AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I need a walk.” I coughed into my hand to relieve the lump in my throat. “Now.”
“What the—”
“Please,” I said softly, looking toward the door.
Joe stood quietly, seeming to understand. I sighed in relief. We walked out of the office together.
“Where to?” he said.
“Outside. It’s a decent day. Sun’s out.”
He nodded and we left the building. Once we were a couple hundred feet from the building, he turned to me, his gaze serious. “Tell me what’s going on. Now.”
“I met with Ted Morse.”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know what his angle is, Joe, but he claims the Feds are investigating the two of us.”
“You and me?”
“Yeah. Now I don’t know if it’s true. Whether it’s the Feds or if it’s Ted pulling something, which I wouldn’t put past him, but he mentioned the camping trips you and I took with my dad.”
Joe’s face reddened. Yup, here went the hothead.
“Joe…”
“Fuck.” He grabbed a fistful of his long hair. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“I know. So you remember?”
“Did Morse mention that time?”
“I’d forgotten, honestly. What was it? Nearly thirty years ago now? We couldn’t have been more than eight or nine.”
“Fuck.”
“I told him we were always alone with my dad. And we always were…”
“Except for once,” Joe said.
“He claims my phone and my house are bugged. That’s why we needed to get out of there. He didn’t say anything about your office, so I originally thought we’d be safe there. I mean, you have the best security and all. But these are the Feds.”
“It’s only the Feds if Morse is telling the truth.”
“True. But how would he know about the camping?”
“Fuck if I know.” Joe paced in circles.
“Does anyone else know? Your brothers?”
“I never told anyone. I trusted your dad. And like you, I’d forgotten until now. It was pushed back in my head, a nonissue, you know?”
“Yeah. Nothing ever happened. The family moved away. I mean, I assume they did. Hell, I can’t even remember his name, can you?”
“Justin? Or Dustin?”
A memory sparked in my mind. “Justin. You’re right. Justin… What was his last name?”
