AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He's gone. He left a while ago. Before I called you.”
Drew's shoulders drop slightly, but he's still on edge. “You should have called me, Roni. You shouldn't have met him on your own. The man has been in and out of jail. He's dangerous.”
“I'm a big girl. I can handle myself.”
He leans forward, hands flat on the table, his look and tone fierce. “The man is afelon, Roni.”
It’s the look in his eyes—worry, fear—that flusters me. He cares.
“He wants the pictures I took.”
Drew's gaze clouds with confusion as he sits back. “Of that day?”
I nod.
“How does he even know you took them?”
“He said he saw me.”
“He was at the game?” His eyes widen.
“Apparently. I told him he should speak with the news outlets that covered the story. But he insisted it wasmypictures that he wanted. For a family album. For your mother.”
Drew growls. “The bastard. I’m sure he wants to try to blackmail me again.”
“I never confirmed or denied I had anything. I told him I'd look and let him know.”
“He gave you his contact info?”
“No. He said he'd be in touch.”
“I need to find out what he wants and put an end to this. My guess is he will take those photographs and threaten to sell them along with some made-up story if I don’t pay him what he wants.”
“I'll do whatever I can to help you, Drew. In fact, while I was waiting, I came up with an idea.”
“Oh yeah?”
“What ifweput your story out into the public first? You'll need to say something about being out for the season anyway. We'll work with your PR team of course, but I could write up a story and I could sell that with the approved photos to a news outlet I trust.”
Drew ponders that for a moment, but as the idea sinks in, I can tell he's receptive.“I think that's a great idea. Let me talk to Mitch first, though. He'll want to approve anything we do.”
“Of course.”
“Did he say when he would reach out to you again?”
“No, but I don't think it will be long, a day or two at most. He seemed anxious.”
“I want to be there when you talk to him.”
“I wouldn't have it any other way.”
Chapter10
Drew
This is not the first time my father's tried to blackmail me. But it sure as fuck will be the last.
Itisthe first time I've seen him face to face, though, since he came to pick me up at the community center when I was a kid. The other two times he pulled this trick, he had one of his buddies corner me near the stadium. Always with the same message—unless I wanted him to make a spectacle, he expected me to give him money. They would play a video on their phone with dear old dad pleading that he needed help to get out of one more bind. It was all a bunch of crap. I know that. But I also didn't want my past or my family exploited. I didn't want it to be widely known that my father spent time in jail for placing bets on games, and the repercussions that could have caused. Mostly, I didn't want my mom's name dragged through the mud.
