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“What about Mom? Would you pay that for her?”
He huffs. “I’d pay anything for her. She’s priceless. You know that?—"
“June is going to be my wife, Dad. I’m not letting her rot in a hole somewhere because you didn’t think she was worth it!”
“It’s too much! Did you try to talk them down?”
“Talk them down? She’s not a car! She’s?—"
“Yes, yes, your future wife,” he says dismissively. “It’s still out of the question. You were born with too much money to appreciate its value. You don’t know what it is to put in a hard day’s work and truly earn your money.”
I laugh. “And you were what, a pauper when you were born?”
“I did not grow up with the wealth and privilege that you did.”
We are getting off track and nowhere. So, I decide to take a different tactic. “I know it’s a lot of money, Dad. I’m not that irresponsible. But I’m scared out of my mind. I’m sure you understand that. If it were Mom?—"
“But it’s not, and thank your lucky stars for that. She would never hold up under this kind of strain. Just think of your poor mother tied up. Her heart would give out.”
Again, he’s sidetracking me and taking control of the conversation. And now I know he’s doing it on purpose. Talk about Mom to distract me and steer things back to how he wants them. Not happening. I sigh. “Well, I suppose I could always go to the police and the press and tell them everything that’s happened, couldn’t I? That way, we can get a proper manhunt going at taxpayer’s expense and no one would have to pay a dime?—“
“You will do no such thing!” he spits.
Good. I have his attention. “Dad, they want the money, and after our last conversation on the matter, I have a feeling you know more about all of this than you’re telling me. So, what is it you’re not telling me? I have the right to know what kind of business we are in. You want me to be CEO? Then I need to know what this is about. Why did they take her?”
“Anderson, I will tell you everything in due time. I’ve been planning to let you in for years. But now is obviously not the right time?—"
“Why the hell not?”
“On the phone?” He scoffs. “You’re smarter than that.”
He wants to talk to me in person? I take a beat to realize why he won’t say anything on the phone. My phone could be tapped. So could his. No point in dragging that issue on, then. He’s too smart to come clean about anything over the phone. Hell, he might suspect I’m working with the police. I’ve brought them up too much. But they’re my only real leverage against him at the moment, so I can’t hesitate to use them if I need to.
“Fine, whatever. Dad, are you going to unfreeze my accounts or not?”
“You’d pay for her out of your own money? I thought you wanted my money.”
“I would do anything for that woman. I don’t care where the money comes from. It doesn’t matter to me. I just have to keep her safe.” After a conversation of lies, it feels good to tell the truth.
He grunts, surprised. “I’ll think about solutions, Anderson. In the meantime, don’t do anything rash. Do not call the police or the press. Don’t post about it on your social media. Absolute silence is just as much a weapon as a gun, and it will protect her just as well. If they catch wind of you going public, they’re liable to make an example of her.”
I know it’s not real. Not anymore. She’s safe in her bed. I can see her right now. But the thought of kidnappers making an example of June makes me want to punch something.
Specifically, my father.
After a lifetime of lectures on business, the law and the media, the berating, the arguments, I still don’t know what my father is up to. It twists the knife that, on top of everything else that’s happened, he’s still a mystery. My own father.
I hate this.
“I won’t go to them. Yet. But if you drag your heels on this, you’ll leave me with no other choice.”
“You will ruin the family if you do that.”
“You think I fucking give a shit?”
He laughs. “Yes. I do. Why do you think a woman like June is after you, son? For your sparkling personality? Say you do it. You go to the police and they save her at the expense of tanking the firm and putting me in prison and freezing all our assets. How will you keep her by your side when you have no money?”
I could drive to their apartment and punch his lights out and be back before midnight. But if I do that, he won’t unfreeze my accounts. I might consider it worth it, if I didn’t need desperately to pay June back. So, I swallow it down.
