Page 94 of Clean Slade
“Why aren’t you coming, Daddy?”
King glanced from me to his daughter before he answered.
“Because Tiago wants you all to himself, and I’m…I’m still mad at Joey.”
I raised an eyebrow, and he shrugged in response.
“Whatever the reason, Daddy…you’re wrong.” I choked back a laugh, but King didn’t resist giving his daughter the evil eye.
“Maybe. Now go on. Get.” He tapped the door and stepped back, but I didn’t drive off.
Not yet.
“You’re not gonna do anything stupid, are you?” I whispered as he hugged himself on the sidewalk, still in his pajamas, open to the winter elements.
“No.” He shook his head. “I’ll be here.”
“You better,” I said.
“I will. Promise.”
I hope so.
I kept repeating it as I reversed out of the driveway and drove over to Santiago’s house as if it was a mantra that would make it true.
Mac was more than happy to see her uncles, and so were Joey and Santiago, even if it was two in the morning. Shadow, their cat, on the other hand, wasn’t as pleased.
Before I left, Joey gave me a hard look that said I would have some explaining to do later, and I gave him a matching promise.
Although how much I‘d be able to share was still to be determined.
Please be in. Please be in,I prayed as I put the key in the lock of King’s home.
King opened the door as if answering my prayer, and I saw the rolled rug at his feet.
A rug with a dead body inside.
“When we’re back, remind me to ask you about this,” he said, waving his cell phone before putting it on the table by the front door.
“What’s wrong with it?” I picked it up and turned it over, looking for any faults.
“Nothing to worry about now. Apparently, Tony installed an app that keeps track of me. I need to deactivate it, but I’ve looked and looked and can’t find anything. I know if I get rid of it, Tony will be pissed or find another way to keep tabs on me, so I’m kinda stuck with it.”
“Does this have anything to do with your meeting at the old farm?” I asked him, getting to work.
I’d been looking for an opportunity to bring that up for a week now, and if this wasn’t an opening, then I didn’t know what was.
“You know about that?”
He looked surprised but not worried.
Good. Because we were done with secrets.
After tonight, if I had anything to do with it, I would take nothing but the truth.
TWENTY-TWO
KING
