Page 211 of Midnight Curfew

My father’s spine straightens as he draws in a hard breath. Glades Avenue turns into the highway. How long was I gone? They have no fucking idea.

Chin up and eyes level, my father walks back over to me, trying to appear calm, but he’s not. I know how to read him better now.

Hands on his hips, he asks me, “What’s your plan here?”

“I thought I’d build a hotel,” I muse, tightening my hand on Anna-Katherine. “I could almost own it outright, at least be majority shareholder.”

That means much of what I take in goes to overhead and the rest is profit.

“Or I could parcel out the land,” I tell him, “work with contractors to design custom homes, bring bigger men to the community.”

His hand flies out, slapping my face. My head whips to the side, fire spreading across my cheek.

I blink, my heart racing. “Or I was kind of thinking of letting it become a nature preserve.”

His hand comes down again, harder, the fire now feeling like my skin is ripped.

“A bird sanctuary.” I swallow. “A haven for ecologists and conservationists.”

His chest rises and falls, and my father has rarely ever hit me, but I think he might just kill me if that’s what it takes to get the location out of me.

It still won’t find him the treasure, though.

“Maybe NASA needs another launch site.” I face him again, shrugging. “Government contracts might be lucrative.”

His gaze darkens, and he knows I’m probably lying, but he’s not entirely sure. I might just want to avenge Anna-Katherine enough to drive St. Carmen into the ground.

We stare at each other, and I watch him blink slowly. When he opens his eyes, he’s looking at her.

I nudge her behind me more.

“All right, we got people on the roads,” Grady shouts, monitoring the cameras. “Who’s out?”

“Chavez,” someone calls.

“And Marquis.”

My father’s eyes don’t break until Grady rushes over, buckling his belt. “We can’t do this now,” he explains, looking at both of us.

The storm rages, and they need to take care of the community. My thoughts drift to Dallas.

“Please go home,” he tells us. “We’ll pick this up again in a couple of days.”

He and Townsend hurry out of the station, and a small smile pulls at my father’s mouth.

“I hear you’re interested in renovating the school, too,” he says.

I falter, my eyes narrowing as I glance to Fabre. He wouldn’t have known about that.

Milo?

Of fucking course. He’s just a younger Garrett Ames.

“You’re going to need banks for all of these plans you have,” he points out, “because there’s no way you’re spending even half of what you have if you’re as smart as you seem.”

I’ll invest most of it, so yes, I will take investors for a while.

“I encourage you to come to your senses,” he bites out, “because I’m an even worse enemy than I am a partner.” His gaze lands on Anna-Katherine. “Your sister can tell you how creative I can get when I’m really having fun.”