That’s so sad you’re going to say that. Because this looks like all of your accounts, doesn’t it? It really looks like I could destroy them, doesn’t it? I could wring you fucking dry. I could make it so all of your investors believe that you’ve been siphoning money off them for years. I could destroy you. You might get out of this with a slap on your wrist, but you’ll get out without a fucking cent to your name if you don’t shut your mouth and do what we’ve asked. Let your daughter face the time she deserves to face for what she’s done, or it’s all gone.”

Arthur grits his teeth.

Jasmine looks a bit panicked about that. “Dad, no, you can get me out of this.”

“Not if he’s fucking broke,” Cassel says. “The police are almost here. Hurry, Arthur. I’m not a patient man.”

“I will say whatever you ask me to say,” he gets out through gritted teeth.

Cassel smiles. “Good choice.”

“Ellis, come on,” Tavish says as he reaches out to me.

I glance over at my dad, wondering if this will be the last time I see him. Wondering if I ever want to see him again.

“I’m sorry,” Dad says. “I truly am. And I know that excuses nothing.”

I reach out and take Tavish’s hand, letting him pull me from the room.

“Now I really need to meet this mother of yours,” he says. “She sounds like a badass.”

“She does. They really will go to prison?”

“They really will. ‘Arthur,’ aka Cassel, sent out a distress call. They’re heading here right now where they’ll confess everything.”

“And if they won’t?” I ask.

“I noticed Cassel recorded the whole thing. He’ll be sure to cut out the parts about your mom and he’ll cut out who was in the room with them. But he’ll make sure a fun little show is playing for them when they come in.”

“Did you guys plan all of this?” I ask.

“Fuck no. I told you, we plan nothing.”

“Then how the hell did it all come together?”

“We’re just damn good like that. I’m just thrilled you came to save my life,” he says.

“Save you? I did nothing of the sort. I actually got caught at one point. Leland’s the one who saved you.”

He grimaces. “Hell no. One hundred percent you.”

“I just like stood there as he fucked them all up.”

“I don’t believe that for one moment,” Tavish says before turning to me. “I’m positive it was you.”

“Ha, funny,” I respond as he leans in and gives me a soft kiss.

“I know we’ve only known each other for like… days…”

“Feels so much longer than that.”

“But I really like you.”

“I really like you too.”

“Do you think that maybe you’d want to date little ol’ boring me?” Tavish asks.

“Oh, so boring.”

He grins.

“But yes. Yes, I would.”

“We could go on a date tonight if you want.”

“Tonight? Like… you… you still have energy ?”

“I have a lot of energy.”

“Oh hell, no. We could have sex as long as you like carry me to the bed and don’t expect me to do anything but lie there and be like ‘Ooh yes, right there.’”

“You sure know how to tempt a man.”

“And then afterward, you let me sleep for at least two days. Although… I think I’m supposed to work tomorrow.”

“I think you could call it off.”

“I just might. They probably think I’m dead.”

“Then we could have sex all day tomorrow.”

“I was thinking of sleeping but sure, we can have some sex mixed in there. But like… as long as I don’t have to get out of bed.”

“You won’t. The bed’s on the floor, so it’s rather hard to get up out of anyway.”

I grin at him. “I can’t wait.”