“Got me. Except that Dale said—” I stop.
“Dale said what?”
Shit. I’ve stepped in it now. What the hell? This is my father. “Dale says that the Steel family is good at doctoring documents.”
Dad doesn’t deny my statement. He merely nods.
“So you already know that.”
“Like I said, there’s a lot your uncles and I haven’t told you.”
“And why is that again?”
“We’ve been through that. We wanted to spare you and your cousins and brother all the headache and heartache we went through.”
“What about Dale and Donny?”
“We couldn’t spare them everything, but we could spare them some. We couldn’t erase what happened to them, but we could make sure that nothing like that ever touched them again. My father’s brother is deceased. But he had children. Grandchildren.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. And it looks like a couple of them are coming out of the woodwork. They believe they deserve a cut of the Steel fortune.”
“So give it to them,” I say. “It’s probably theirs anyway. You always say we couldn’t spend our total fortune among all of us in five lifetimes.”
“It’s not that simple, son.”
“Why not?”
“Because it was my father—your grandfather—who built this company into what it has become. His half brother had nothing to do with it.”
“You’re saying his descendants deserve nothing?”
“All I’m saying is that it’s not that simple.”
I know the look on my father’s face. I’ve been seeing it since I was a kid, since I can remember. It’s that stern look that says the subject is closed for now. I’m your father, and I have the last word.
He is still my father, and I respect that. He’s a good father. But I’m an adult now. A grown man.
So much is going on in my head. I can’t get that young nurse out of my mind. Someone put a vial of atropine in her baby’s diaper, for God’s sake. What the hell is going on? Why have they targeted our family?
Dad doesn’t even know about the nurse in Grand Junction. I can’t tell him—not without checking with Dale and Donny first.
But again, I know my father. I see his mind churning. He knows there’s something I’m not telling him.
My father has always been able to read me like a book. Now that I’m older? I can read him like a book just as well. It’s creepy in a way.
Dad pulls his shoulders back, stands tall and strong. He’s ready to face me, ask me what I know.
I don’t wait for the question. I dive into the water and swim.
More laps. Lap after lap after lap, until my body feels numb.
Finally I stop at the edge of the pool, lift myself out. Dad hands me a towel.
“Nice form,” he says.
“Thanks.”
“Nice save too.”
“Meaning?” I ask.
“You know exactly what the hell I mean.”
I meet his gaze, forcing myself not to nod. “I’ll tell you what you want to know if you tell me what I want to know.”
“I think you’re forgetting who the parent is here,” Dad says.
“No, I’m not. Not at all. But I’m a grown man, and I no longer have to answer to you.”
“You’re living in my guesthouse.”
“Fine. I’ll move out. I’m entitled to a tract of land on this property, just as Dale and Donny are. Just like all the rest of us are.”
“Don’t move out,” Dad says. “Your mother likes having you here.”
“And you?”
He clears his throat. “You know I like having you here. It was especially helpful when Talon was in the hospital. Having you close by while your mother and I were occupied with him was a blessing. We knew things were taken care of here at the house. We appreciated that.”
“Fine. I’m happy to stay in the guesthouse. I’m happy to help out when I’m needed. Don’t throw that in my face again, Dad. It’s not fair.”
He doesn’t reply. That’s the Jonah Steel way of apologizing. My father is tough. Tough and hard and uncompromising. He’s a good man at heart, though. A very good man. Even when he goes off half-cocked, it’s always for what he perceives is a good reason. A just reason.
“Let me give Dale and Donny a call.”
“Brock,” Dad says, “this is my business. It’s my business more than anyone else’s in this family. I’m the oldest Steel. I’m the CEO of this company.”
“What if this doesn’t have anything to do with the company? What if it’s personal?”
“It always is, son. When you have this kind of money, it’s always personal.”
I glance at the pool, the water still rippling from my laps. I’m exhausted. To dive back in would be stupid. I’m an accomplished swimmer, and I know this. Would I drown? No. But I need to let my body rest.
Dad knows this, and so do I.
“Tell me, Brock. Just tell me.”
I see so much of myself in my father, both the good and the bad.
“Quid pro quo,” I say. “I’ll tell you if you tell me. Level with me, Dad. We are all involved now.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Rory
After a raucous rehearsal with Jesse and his band in our main garage, I pack up my equipment and head toward the door.
“Where are you off to?” Jesse asks.
“I’m starving. I’m going to make myself a sandwich.”
“We’re going into town for lunch. Why don’t you come with us?”
“What the heck is open in Snow Creek on a Sunday?”
“That Taco Bell on the edge of town just opened. We’re going to check it out.”
“Yummy.” I roll my eyes. “No thanks.”
“Actually…” he says, frowning.
“What, Jess? What?”
“We’re going to find Lamone.”
My head thuds into my stomach. “No. Please. You said you wouldn’t…” I subtly gesture toward the rest of the band.
“I didn’t tell them,” he says softly. “Not about the photos.”
I grab him and drag him through the door into the house, closing it behind us. “What exactly did you tell them?”
“That he’s been spreading lies about our family, and I’ve had enough of it. Plus, we all got dragged in and questioned by Hardy Solomon on that dumbass vandalizing case. Dragon didn’t have an alibi—he was alone at his place—but the rest of us did. Luckily Hardy let it drop for all of us.”
His words are true enough, but Pat Lamone isn’t the first person to lie about me, Jesse, or anyone else. This is a small town, after all.
He opens the door and heads back into the garage.
I follow him. “So you’re not going to Taco Bell?”
“Hell yeah, we’re going to Taco Bell. We can’t pummel the dude without a full stomach.”
“Please, Jess. You guys are only going to make things worse.”
“Listen,” Cage, my cousin, says, “he’s not going to get away with this shit. Right, guys?”