Page 164 of In the Air Tonight

“I didn’t mean to.”

“What did you think would happenwhen you tried tokillBlaise Merricktwice? That doesn’t help Ryder.”

“I thought if she couldn’t testify—”

“They have her sworn statement!”

“They can use that?”

“Yeah, Dad. They can use it.”

“I had to do something before they ruined his life.”

“He ruined his own life.”

“Why would you say such a thing?”

“Because it’s true. He did this to himself, and he’s taking the rest of us down with him.”

“What do you know?”

“I know the truth, Dad, and if you’d asked me that question before you’d gone after Blaise, maybe you wouldn’t have made everything worse for Ryder and for the rest of us.”

“How could he have done such a thing?”

“You’ll have to ask him that. In the meantime, you need to turn yourself in.

“I’m not doing that.”

“You have to!”

“If they want to come after me, they’ll have to kill me.”

“Dad, are you thinking of Mom or your grandchildren or anyone but yourself when you say something like that?”

“I love you all, but I won’t sit by and watch them destroy your brother.”

“You can’t stop what’s happening to him!”

“Watch me.”

The line goes dead, filling me with dread at realizing as bad as things are now, it could still get much worse.

I call the Hope Police and ask to speak to Caleb. They say they’ll have him call me, which he does a few minutes later.

“I spoke to my dad. He won’t turn himself in.”

“We’ve got the whole state looking for him, Cam. We’ll find him eventually.”

“He said if you want him, you’ll have to kill him. He’s determined to save Ryder.”

“Shit. Okay, thanks for the heads-up.”

“Will you keep me posted on what’s going on?”

“If I can. This is pretty hot. Trying to kill a witness who’s prepared to testify against your son is a big deal.”

“I understand, and I’m sorry. I don’t know what he was thinking.”

---