“Nothing to worry about now.” He set his phone face-down, and shook his head, refocusing on theconversation.
“I can ask my father,” Cain was saying, looking at Damon. “See if he remembers anynames?”
“You want to do that?” Damon wrapped a supportive hand around the back of Cain’s neck, and Cainnodded.
“I think I should.” He looked up and down the table. “I talked to my parents at Christmas. Things aren’t great, especially with my mom. I don’t think she’ll ever forgive me for coming out publicly and ruining her standing with her lunch club.” He sighed. “But my dad is trying. He… I don’t know how to feel about it.” Cain spread his hands in front of him, almost a pleading gesture. “He’s a criminal. He killed people. You know? I don’t know how to forgive him for that, or how he can makeamends.”
Bas sighed. “Cain, I’m the first person to tell you, your dadisa criminal. And he deserves to be punished for what he did. But, hey, seems like my dad was, too, huh?” He gave a half-laugh and shook his head. “Point is, no one can tell you how you’re supposed to feel about it. It’s fine to be confused. And it’s fine to forgive him, if that’s how youfeel.”
“Yeah?” Cainwhispered.
“Yeah.” Bas cleared his throat. “You need to make your own right path - one that’s true to who you are. And trying to love people, trying to forgive them for being blind and stupid, that’s generally always the right way. I don’t always get there, myself, but… if you can, go forit.”
Drew looked up from his tablet and stared at Bas,stunned.
“What?” Basdemanded.
“Nothing.” Drew shook his head, even as his chest warmed with pride and… yeah, fuck it,love. “That was just… reallyprofound.”
“Yeah, well, every once in a while I get something right. Don’t look so shocked.” Bas rolled his eyes, and Drew ducked his head as he smiled, afraid of what Bas might see if he looked tooclosely.
“Okay,” Damon said. “So Cain will talk to his dad about projects. What’s next in ourtimeline?”
“Next is that my dad saidno,” Cam said, a note of pride in his voice. “For whatever reason, he got fed up and didn’t want to give them informationanymore.”
“And Alexei didn’t take too kindly to that, because he’s a miniature despot who trusts no one.” Drew filled them in on everything they’d learned about Alexei from Gary. “So he forced Senator Shaw’s hand and had him arrange for the Seavers’ plane tocrash.”
“Which I don’t get,” Damon interjected. “He’s a man with a hundred henchmen on his payroll. Why get the senator involved atall?”
“Leverage,” Cort answered. “If Alexei’s men did it, the senator could get all remorseful at any point and blow the whistle. This way, Shaw can’t come clean without implicatinghimself.”
Bas laid his hand on the tabletop, his fingers clenched into a fist. “Such a fuckingprick.”
“He really is,” Drewagreed.
“And so, the senator had his assistant Jack Peabody sabotage Damon’s plane, causing the crash,” Camcontinued.
“And I survived, much to everyone’s amazement,” Damoninterjected.
“But the others didn’t.” Bas stared at his fingers, and Drew couldn’t help lifting a comforting hand to hisshoulder.
“I figured out Jack was involved, and we confronted him. He told us he’d taken orders from the senator and was arrested, but never made it to trial.” Damon’s jaw tensed. “Because he was killed inprison.”
“Which my dad claims he had nothing to do with,” Cain reminded them all with a shrug. “According to him, that was all onAlexei.”
“Figures,” Drew said. “And then you and Damon confronted your father, who explained that he’d only gone through with it because Alexei was threatening your family. Is that pretty much all weknow?”
They allnodded.
“Is there a way we can leverage what you just told us about Alexei’s lieutenants being unhappy with him?” Cort’s eyes were narrowed inthought.
“I don’t know.” Drew shrugged. “Not without names, and Gary didn’t feel like he couldshare.”
“What about their side businesses? ID fraud and all that,” Cort wondered. “Could we nab him on a lessercharge?”
“Get a murderer on ID fraud?” Damon askeddubiously.
“Remember they got Al Capone on tax evasion,” Cort reminded his brother. “Stranger things havehappened.”
