Page 163 of In the Air Tonight

“Is Blaise okay?”

“She’s injured. I’m not sure how seriously.”

“Let me know what’s going on?”

“I will.” I turn back to her. “Please, Sienna. Don’t talk about this to anyone.”

“I won’t. I never would.”

Nodding, I leave her in the kitchen and go into the garage. As I drive around the town where I’ve lived my entire life, looking for my dad’s black Chevy truck, I try to think about where he might be.

The last few days have been the worst of my life. Much worse than the first time Ryder was charged. There’s so much more at stake now that we’re married with families. More than once in recent days it’s occurred to me that I should’ve come forward when Ryder first confessed to me.

Maybe if I had, we wouldn’t be facing ruination now. But I also know I never would’ve done that then, even if it was the right thing. He’s my brother, my closest friend. He was everything to me then. There was no way I’d ever have turned him in.

But I should have.

If I had, he would’ve done his time by now, and this nightmare would be in the past for all of us. Instead, it’s a thousand times worse than it would’ve been then. Hindsight is indeed twenty-twenty.

I take a call from Arlo. “I just heard that the cops are looking for your dad. What’s going on?”

“He tried to kill Blaise.”

“He didwhat?”

“You heard me.”

“Come on… He really tried to kill her?”

“Possibly twice. The cottage where she was staying in LE was torched.”

“I heard there was a fire, but not that it involved her.”

“She wasn’t in the cottage at the time, but they can still charge him with attempted murder on top of arson if they can prove he was targeting her, which of course he was.”

“I’ve got to say, man… This might be the end of the line for me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve stood by Ryder for all these years, defended him, quit my job to work on his campaign, and then I heard he was willing to plead guilty, which opened the rest of us to potential criminal and civil liability. He was thinking only of himself when he negotiated that deal, and now your dad has tried tokillmy sister? I don’t agree with what she’s doing, but he tried to kill her?Twice?”

“Arlo…”

“There’s nothing you can say. All this time I believed him when he said he didn’t do it. I staked my own reputation on his word. But that was all bullshit, wasn’t it? Hedidattack Neisy. Hedidrape her. And he lied to us foryears, and now his lies could cost me and the others everything we have. Your dad tried tokillmy sister to save a guilty rapist. I’m fucking done.”

The line goes dead.

My heart is broken. Arlo has been a brother to us, but I don’t blame him for cutting his ties. Our family is disintegrating before my eyes. Why would anyone want to be anywhere near us?

I look for my dad for hours while repeatedly trying to call him.

I’m shocked when he calls me back.

“What the hell were you thinking?”

He breaks down into deep sobs. “I had to do something to save him.”

“You’ve only made everything worse.”

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