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He snorted. “Figured that’s what you’d say so you wouldn’t have to pay.”
“Pay what?” I glanced at Bear, confused as hell, but he looked just as lost as I felt.
“He told me you were part of the club. Said he’d tell you he was holdin’ me and would only give me back for five hundred K. He said we’d both get what we needed. But then when I got to River Springs, he told me to forget it, that he found a better bargaining chip.”
“Jane.” Bear shook his head and faced me. “He saw you with her, realized how much money she comes from, and knew he held a more likely payout if he grabbed her.”
“Who is this motherfucker?” Bull faced Leo. “What’s he look like?”
“Never saw him,” Leo replied. “Only talked to him on the phone.”
“How did he find you?” Ritz asked.
“I don’t know. He just called me up. Said he heard that I was looking for you.”
“And you believed him?” I asked.
“No,” he bit back. “I didn’t just believe him. He knew shit. Knew my name, my mom’s name, knew who you were and where you lived.”
“Did he give you my name?”
“No, I already knew your name, which was how I knew he was telling the truth.”
“Look, kid, I don’t know who told you I was your dad, but…”
I trailed off when he interrupted me. “You know Cindy Ford?” He saw the look on my face and smirked. “Yeah, I thought you might.”
“Cindy’s your mom?”
“Yep. She told me all about you.”
“What did she tell you?”
“Told me you were together a couple of times, but then you left for the Army. I found my birth certificate, and it proved what she was sayin’.” He paused. “Used that and your Army records to find you, but the last known address for you was in California. Took me a while to find you in New Hope. Only found out when someone mentioned your name in a review about a special paint job you did on their car.”
“How the fuck did you get into my Army records?”
He shrugged. “I’m pretty good with computers.”
I ran my hand through my hair. “I need to talk to Cindy.”
“Can’t.” I met his eyes and saw nothing but sadness. “She overdosed six months ago, right after I graduated high school.”
“Jesus, kid,” Bull said quietly.
Bear pointed at Leo. “Stay put.” Then he gestured toward the hallway. “Need to talk to you a minute.”
I followed him into the hallway, and we faced each other after he closed the door, but he was the first to speak. “You okay?”
“Not really.”
“You believe him?”
“She never told me she had a kid. Never tried to find me.”
“Would she have?”
I sighed. “I didn’t know. She had a shitty life, brother. She was a little older than me. We hung out, smoked some weed together, and then I found myself in some trouble, which wasn’t surprising where we grew up. Cops gave me a choice, jail or enlist. I enlisted. The recruiter knew I was lying when I said I was eighteen because they had the fucking police report in front of them, but I was gonna turn eighteen in two months. They did me a favor and ignored it so I could avoid jail time.”
