Page 3 of After All The Wreckage
And now it had been eleven months… Eleven months I’d survived without her. But it felt like twenty years. An eternity in which I’d lived in some alternate version of what had once been my life.
“Who told you that?” My words were garbled as pain and fury roared through me. He didn’t respond, and it only goaded me further. “I can’t believe you! You told Muloney to cut me out? You’re not her next of kin. You don’t get to make any decisions about her. You lost that right when you divorced her. Like it or not, I’m the one who’s responsible for her now.”
“Except you want my money to keep her alive.”
“That’s not what it’s for.”
“Isn’t it?” he demanded, brow rising again. “I know you’ve gone through the tiny profit you got out of the condo, Rory. I know you’ve had to change facilities more than once. This bullshit idea about a master’s degree? You and I both know it isn’t what the money is for.”
God, there were times I hated how good he was at his job. He really knew everything. He always had. It was why clients flocked from all over the Northeast to his doors.
“Keep your damn money. I’ll do this alone, just like Mom and I have done everything else for the past ten years, and I’ll figure out why someone wanted her dead while I’m at it.”
“I don’t want to lose my daughterandmy wife.”
“Ex-wife. Your latest girlfriend would hate to hear you call her that.”
He blew out an exasperated breath. “You’re not cut out for this, Rory,” he repeated. “It’s my fault you started down this path. I can admit I was wrong. I never should have asked you to do any of the things I did, and Hallie should never have let you coerce her into picking up where I left off.
“Jesus, look at you.” He gestured toward me. “You’re battered and bruised, racing around town on that deathtrap, for what? An idea that you can be some real-life Veronica Mars? Real detective work isn’t anything like that goddamn show.”
Each syllable was a hit to my already bruised psyche. Scars and scabs hidden deep in my soul started to bleed. Veronica had saved me. And ever since Mom’s accident, my life had taken on an even more decidedly Veronica-like vibe. She’d stayed to help her dad after he’d gotten sick just like I was helping Mom. She’d gone back to running the family PI business, and I’d done the same. The clients and money I brought in weren’t nearly enough, though. I was doling out more each month than I was bringing in, and Nan didn’t have any extra cash to offer. She was barely getting by on Pop’s widow’s pension.
I swallowed hard, striking back the only way I could with words I wasn’t sure were true but would hit home anyway. “At least Keith Mars loved his daughter. Fake show. Real love. The complete opposite of this.” I waved a finger between us and then turned on my heel and headed down the stairs.
He followed me to the railing, calling after me. “Rory, don’t leave like this.”
I didn’t respond.
“You know there are a lot of companies who would give someone with your computer skills a hiring bonus. If you’re looking for money and don’t want it on my terms, at least consider it. You need to leave this business behind and concentrate on what youaregood at.”
Chanel was pretending not to watch the show as I stormed past her desk, but I saw the smirk, and it only fueled the rage inside me. I wished I could slam the door to the building, but all it did was swing back and forth.
As I stalked over to my bike, the realization that Dad might be right caused bile to hit my throat. Maybe I did need to get some eight-to-five desk job in some corporate office peddling my computer skills. Not because a buckle had gotten caught in a trellis and the cheater had pulled me from it by my wrist, but because a job in a corporate office would pay a helluva lot more than my handful of clients.
But then Dad’s slipped admission came back. Someone had messed with Mom’s car! Someone had done this to her on purpose. There was no way in hell I’d let that go. I’d borrow money from Tall Paul, the biggest loan shark I knew, before I’d just walk away.
Just like Veronica Mars had once said, this was where I belonged. In the fight. It was who I was. And I could guarantee whoever had done this would regret it.
As I pulled on my helmet and merged into the heavy traffic of D.C. at lunchtime, I wondered how much Dad had paid Baloney-Muloney to keep the truth from me. Was Dad investigating it on his own or was he leaving it to the tiny force that made up Cherry Bay’s police department?
If Dad had any information, I’d find out. I had a backdoor into his network that he was clueless to. I’d find out what he knew, and if it was nothing, there were other doors I’d start banging on—or hacking into.
Dad was right about one thing. I’d die before I let anyone get away with this.
CHAPTER TWO
Gage
BROKEN
Performed by The Guess Who
I tappedmy fingers along the edge of the Pathfinder’s steering wheel, trying to push down the impatience I felt sitting at the back of the car line in front of Cherry Bay’s only middle school. I had a long list of things to get done at the bar, which meant I barely had time to manage picking Monte up and getting back to the apartment before opening.
The car in front of me inched forward, and I did the same thing as I scanned the sea of tweens sidling down the sidewalk past the car. No copper-topped waves in sight. Had Monte worn a baseball cap today? I couldn’t remember. My younger brother did more often than not. He hated his red hair. Hated the curls more. Hated that kids teased him about being Orphan Annie’s twin brother. How the hell they even knew who she was beat me. I’d had to look it up.
“Bubba, I have to pee,” a tiny voice from the back seat whispered.
