Page 13 of Texas Scandal

“Okay, good,” Prescott said. His face was a study in calm whereas Melody was starting to freak out.

Tiernan squeezed her hand and more of that warmth spread through her, bringing her pulse down another notch.

“Tell me about your family,” Prescott continued without missing a beat.

“My parents are divorced. Have been for quite some time now,” she said. It was strange focusing on the details of her family, considering she spent most of her time trying to avoid the topic altogether while distancing herself from them. “I have a brother by the name of Coop. His actual name is Henry Cooper Cantor III, but we’ve always called him Coop.”

“How well do the two of you get along?” Prescott asked.

The answer to his question was complicated and she hated getting into the details of their family dynamic. Since her freedom might be on the line, she cleared her throat and started. “I used to look up to my brother. He’s a few years older than I am and was a shining star in our family. He was athletic and popular in school. He was always nice to me. I was his kid sister. I thought we were this idyllic family. My mom was a tennis mom who had wine nights with the other moms from the small college prep school my brother and I attended.”

She stopped long enough to take a sip of coffee.

“My world came crashing down when I caught my father with my English teacher,” she said before compressing her lips into a frown. “My brother defended our father, saying it was just boys being boys.”

“It’s hard to believe jerks out there still believe that load of crap,” Tiernan said low and under his breath. She couldn’t agree more.

“Your brother, Coop, is in business with your father, correct?” Prescott asked.

“That’s right,” she confirmed.

“And yet he hasn’t been arrested,” Prescott continued, making notes in the computer.

“No. He hasn’t,” she said. “He maintains our father’s innocence.”

“The evidence against your father isn’t exactly minute,” Prescott said, sounding as surprised as she’d been when she’d first heard her brother defending the man.

“According to my brother, our father has done nothing wrong, not in business or in life,” she said.

“What do you believe?” Prescott asked.

“He’s guilty,” she said without hesitation. Saying the words stung. This wasn’t what she wanted to believe about her father. There was strong evidence pointing toward his guilt and she knew he cheated in his marriage. It made sense the man would be no different in his business affairs.

“Your brother has a vested interest in your father coming out of this situation with a clear record,” Prescott noted. Then came exactly what she’d been thinking. “The feds could come after him next.”

“Yes, and they most likely will,” she said. “The way he’s defending our father makes me fear Coop is covering his own tail, as well. Family loyalty is one thing. His reaction to our conversation recently made me think he might be hiding something, and I’m afraid he’s going to end up going down the same path if he hasn’t already.”

“Your father’s arrest could be a wake-up call,” Tiernan spoke up. “If he is aboveboard in his dealings and honestly didn’t know what your father was doing.”

“It’s possible our father could have been shielding Coop from what was really going on,” she said, appreciating Tiernan’s viewpoint. She figured everyone would write her brother off based on his association with the business. She could only hope for his sake that he wasn’t up to his eyeballs in it. “My brother would believe anything our father said, take it at face value.”

“For now, we’ll assume innocent until evidence states otherwise,” Prescott said. “It doesn’t hurt to keep a close eye on your brother.” Those sobering words would keep her up at night.

“You don’t think he would commit murder and then implicate me, do you?” she asked, hating to hear those words come out of her mouth. It was awful to be in a position to have to think them let alone say them out loud.

“Right now, I’m considering every possibility,” Prescott said with an apologetic look.

One of the worst things about her father destroying their family by cheating was that he never once apologized for his actions.

“Is there an inheritance?” Prescott asked.

“None that I’m aware of,” she said, issuing a small sigh. “And I doubt my father would give me anything anyway, after the way I treated my trust fund.” The thought of what she’d done was almost enough to make her smile.

“What was that, if I may ask?” Prescott asked.

“Donated it to local-area food banks,” she admitted. “It wasn’t like I was trying to throw anything in my parents’ faces with the gesture, even though they took it that way. My brother flipped out. It’s part of the reason none of us are close. I work a regular job with a jerk of a boss, and I live in a small apartment over someone’s garage. But when I put my head on the pillow every night, I sleep just fine. I wonder if others in my family can say the same thing.”

A cell phone buzzed but no one made an immediate move toward one.

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