Page 129 of Burn It Down

“He told me Cora had managed to make some connections and could probably get us a deal.”

“Did he say who her connections were?”

Martin shakes his head. “No. And I never asked. With everything in full swing for campaigning season, I just told him to handle it. We were going to alternate who bought which properties after buying the first one together. I went first and just signed on the dotted line.”

My father.

“Martin, do you think Cora would have done my father’s bidding?”

This question finally gets Martin’s head to rise.

“Quite possibly. They went to the symphony together last weekend. I didn’t think much about it at the time. I wasn’t surprised your father had reached out to her. Ever since he had suspicions of you and that boy, he grew more possessive of Cora like he was afraid our friendship would change simply because you two had broken up.”

“Wait, they went to the symphonytogether?On purpose? They didn’t just run into each other?”

“No, I believe he invited her a while ago. Said it was business.”

I’ll be fucking damned. They played me. Cora turned down the concert with me and Dylan so she could go to the symphony with my father. Knowing my father has been on to me since before the gala, my mind races to put the pieces of this fucked-up puzzle together.

“Martin, are you up for a visit with my father?”

When he looks at me, there’s steel in his eyes and a new resolve forming behind them as well. He wipes his mouth, squares his shoulders, and nods. “Give me a second and I’ll be right down.”

He moves to the staircase and I assume he’s going to change considering the front of his shirt is stained with his last meal.

I shoot a text to Dylan, Charlie, and Cassie, letting them know I think Martin is innocent and that we’re going to confront my father. Then I call Lieutenant Stewart and leave a voicemail asking him to reroute his officer to my parent’s house.

While I’m waiting on Martin to come back down, my phone rings and Whitney’s name flashes on my screen.

“Whitney?” I rasp.

“Jacob, oh thank God. I’ve left you like a hundred voicemails.”

“I’ve been a little busy.”

“Yeah, the fire’s been all over the news. Jacob, I think it was Cora.”

“I know it was, but how do you know?”

Whitney launches into a story about being picked up by Officer Dowdy for driving while impaired a couple years back.

“I’m not proud of it, but I was blitzed, Jacob. No way I should have been behind the wheel of a car. Officer Dowdy said if I’dlet him fuck me in the backseat of his cruiser then he’d drive me home without so much as a warning. I figuredwhat the hell, I was already known as a whore because of that innocent fling with Teddy — I’m sure you remember the pool boy? I figured if I was going to be accused of it, I might as well be guilty…especially if it could prevent DUI charges.Anyway,Cora knew the story, so my guess is she enlisted the help of a dirty cop who could help her get away with this.”

“But why did she want todothis in the first place?” I ask Cora’s best friend.

“Look, Cora is…complicated, but she’s not stupid. She was on to you and Dylan way before the gala. The double date she planned for us? She asked me to come on to Dylan to see if he’d bite. When you lost your shit over my hand on his leg, something snapped inside her, but I swear I didn’t think it was ever going to go this far. I thought if you were cheating on her, she’d get a huge payout and it would be swept under the rug like every other affair, but then she confided in me that she was working with your dad to come up with some plan towin you back. After that, she started acting weird and I haven’t really talked to her much since then.”

“Thank you, Whitney. That’s actually really helpful. And I’m really sorry that sleazy asshole took advantage of you like that.”

I hear her false bravado through the phone. “It’s in the past, but I thought you should know there was a connection there.”

“Thanks. I’ll pass it along to the officer on the case.”

Martin comes down the stairs a minute later. He calls my father on the way to the house to ensure he’s home. Of course, Steve doesn’t answer either, but we decide to try anyway. Both of us are so fired up, we’ll drive around this entire goddamn planet until we find him.

But neither of us are prepared to see Cora’s Audi in my dad’s driveway.

“What the hell?” Martin says beside me.

---