Chapter 4
I went to work on Monday.
Or at least, I tried to.
My key card didn't work.
I stood in the lobby of Harlow Development, staring at the red light on the door, when the HR director came down.
She wouldn't look me in the eye.
"Your position has been eliminated," she said, pushing a cardboard box toward me. "Company property stays. Personal items are in here."
I took the box.
"For what? For what my father did?"
She finally looked at me. There was pity there.
"Richard's brother is running the company now. He said... he said you're a liability."
I walked out with my box.
Two weeks' severance. No recommendation. No explanation.
I sat in my car and cried for five minutes.
Then I drove to Dad's shop.
He was under a pump, grease on his hands, when I walked in.
He saw my face.
He didn't say a word. He just wiped his hands and poured me a coffee.
"They fired you."
I nodded.
"They fired me."
Dad sat down across from me.
"Then we'll figure it out. You're smart. You'll find something better."
But I could see the worry in his eyes.
That night, I was at home alone when there was a knock on the door.
I looked through the peephole.
A man I didn't know. Big. Broad shoulders. Tattoos on his neck.
"Who is it?" I called.
"Package."
"I didn't order anything."
He leaned closer to the door.
"Maybe you should. Tell your dad to stop digging. Some holes don't need to be opened."
My heart stopped.
I backed away from the door.
I grabbed my phone and called Dad.
He was here in eight minutes.
The man was gone.
But he had left something on my doorstep.
A single dead fish.
Wrapped in newspaper.
Dad picked it up with a rag.
His face was stone.
"Pack a bag," he said. "You're staying with me."
"Dad, who was that?"
He looked at me.
"That was a message. And I think I know who sent it."
"Who?"
Dad's jaw tightened.
"Victor. Melissa's brother. He has a record. Assault. Extortion. He was the one who built that pool."
I felt sick.
"Then he was there. He helped them."
Dad nodded slowly.
"And now he's trying to scare us into silence."
He put his hand on my shoulder.
"But it's too late for that. The police have the body. They have the ring. And they're going to find Victor too."
I wanted to believe him.
But that night, lying in my old bedroom at Dad's house, I heard him up until three in the morning.
Pacing.
Checking the locks.
Looking out the window.
And I realized something.
May you like
My father wasn't just worried about me.
He was afraid.
