Page 105 of Always Us

There’s a knock on the door, then the maid comes in with a mug filled with coffee. She hands it to my dad.

“Thank you, Marta.”

“Would you like something?” she asks me.

“No, thank you.”

The maid leaves, closing the door behind her.

“Justin’s sister was also a reporter.” My dad swipes through the screen on his phone as he talks. “And she was indeed killed. She was killed by your grandfather.”

“What?” I move to the edge of my chair. “Are you serious? Why did he kill her?”

“He didn’t do it. He hired someone, like we always do. The girl knew too much. She had to go.”

“Dad, what the hell? You act like she deserved it.”

“Of course she didn’t deserve it, but that’s the business we’re in, Garret. Well, not you, but the rest of us. Knowing too much can get you killed. That’s why I keep telling you to stay out of things like this. And that goes for Jade as well.”

Normally my dad wouldn’t tell me all this. He’s never come out and actually admitted to having people killed. But maybe now that I know what he did to his father, he feels less of a need to keep secrets from me.

“Do you think Carson, I mean Justin, knows it was Grandfather who arranged to have her killed?”

“I’m almost certain he does. I think he somehow traced her murder back to my father and that’s what led Justin to investigate our family and become involved with Aston Hanniford.”

“Shit.” I sit back in my chair. “No wonder the guy hates me.”

“Your grandfather was careless when it came to these things. He was arrogant and took too many risks. And because of that, I now have Hanniford to deal with, along with the FBI.”

“The FBI is after you?”

“Aston has friends in high places. He knows an FBI agent who agreed to look into this for him. There’s no open case against me. The agent is doing this on his own as a favor to Aston. But I’m sure he’s using the FBI’s resources to get it done. And if finds any conclusive evidence, he’ll tell his fellow agents and they’ll open an official case and start an investigation.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m not doing anything. I’m supposed to keep my distance. The other members are taking care of it.”

“Meaning they’ll kill the FBI guy?”

“Even with him gone we’ll still have to get rid of whatever files he had on me,” my dad says, glossing over my question. “We’ll also need to destroy any files Justin may have on me.”

“You’re not going to kill Justin, are you?”

“It’s not up to me. It’s out of my hands. I told the members the situation and now it’s up to them to decide what to do. If Justin shows up at your house again, or harasses either you or Jade, let me know. We’ll take care of it.”

“I don’t want you to kill him. Just let me handle it. If he shows up again, I’ll find a way to make him leave. Beating him up would be better than killing him.”

My dad picks up the remote and turns on the TV that’s on the wall behind me.

“Dad, what are you doing? We’re in the middle of a conversation.”

“I just want to check the weather. I heard we might get snow later tonight.”

My dad never checks the weather. He doesn’t care about the weather.

I turn to see the TV. A news station is on and an older man is talking. “In other news, we’ve just learned that billionaire Cecil Roth was killed in a car explosion near his home in Westchester County, New York. Reports are still coming in, but it’s believed he was speeding and lost control of his vehicle. He hit a telephone pole and a fire started, which likely sparked the explosion.”

“Holy shit.” I look back at my dad. “He’s dead? Roth is dead? What the hell?”

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