Page 12 of Tainted Blood

“I’ll destroy him.” I flex my fists, clenching them tightly as my teeth gnash. I’m ready for war with that old prick.

“We need to get rid of the police and firefighters, but why don’t we just track the fuck?”

“Good idea, Connor.” My brother pulls up an app and runs the tracker on the car our father took. It’s traced to only two miles outside the damn estate.

“We need to approach this vehicle cautiously, if there is even a vehicle there. He could have found the tracker and tossed it.” Jack and I nod, and then we leave his office and find the women sitting around the living room with John, playing with his toys. “We need to speak with the fire department and then the police.”

“I’m going to head out and check the car, okay?” I say, wanting to find him before he gets away.

“Please do, but be careful because I don’t trust our father, especially when it comes to you. He wouldn’t waste an opportunity to take you out,” Jack says.

“No doubt. The bastard would definitely try to get me. Connor, you want to go instead?”

He chuckles. “Sure.” We leave the house and drive toward my father’s just as the firefighters finally put out the blaze.

“They are the owners,” Johnny informs a man in uniform, pointing directly at us as we step out of my SUV. Turning to Jack, he adds,“Boss, this is Chief Moses. He has information about the fire and was looking for you.” Jack shakes his hand first, followed by me and then Connor.

“Okay. Please let us know what is happening with our father’s home.”

“Unfortunately, there was a major accelerant used in the garage. It wasn’t just in a container that could be explained away. Although it’s natural to have corrosive and explosive-type items in a garage, this was different. The house caught fire afterward, and inside there were two bombs—inside the main door to the garage, and the other in the kitchen. The mansion is mostly destroyed. We found two dead bodies inside so far.”

The color leaves our faces. He didn’t even have the decency to send them off before he set the place ablaze—the damn devil. Damn it, the man is getting desperate, and that means even more dangerous than we had already thought.

“You’re going to need to find my father,” Connor says.

“We believe he was one of the people in the fire.”

“What?” Jack says, feigning disbelief, but we know the truth. It wasn’t him. Who did he set up inside the house?

“Can we see the body?” Jack asks first. We all want to know if they really have the old man. There is no way in hell we believe it.

“They were badly burned and removed to the medical examiner’s office. You’ll have to meet with them.”

“Thank you. If you’ll excuse us, we need to return to our family. How much longer will they all be here?”

He gives Jack a peculiar look, but I suppose it’s because we don’t care if our father’s dead or not. “The fire is out, but the smoke is unfortunately strong. Please keep indoors, and if anyone has breathing problems, make sure they’re away from this.”

“We will. Thank you again.” We each shake his hand again and then drive back to Jack’s to wait it out.

If I’d known about his involvement before he got away, I would have run him down and pulled him out of the vehicle. I pace Jack’s office, rage filling my gut.

“Do you think Saunders has anything to do with this?” my brother asks.

“No, I believe this is all Dad. I need to figure out what to do with Saunders. With all this damn attention Dad’s just drawn on us, I can’t just have Saunders killed because it would be like a fucking neon sign pointed right at me,” Connor grumbles.

“You’re right.”

“But delaying it will piss off Claudia,” he sighs. I’m glad I don’t have a woman to deal with. They are so damn stressful and piss me off. My mind goes straight to Callie and the fact that she ran out on me and I haven’t been able to find her on my own.

“She knows you’re waiting until after my wedding, so at least that gives you another week.”

“Yeah, but with Dad’s death,” Connor says with air quotes, “you’ll be expected to postpone it.”

“The fuck I am. Nora and I are getting married next week, and your wife is going to make the killer cake that Nora has been dreaming about for days.”

“Fine with me.”

“You’ll get no complaints from me. I love cake, and if you’re married, the other families will find you stronger. That means the head of the family will usher in his future family,” I say.

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