Page 42 of The Prodigy 2: Rise of a Queen

“Well…” he trailed off. Pain covered his face, and I hated myself for making him relive it. But I had to know.

“Daddy?”

“A few months after your mama went away…a man came to my door. Y’all were at school.”

He paused, and I leaned forward, my heart pounding.

“I opened the door, and he handed me an envelope. Didn’t speak, just handed it to me.”

“Who was he?”

“I don’t know, but I knew he was with those Windermeres. I’d seen his face before.”

“What was in the envelope?”

“A note. From Lester. It was some nonsense about hearing Kenya was missing and feeling bad about it. Said he was praying for the family. And…there was…”

“What? There was what?”

“Cash,” he said on an exhale. “Said he was donating to the search effort. But I knew better. That was guilt. Plus, nobody was searching. It was bullshit.”

Suddenly, I was nauseated. “How much?”

He pressed his lips together and shook his head. He seemed embarrassed.

“How much, Daddy?”

“It was ten-thousand.”

I clapped my hand over my mouth. “Oh my God.”

“That’s when I knew his ass had something to do with it. But whatitwas, I still don’t know. I thought maybe she ran off with him on a trip and didn’t wanna come home or something.”

“So what did you do with the money?”

“What difference does it make?”

“I’m just curious. I know how muchmypain was worth, but at least a little something good came out of that. What did you do with the money?”

His mouth dropped open at those words, but he recovered quickly. “Paid some bills.”

I let the lie pass. He was in enough pain as it was. But it was all coming back to me. His trip to Biloxi a few months after my mother disappeared. The matchbook withBeau Rivageembossed on it that appeared in our kitchen drawer after he got back home.

“Listen, I never told y’all this because I didn’t have proof of anything. I just tried to get you girls through it. That’s all I knew to do.”

My eyes welled up.

“So that’s that, then.” I sniffed and wiped my cheeks. “You took the money and didn’t ask any questions.”

He spread his hands. “You don’t understand. These Windermeres are connected. And they’re dangerous.”

I couldn’t dispute that.

“It was little old me against all of them,” he continued. “What was I supposed to do? I wish I’d had it in me to get a gun and go Denzel on ‘em. Hunt ‘em down.” He chuckled. “I guess I’m a coward.”

He probably wanted me to disagree, but he wasn’t getting any arguments from me on that.

“Anyway, that’s the truth,” he concluded. “You know everything I know. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you back then, but I suppose that was me trying to protect y’all.”

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