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I hesitate for a moment. “Come back with me.”
“Your father might not like it. Are you sure?”
“You’re my lawyer. I need you present.” I try to smile but it doesn’t feel like anything at all. “Mostly I just need you.”
She nods, face serious, and squeezes my knee. “You’ll be okay. He’ll be okay too. This is minimum security, a local jail. He’ll be safe here.”
“Right, okay, good.” His safety hadn’t even occurred to me and suddenly I can feel myself starting to spiral. Daddy’s in jail right now, he’s rotting in a prison cell, thrown in beside rapists and murderers and thieves—but I guess Daddy’s a thief now too. He embezzled so much money from the company and used it to start a crypto coin, and when the entire crypto market tanked, his coin disappeared in a puff of smoke, losing all of his money and a lot of other money besides.
Daddy ruined thousands of people. He lost regular folks their life savings in some cases, all because of his stupid crypto obsession. I should hate him like lots of people do online—there’s a whole cottage industry of people that get off on enjoying the pain and suffering of anyone with a big bank account—but he’s still my daddy. He raised me after Momma died and was always there for me; even when he had other obligations, he always made time for me. Rowe Oil was never more important, his shareholders never mattered, Grandpa’s opinion was second. It was always me and him.
I miss him so much it kills me, and I don’t understand why.
Another guard comes through a door beyond the metal detector and calls our names. I get up and Sara follows. We pass through the detector, down a short hall, and are deposited into a room divided in half by a huge plastic mirror. A shelf in front of us is scratched and nicked and marked by dozens and dozens of families. The chairs are ancient metal and scrape across the floor. Sara settles herself serenely.
I feel like I’m going to crack.
“I keep thinking about this one time, Daddy surprised me with a trip to Disney.” I don’t know why I’m telling Sara this but the words spill out anyway. So much for no emotional stuff. “I came home from school one day in the middle of the week about a year after my mom died and he scooped me up and said,kiddo, we’re going on vacation. And then we left for a whole week, just him and me, and we did absolutely everything together. All the rides, all the meals, everything. It was the best week of my life.”
“That sounds really nice,” Sara says.
I blink back tears. “It felt like me and Daddy against the world sometimes. After Mom died, especially. I think her dying really made him double down on being the best dad he could, maybe like he was trying to compensate for her not being there. And I don’t know, I think it might’ve worked. But now I’m sitting here in this little concrete box waiting for him to come in and I just keep thinking, where did my daddy go? Where is he?”
Sara says nothing. That’s my Sara. She puts her hand on my leg and squeezes, and gives me that searching and serious stare. I smile at her and get myself together as the door on the other side of the glass opens, and Daddy shuffles into the room followed by a guard.
I stare at him. I can’t help it. Daddy looks the same—it’s only been a few days since he got arrested—but seeing him with chains on his wrists, and that bright orange jumpsuit, and stubble on his chin and cheeks, it’s like a bad movie.
Daddy’s a big man. Broad, tall, in good shape for his age. His hair’s salt-and-pepper, usually perfectly combed, but a bit unruly right now. I can’t recall the last time I saw him in anything but perfectly tailored clothes, from bespoke shirts to custom suits. Daddy gets chained to the desk on his side and is given a phone to talk through, and I pick up the phone on our side. The guard leaves as Daddy’s voice comes through the receiver.
“Hey, honey,” he says and puts his hand up on the glass like in the freaking movies.
I put my hand up too but quickly let it drop away. All I feel is cold. “Hi, Daddy. How are you?”
“Oh, been better, kiddo.” He grins and waves to Sara. She waves back and seems to shrink further into herself, scooting her chair away slightly as though she’s giving us space. “I see you brought your lawyer.”
“I made that joke to her earlier.”
“See, kiddo. I know you too well. How are you holding up? Everything at home okay? Your grandfather is okay?”
“Everything’s fine.” I tell him about Grandpa coming out of retirement, about the uncles stepping up, about Grandmother running around the mansion like a bat out of hell cooking and cleaning and keeping herself busy even though we have staff for all that.
“Sounds like the world’s still turning without me.” He’s still smiling but there’s something sad behind his eyes. “I’ve heard some things, kiddo. Talked to your granddad yesterday.”
“What did he say?”
“Told me about the company. About the money. Look, honey—”
“Daddy, don’t, please, I don’t want to hear it.”
“It was a mistake,” he says quietly and seem to shrink. “A stupid mistake. I thought if the coin worked out, and I was convinced it would, I mean, so many other coins worked out and made everyone really rich, and I figured I’d put all the money back—”
“Daddy,” I say sharply. “They’re recording this.”
“Right.” He smiles sadly and glances at Sara. “I suppose she should be the one telling me to be quiet.”
“I can put her on if you need legal advice.”
“No, thanks. Your grandfather already sent me a team of lawyers, although who knows what they’ll actually do for me. But, kiddo, there’s something more important.”
