Page 186 of Things Left Unsaid

“There’s no need to be.”

“They must have had probable cause?—”

“Maybe they did. But I have an alibi. Zee.”

“You weren’t behind the wheel, were you?” Cody asks in an aside.

“No! Jesus H. Christ, Cody. What do you take me for?”

“A man who’ll do anything to protect the people he cares about.” Before Colt can say a word, Cody continues, “Did you pay the blackmail note?”

“Of course I did. She was threatening Zee. And as much of a bitch as Lydia was, the Armstrongs were on the brink of losing everything?—”

“Fuck, Colt! You weren’t her daddy. Who pays off a blackmailer because they feel sorry for them?”

Callan crows, “Daddy Colt, that’s who.”

Have he and Tee been talking behind my back or something?

Still, as insane as Colt is and as much as I understand my brothers-in-law’s disbelief, it’s such ahimthing to do.

“Anyway, the Armstrongs have already lost their daughter, Cody. If the cash helped them out then?—”

“You’re crazy.”

“Have you lost a daughter?”

“No.”

“Do you know if your daughter is dead or alive?”

“No, but?—”

“No. No buts.”

“How did you know it was Lydia?”

He grunts. “Theo happened to mention one day that he saw Lydia up here, hanging around our mailbox.”

“That was dumb on her part.”

Colton snorts. “I never said she was eligible for Mensa, Cody, just that she was grief-stricken. Why do you think I wasn’t worried once I paid her off? I knew it’d pan out when their house was secured.”

“I’m not sure who’s crazier. You or Lydia Armstrong.”

“She’s dead. The dead don’t blackmail.”

“You’re lucky they didn’t detain you again.”

“Clyde did it and Reilly’s sitting on his hands.”

“You think he’s corrupt?”

“I don’t ‘think.’ I know.”

The sound of a chair shifting backward has both Callan and me jerking to our feet.

Loudly, I mutter, “Callan, I told you I hate playing first-person shooter games!”

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