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“I’ve got a whole paper trail that says differently.”
“You can’t prove a thing, and you can go fuck yourself,” Henry said, his tone petulant. “I’m glad I don’t work there anymore. I’ll just watch from a distance as you run the company into the ground.”
“Then you don’t have to go whining to Dad,” Cooper replied. “Not that he needs to know your employment status, but if he does ask, you can simply tell him that you retired.”
“Hell, you can even blame me,” Sam added. “Tell Dad that you didn’t want to work with an asshole like me.”
“We didn’t steal from the company,” Rick said, his voice so loud it echoed off the walls of the empty corridor. “I don’t know why that crazy bitch Leigh kept those purchase orders. Maybe she was trying to set us up for something she was doing. Have you asked yourself that, Sam? Maybe Leigh was stealing and trying to frame us.”
It had never crossed Sam’s mind because it was a ludicrous idea.
“Why would she frame you two?” Sam asked. “After all, you said that you barely knew her? Of all the people at the company, why would she pick you guys?”
“Who knows?” Henry said. “Why do people do anything? And we hardly knew her. Rick came on to her once, but she turned him down. And I only talked to her about business when I needed something from Joel. That’s it. But maybe she thought if she brought us down, she would get promoted to one of our jobs.”
“She was retiring,” Sam bit back. “She wasn’t looking to be promoted. She was looking to leave, so I think your theory is a little farfetched. Now step aside, because we need to go talk to Dad.”
“What’s so important that you need to go in before us?” Rick asked. “We were here first.”
Sam and Zack exchanged a glance of disgust. Rick and Henry could go pound sand. But their question did make one thing clear…
They didn’t know. They hadn’t heard the news yet.
“Our visit is taking precedence,” Cooper replied. “We need to talk to Dad before he sees it on the news.”
“What news? What’s going on?” Henry whined. “We were here first.”
Sam was waiting for Henry to stomp his foot like a toddler and threaten to hold his breath until he got his way.
“Mom’s body has been found,” Cooper said, his voice quiet. “We’re going to tell him. You’re going to have to wait. Or better yet, leave and come back later.”
Sam had never seen Henry and Rick speechless before. It was a sight to behold, really. Both men’s mouths were working, but no sound came out.
“Found?” Henry finally croaked. “Are you sure? Are you really sure?”
“The sheriff is sure,” Zack replied. “There will be a DNA test, but the clothes and belongings matched. It’s time to bring Mom home and give her a decent burial.”
“Found?” Rick echoed, his voice barely a whisper. “And your dad doesn’t know yet? I should be the one—”
“No,” Zack said sharply. “You will not be the one to tell Dad. We will do it.”
“I’m his brother—”
“I don’t care,” Zack replied, shaking his head. “We will do this.”
Zack’s tone was firm, not inviting any more arguments. Rick, already fuming from being fired in the morning, turned around and stomped down the hall with Henry on his heels.
“Maybe we should have let him break the news,” Cooper said with a shrug. “I sure as shit don’t know how to tell Dad. Do you?”
“No,” Zack replied. “I don’t. But I don’t want Rick anywhere around Dad, trying to twist this into something that he can take advantage of. He only thinks about himself. It wouldn’t surprise me if he wanted to be the one to tell the news because he thinks it would hurt our dad. Rick resents the hell out of his older brother, and he’d just love to shove the knife in.”
“Will Dad be upset?” Cooper queried. “That’s the million dollar question.”
“No time like the present to find out,” Zack said. “Are you ready, Sam? Cooper and I can do this if you’d rather.”
“I’ll be there,” Sam assured him. “You won’t be alone.”
He wanted to see Joel Winslow’s face when he heard the news.
