Page 98 of Volatile Vice

I shift in my seat. “Tell me,” I say, “how long have you been having your daughter watched?”

His gaze never leaves mine, but I notice a slight flutter on his left eyelid.

Yes. I’m on to something.

“Are you going to answer me?” I ask.

“I ought to haul your ass out of my house,” he says.

I will my body to not flinch. “But you’re not going to, and we both know that.” I stand, lean over the front of his desk. “Look. I’ve got no beef with you. I’ll be honest with you and tell you that I’m in love with your daughter. I’m also going to stay away from her because I know that being in my circle right now does not keep her anywhere close to safe.”

Austin nods. “Agreed.”

“Is it just Raven?” I ask. “Or are you having all of your children watched?”

Austin clears his throat, riffles his fingers through his graying hair. “Walk a mile in my shoes, and then tell me how to be a father.”

I hold up a hand. “You’re misunderstanding me. I’m not telling you how to be a father. I wouldn’t presume to do anything like that. But I interrogated my grandfather about that attorney getting killed on your property. I was certain he had something to do with it. Whether he was trying to implicate Raven or you or somebody else, I didn’t know. But he maintains his innocence, Austin. And though he’s about as trustworthy as a fox chasing a chicken, the words he said to me made me think.”

“What words were those?” Austin asks.

“Suffice it to say that it made me think of you.”

“And why did you do that?” He darts his gaze around the room.

I stare him down, not allowing him to break eye contact. “I think you already know why. And by the way, you scared the hell out of your daughter when you hijacked her Uber app.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He drops his gaze to the desk.

“We can play it that way if you’d like. But I’ll uncover what I need to uncover. And I would hate for you to go to prison for the murder of Brick Latham.”

He returns his gaze to mine. “That won’t happen.”

“Won’t it? If you had those kind of contacts, you would have kept your own son out of prison.”

He doesn’t speak for a moment.

I can almost see the cogs working in his brain as he tries to figure out how to handle this. I’m not his enemy, I think he knows that. Just in case?—

“I’m not your enemy, Austin. I’m in love with your daughter, which puts us on the same side here.”

“I’m not so sure that’s the case,” he says, slowly rising. “I’m a law-abiding citizen. Never been in trouble a day in my life.”

“Except for those records that were expunged. You caused the death of a vendor when you were a teen.”

His eyebrows rise slightly. He’s trying to hide his surprise. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You do.” I shrug. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. The records may have been wiped once you turned eighteen, and your slate is clean, but that doesn’t mean that those records don’t exist somewhere out there.”

“Jesus fuck,” he says.

“Look, I’m not interested in some stupid thing you did when you were a kid. You paid your dues, and I accept that. But don’t stand there and tell me you’re a pillar of society when the two of us both know you’re not.”

He cocks his head at me. “Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

“I look in the mirror every day, Austin. I don’t always like what I see. But I made a deal with the devil himself, and I’ll see it through. I’ll see it through for my sister and for my mother. And for my father, who’s currently serving time.”

“That’s puzzling to me,” Austin says. “You speak of my contacts. What of yours? People in your grandfather’s circle have gotten away with far more.”

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