Page 72 of Kept in the Dark

Ryan chuckled. “Not everyone likes their parents.”

“You would know.”

Ryan whipped his head to look at Trey. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Trey waved him off. “Maybe not everyone does, but I heard you were on good terms with her. Is that true?”

Ryan shook his head and took a drink. “No.”

Treys' curiosity piqued. “Why?”

“Why would I tell you?”

Again, Trey ignored Ryan’s questions. “What do you know about Morgan Gallagher?”

Ryan clenched his fist. “Nothing.”

“We both know that’s a lie.” Trey sighed. “Nicole is missing, and we have evidence to suggest Sara didn’t kill Morgan.”

Confused, Ryan said, “And? What’s that got to do with me?”

“I want to know what you know about your father. We know it’s David.”

Ryan flinched and Trey took another drink as Ryan did. Ryan nursed his whiskey, studying the precipitation on the glass. “I aint got nothin’ to say.”

“You tried to kill Hailey just to get back at your old man for abandoning you.” Trey shrugged. “A therapist would say that’s some serious daddy issues.”

Ryan narrowed his eyes. “You little-”

“Call me whatever name you want, but right now our interests align: to spill David’s secrets to the world. You want revenge and I need to figure out what he’s hiding. We both know he’s not lily white in your mother’s disappearance or his late wife’s death.”

Ryan thought over what Trey said. “What makes you think I know anything?”

“A little birdie told me.”

Ryan eyed him suspiciously, but Trey wasn’t going to give away his sources. Both Lauren and Genevieve could be in danger if Ryan decided he wanted revenge for their willingness to talk.

“All I want to know,” Trey continued, “is any dirt you’ve got on David and the names of anyone who may have had it out for your mother or even Morgan.”

The bartender came by again to fill Ryan’s empty glass and cast a worried glance toward him. Trey would bet Ryan either threatened or harassed the girl when he had one too many.

Ryan looked at Trey. “What’s in it for me?”

“Knowing you got to stick it to David if the info you tell me pans out. Plus, you may be able to help us find your mother. That seems like more than enough for a piece of shit like you.”

Ryan chuckled and took a gulp. “You’re funny.” He sighed. “I’ll tell you what I know, but I want you to make sure I get an exclusive with every reporter in the city. I want everyone to see David for what he is.”

Trey nodded. “Deal, but not until after my investigation is done.”

Ryan clenched his jaw but didn’t put up a fight. “I found out David was my father when I was ten. My mother let it slip one night and told me how he didn’t want us, how he refused to leave Morgan. I was curious about him, so when I got older, I confronted him. He flipped his shit and told me to never contact him again and that he wanted nothing to do with me.” He lifted a brow and smiled. “Dad of the year.”

“What about Morgan?”

“I don’t know who I hated more: her or my father. He wanted nothing to do with me because of her. As a kid I would listen to my mother cry herself to sleep at night, empty bottles of booze left all over the house while random naked men scavenged through our empty fridge at three in the morning, using her like the trash she is.”

Ryan threw back another glass of the brown liquid, slamming it down with a thud. Trey thought it might shatter.

“Everyone loved Morgan. They swooned over her, and people thought she was all sunshine and rainbows when she was really a wolf in sheep’s clothing, just like David. But no one was allowed to know our secret, or my mother wouldn’t get a dime.”

---