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My grandfather really was the one person who could break my dad, and I wasn’t going to do that to him. Not if my grandfather really was just playing games.
“I’m just asking for time,” I asked my friend. “Time to look into what he may or may not be doing while my family is out of town.”
I could have Thatcher peel apart his new identity. We hadn’t looked into it long enough when Sloane first came into town.
We hadn’t had a reason.
“And what about when you come back?”
“We’ll know by then,” I stated. “At least, have an idea of what he’s up to. I’ll do what I can from where I’m at, but I bet Thatch can uncover some shit. We didn’t look into my grandpa’s pseudonym enough. He made it sound like I should know it.” He said a lot of things that could have been bullshit, but I definitely wasn’t overlooking anything this time. “My grandpa also made it sound like he’d only be in town for a few days. Said he was just checking on the Sloane kids. I could have Thatch look into that too. See what the link there is. Gramps said Sloane’s dad used to work for him.”
Wolf panned in my direction. “In what way?”
“No idea.” I leaned back against the door. “I just need time, Ares. Time to see what may or may not be true. It might not result in anything, but that time is so valuable. My family is already ripping apart, man. I can’t upheave their world again. Not so soon.”
All this fucking shit was killing me and ripping me apart. So much of the drama was stuff I’d unleashed.
I just needed time before more happened.
I thought my buddy would argue with me more. I mean, he’d been going up and down with me, but he stayed silent for a bit.
This was a good thing.
That meant he was thinking about things, his hands sliding in his pockets. His head lifted. “How much time?”
That I didn’t know. “Let’s just start with my folks and me being out of town. We’ll talk more when we come back.”
This didn’t seem to settle well on my friend’s face. He obviously thought I was in danger, and for whatever reason, he wanted to go to bat for Sloane and her brother too. He didn’t know all the facts, though. He didn’t see the evidence with his very eyes like I had. I’d watched Sloane go along with my grandfather’s ruse, and it’d been too good.
She’d been perfect.
Not an ounce of a lie could be read on her face, so fluid with my grandpa’s script. The girl was incredibly dangerous, and besides the visual evidence of her making out like a bandit in regards to my grandpa being her and her brother’s “guardian,” she no doubt had lots more she was pocketing. This was going beyond a nice house, a fancy school, and her brother’s and her sweet ride.
The shit about her dad dying in a fire could have been bullshit too.
It was the unknown that scared me the most because, if someone could lie that well, they didn’t have a soul. They were just as much of a monster as me and the shit I’d gotten wrapped up in recently.
Maybe even worse.
I needed my buddy on this. I needed his and my other friends’ help.
“Please, Ares,” I pleaded. “Just give me time.”
He remained silent, his hand cuffing his arm. He seemed really at war about this decision.
“We’ll need an eye on your grandfather,” he said, making me blink. “We’ll watch him while you’re gone. See where he goes, stalk the hell out of him. Hopefully he leaves town in a few days like you said. That’ll at least save us from worrying about him here. You could be right he’s just trying to scare you. That’d be the best-case scenario for obvious reasons.”
He was going to help. I acknowledged what he said, nodding too. “Sloane and her brother will need a detail too.”
“I’ll take care of it,” he said, sitting on the bed again. I joined him. He huffed. “And don’t worry about looking into all this mess while you’re gone. I mean, you can, but your priority should be taking care of your mom and dad. I’ll have Thatch look into your grandpa. We all will, and we’ll leave no stone unturned.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. Just watch out for your parents. Just worry about that, yeah?”
I wasn’t sure how much help I could be anyway. I mean my parents took my phone, and I didn’t know if and when they’d give it back. I might not have any technology where I’m going.
And I could hug my friend for not letting me worry about anything else but my family, my buddy, ride or die. He obviously didn’t agree with all this, but he was going to help me move the pieces.
I thought about the fact that I didn’t have any biological brothers or sisters. Hell, my father hadn’t either, but he’d found close bonds with his friends. They were stronger than blood ties, unable to be broken, and anyone from the outside might not understand that. You had to live it.
I was happy to say I had that with my friends. These boys were truly my brothers. Bow was in our circle too, but we’d have to keep our knowledge of at least my grandpa away from her. We couldn’t risk her wanting to alert the parents, and that’d been the only reason we kept the Mayberry stuff from her.
