Chương 13
“You make it sound worse than it is.”
“I don’t think I’m doing the work there.”
He exhaled sharply.
“You manage restaurants.”
There it was.
Not Burger Boy.
Not fast food.
Just the old family emergency lever.
Make Daniel small before he gets too specific.
“Yes.”
“And apparently that qualifies you to audit me?”
“No.”
“Then quit talking like an accountant.”
“I’m talking like someone who understands that selling another person’s property and spending the proceeds creates a problem.”
“I was replacing it.”
“With what?”
“A deal I had coming.”
“What deal?”
“It fell through.”
I stared at the floor.
Of course it had.
The entire structure had the familiar shape of Kyle’s life.
One temporary solution stacked on another until the tower became somebody else’s emergency.
“How much money do you have right now?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“How much do you owe Sabrina?”
“I told you, I don’t know exactly.”
“Evan said around ten.”
“Evan talks too much.”
“Is he wrong?”
Kyle did not answer.
I counted silently to three.
Then five.
Finally he said, “Not by much.”
I turned away from the counter.
“So why move her jewelry?”
“To protect it.”
“From whom?”
“That buyer situation made me nervous.”
“About Sabrina?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
He hesitated.
I felt the conversation change.
“The guy who bought the watch.”
“You said he paid.”
“He did.”
“So why are you nervous about him?”
“Because he says it’s fake.”
I stopped moving.
“What?”
“He says the watch isn’t authentic.”
“Was it?”
“Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“It came from Sabrina.”
“That didn’t answer the question.”
“She said it was real.”
“Did you verify it?”
“I had paperwork.”
“From whom?”
“Dealer documents.”
“Did you personally authenticate it?”
“I’m not a watchmaker.”
“No, but you sold an eighteen-thousand-dollar watch.”
“Seventeen-five.”
“That correction is not helping you.”
Kyle muttered something I couldn’t hear.
I pulled out a chair and sat.
“Did the buyer return it?”
“No.”
“Did he ask for a refund?”
“He demanded one.”
“How long ago?”
“Thursday.”
The same day Sabrina had apparently come to the house.
“And what did you tell him?”
“That I needed to inspect the watch first.”
“Reasonable.”
“He wouldn’t send it back unless I wired the money.”
“Also reasonable from his perspective if he thinks you sold him a fake.”
“He threatened me.”
“What kind of threat?”
“Legal.”
I waited.
Kyle added, “And other stuff.”
“What other stuff?”
“He said he’d put everything online.”
“That is not exactly organized crime.”
“You don’t understand who follows these deals.”
“Collectors?”
“Dealers, reseller groups, people who actually know me.”
“And your reputation would be gone.”
“Yes.”
There it was.
Not physical danger.
Not some criminal conspiracy.
Something smaller and probably more devastating to Kyle.
His latest identity.
The thing he had finally managed to make semi-real.
“How much of the buyer’s payment can you return?”
“Maybe four.”
“Four thousand?”
“Yes.”
“And you owe Sabrina around ten.”
“Yes.”
“So you are short at least six there, plus whatever you might owe the buyer.”
“I know the math.”
“Do Mom and Dad know?”
“No.”
“Megan?”
“No.”
“Spencer?”
“No.”
“Then why are you on a cruise?”
He went silent.
That answer mattered more than I expected.
“Seriously.”
“I couldn’t cancel.”
“You absolutely could.”
“Mom would’ve asked why.”
“So?”
“So I was trying to fix it without turning it into a family thing.”
I laughed once.
Buddy lifted his head.
“You hid thirty thousand dollars of someone else’s jewelry in their backyard.”
“It wasn’t hidden in the yard.”
“Patio bench.”
“It was locked.”
“So secure that Evan removed it before breakfast.”
“He had the key.”
“You’re missing my point.”
“No, you’re missing mine.”
His voice rose.
“I was handling it.”
“You left.”
“I had people handling it.”
“You mean Evan.”
“He knows the business.”
“Does he?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he show up at my apartment asking for Sabrina’s shoe?”
Kyle stopped.
“What?”
I sat straighter.
“He asked for the shoe.”
“She left a shoe?”
“Apparently.”
Kyle swore.
“Why does that matter?”
“It doesn’t.”
“Then why did Evan want it?”
“Because he panics.”
“That is becoming contagious.”
“Just throw it away.”
“No.”
“Dan.”
“No.”
“Why are you being like this?”
I almost answered with something cruel.
The sentence formed immediately.
Because somebody in this family should be an adult.
I swallowed it.
Not because it was untrue.
Because I had spent years resenting the way they reduced me, and I was not interested in doing the same thing back just because I finally had leverage.
“I’m being careful.”
“You’re being controlling.”
“I’m not asking for your passwords.”
“You’re interrogating me.”
“Because you dragged this into the house I’m currently responsible for.”
“The dog.”
I stared at the wall.
Even now.
“The house too, whether Mom intended it or not.”
“No one asked you to investigate anything.”
“I didn’t.”
“You checked cameras.”
“After Evan entered the property.”
“He had permission.”
“From you.”
“Yes.”
“Not the homeowners.”
“They trust him.”
“Mom said they do.”
That shut him up briefly.
I heard something metallic clatter on his side.
Maybe a cabin door.
Maybe elevator doors.
“Where are you right now?”
“Why?”
“Because I can hear people.”
“Deck.”
“Are Mom and Dad around?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’m not telling them.”
Silence.
Then, suspiciously, “Why?”
“Because I don’t know enough yet.”
“You don’t need to know anything.”
“You’re right.”
I stood again.
“But if Sabrina shows up at the house or contacts Mom and Dad, I’m not lying for you.”
“She won’t.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Evan wasn’t supposed to show up either.”
“He screwed up.”
“Did he?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He was nervous about something beyond the shoe.”
Kyle said nothing.
I continued.
“If all he did was move a box you told him to move, why come to me?”
“Because he saw you had the shoe.”
“How did he know?”
“He saw camera footage.”
“Because you gave him access.”
“Yes.”
“And he saw Buddy carry it?”
May you like
“Probably.”
“That means he was checking the cameras after he left.”
