32. Vinnie

32

VINNIE

A ustin furrows his brow. “Tell you what about Brick Latham? I hardly knew the man.”

I clear my throat. “I may have been gone for the last seventeen years, but I wasn’t born yesterday. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this whole Brick Latham thing. And there’s one thing that I can’t get past.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “What’s that?”

“The fact that you and your wife weren’t home Friday evening, and neither was Raven.”

“Yes, and I’m grateful for that. Otherwise, who knows what might have happened?”

I shift in my seat. “Tell me,” I say, “how long have you been having your daughter watched?”

His gaze never leaves mine, but I notice a slight flutter on his left eyelid.

Yes. I’m on to something.

“Are you going to answer me?” I ask.

“I ought to haul your ass out of my house,” he says.

I will my body to not flinch. “But you’re not going to, and we both know that.” I stand, lean over the front of his desk. “Look. I’ve got no beef with you. I’ll be honest with you and tell you that I’m in love with your daughter. I’m also going to stay away from her because I know that being in my circle right now does not keep her anywhere close to safe.”

Austin nods. “Agreed.”

“Is it just Raven?” I ask. “Or are you having all of your children watched?”

Austin clears his throat, riffles his fingers through his graying hair. “Walk a mile in my shoes, and then tell me how to be a father.”

I hold up a hand. “You’re misunderstanding me. I’m not telling you how to be a father. I wouldn’t presume to do anything like that. But I interrogated my grandfather about that attorney getting killed on your property. I was certain he had something to do with it. Whether he was trying to implicate Raven or you or somebody else, I didn’t know. But he maintains his innocence, Austin. And though he’s about as trustworthy as a fox chasing a chicken, the words he said to me made me think.”

“What words were those?” Austin asks.

“Suffice it to say that it made me think of you.”

“And why did you do that?” He darts his gaze around the room.

I stare him down, not allowing him to break eye contact. “I think you already know why. And by the way, you scared the hell out of your daughter when you hijacked her Uber app.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He drops his gaze to the desk.

“We can play it that way if you’d like. But I’ll uncover what I need to uncover. And I would hate for you to go to prison for the murder of Brick Latham.”

He returns his gaze to mine. “That won’t happen.”

“Won’t it? If you had those kind of contacts, you would have kept your own son out of prison.”

He doesn’t speak for a moment.

I can almost see the cogs working in his brain as he tries to figure out how to handle this. I’m not his enemy, I think he knows that. Just in case?—

“I’m not your enemy, Austin. I’m in love with your daughter, which puts us on the same side here.”

“I’m not so sure that’s the case,” he says, slowly rising. “I’m a law-abiding citizen. Never been in trouble a day in my life.”

“Except for those records that were expunged. You caused the death of a vendor when you were a teen.”

His eyebrows rise slightly. He’s trying to hide his surprise. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You do.” I shrug. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. The records may have been wiped once you turned eighteen, and your slate is clean, but that doesn’t mean that those records don’t exist somewhere out there.”

“Jesus fuck,” he says.

“Look, I’m not interested in some stupid thing you did when you were a kid. You paid your dues, and I accept that. But don’t stand there and tell me you’re a pillar of society when the two of us both know you’re not.”

He cocks his head at me. “Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

“I look in the mirror every day, Austin. I don’t always like what I see. But I made a deal with the devil himself, and I’ll see it through. I’ll see it through for my sister and for my mother. And for my father, who’s currently serving time.”

“That’s puzzling to me,” Austin says. “You speak of my contacts. What of yours? People in your grandfather’s circle have gotten away with far more.”

“Because my father’s right where my grandfather wants him,” I say. “Which also makes me wonder…”

“Wonder what?”

“If, for eight years, your son was exactly where you wanted him.”

This time Austin’s jaw drops. “I did everything I could to keep him out of the slammer. But because of his name, the prosecution wanted to make an example out of him. They were going to put him through a trial, and it would have made all the papers.”

“Yes, and that would’ve sullied your good Bellamy name.” I sit back down, never letting my eyes break contact with his. “You expect me to believe you don’t have friends in the judicial department who could have made this go away?”

“I tried. But a cop was killed. You haven’t lived in Texas long, but our judiciary doesn’t look kindly on cop killers. Plus, he was killed by my son’s gun.” He sighs. “Do I believe Falcon did it? Absolutely not. But he took the blame. He pleaded guilty. He took the deal for prison time. He was twenty-two years old at the time—a legal adult. There wasn’t anything I could do to stop him.”

“You know what’s interesting?” I ask. “I think there’s a part of you that actually believes that.”

He glares at me. “I believe it because it’s the truth. You think I wanted to see my son go to prison? What father would want that?”

“I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just looking at what’s before my eyes. And quite frankly? I think you just got away with arranging a murder on your property. Funny how it went away so quickly this time. But eight years ago, it didn’t.”

“You say you’re not my enemy,” he says. “That’s not how you’re talking.”

I hold up a hand. “I’m not your enemy, Austin. But I’m looking for the truth. Raven’s safety is paramount to me. More important than anything. As important as my mother and sister, and honestly? Maybe even more so. I know I can’t be with her. That we can’t have a life together, but I will do everything I can to keep her safe.”

“Then we have the same goal.”

“I believe we do.” I rise again, leering over the desk at him. “So here’s my question to you. Why Brick Latham? Why was he a threat to Raven?”

He crosses his arms. “I don’t owe you any explanations.”

“You don’t. That’s true. But if I’m going to see to Raven’s protection, I need to know everything you do.”

“Falcon hired her a tank of a bodyguard.” He looks me up and down. “I don’t think she needs your protection.”

“Trust me. She needs my protection.”

“Why?” He squints at me. “Unless you know something I don’t.”

“Only that my grandfather knows how I feel about her. That puts her in a bad place. He’ll try to use her as leverage against me. I can’t allow that to happen. Somehow I have to convince him that I have no feelings for Raven. Which of course means I have to stay away from her. In the meantime, though, you can’t use her like that. You can’t send an Uber driver to basically kidnap her and tell her to do something. To keep me occupied.”

He doesn’t respond.

“I see you’re not denying it.”

He blinks. “There’s nothing to deny.”

“So I’ll ask you again. Are you having all of your children watched? Or only Raven?”

He draws in a breath and lets it out slowly. I know the gesture. He’s trying to figure out how to play this. I’m on to him, and he knows it.

Finally, he speaks. “All of them. Since Falcon got put away.”

I stop my jaw from dropping. “You’ve been having your children watched for the last eight years?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I couldn’t risk any of them getting into trouble like he did. It all could’ve been prevented if I had known what was going on.”

“And tell me this.” I walk to the other side of the desk, squatting down to his eye level. “Did you want Falcon in prison?”

He looks away from me. “Whether I wanted him in prison or not is irrelevant. That’s where he had to be. It was the only way I could keep the story contained. I didn’t want my son branded as a cop killer. I didn’t want every tabloid in the free world descending on this ranch. I know damned well Falcon didn’t pull that trigger.”

“Do you know who did?”

He frowns. “I have my suspicions.”

“I see.”

Then he does a double take. “Wait. Do you know?”