Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 78227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“So you decided to poison one of us?”
“No. I decided to drug her. Maybe get her in a compromising position or something. Which didn’t happen. I was just pissed. I was a pissed-off kid, and I sure as hell didn’t mean to poison Diana.”
“And you think that makes all of this okay?”
“Did I say that? I was pissed, and I did a stupid thing. Then Rory got me to confess, so I did another stupid thing. Have you never done anything stupid in your life, Steel?”
Plenty, but I never resorted to crime. Until a few days ago, that is, but I’m not admitting any of that to Pat Lamone.
“Not that stupid.”
“Well, I bow to your superiority.” He feigns a sarcastic bow.
“Stuff it, Lamone. You’re not going to get anywhere being an asshole to me.”
He opens his mouth. Closes it.
Do I actually expect him to apologize? No. He won’t. I don’t even care if he does. All I want is the fucking truth. If he is a member of our family, I want to know. And I want to make damned sure Rory and Callie are out of danger.
“You have any documentation about who you are?”
“All I know is that I was adopted.”
“So you’re not claiming that your parents are Steels.”
“No.”
“What are your parents’ names?”
“Well, they’re both deceased, but their names were Peter and Julie Lamone.”
“Interesting.”
“How so? At this point, what do I have to hide?”
“You tell me.”
“I’ve told you. Look into me. Search everything. You won’t find any photos of Rory and Callie. You won’t find anything.”
“And I won’t find a birth certificate in your name.”
“Maybe you won’t. I have a driver’s license. You want to see it?”
“No. But it may interest you to know that your name isn’t Pat Lamone. It’s Daniel Clark.”
His jaw drops. “What?”
“Does that name sound familiar to you at all?”
“No. My name is Patrick John Lamone.”
“Son of… Who did you say?”
“Adopted son of Peter and Julie Lamone.”
“Who, you may be interested to know, also don’t exist.”
“Well, no, they don’t. I told you that they’re dead.”
“You don’t seem to be overly emotional about it.”
“They’ve been gone for several years. Car accident. I miss them, sure, but I don’t dwell on it.”
“How much do you know about them?”
“They’re my parents.”
“Is there a reason why they may have changed their names?”
“I have no idea.” He shakes his head. “Seriously, Steel, this is all news to me.”
“And I’m supposed to believe that?”
“I can’t make you believe anything. But it’s the truth.”
I like to trust my instinct, but my instinct is going against my head.
My instinct is telling me that Pat is telling the truth. But my head is saying that can’t possibly be correct.
Usually my mind and my instinct are in sync, but not today.
“I need to see the hard copies of those emails. I suppose, since it was so long ago, you didn’t think to check the IP addresses or anything.”
“No.”
“Why did it take you so long to approach the family?”
“I knew you guys wouldn’t believe me.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure we do.”
“You’ve got to believe me, though. I had no idea my parents changed their names.”
“And they’re dead. So we can’t ask them why.”
“No.”
“Convenient.”
“Look, it’s not convenient for me.” He chokes up a little. “They were my parents.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Fine.” He rises. “The emails are in a safe-deposit box in Grand Junction.”
“Ah. That explains why our people didn’t find them. What about the key? They should have found that.”
He shakes his head. “I keep the key on me at all times, so they wouldn’t have found it. I’m sure you’ll want to come with me to fetch them.”
“Absolutely.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
RORY
“Good news,” Jesse says, handing out Mardi Gras masks to the members of the band. “It’s masquerade night at the Dawn.”
“Seriously, dude?” From Dragon.
“Hey, I gave you the only black mask they had.”
Mine is pink. Freaking reddish pink.
“Seriously, Jess?”
“Sorry, sis, you get the girly one. We’re playing the Y chromosome card.”
I roll my eyes. “Fine.”
“I don’t like this any more than you guys do, but the manager says we have to wear them or we don’t play.”
“Don’t we have a contract?” Jake says.
“We do. But why mess with it? It’s just a stupid mask, and everyone else will be wearing them too.”
“Okay, fine,” Cage relents. “But do we have to wear them for rehearsal?”
“Of course not. Only Rory and I have to so we can see how they affect our peripheral vision. We have to play off each other.”
I roll my eyes. “Great.”
Later I get a phone call from Brock.
“Hey,” I say, answering.
“Hey, sweetheart. I’ve got some good news for you.”
“I could use some.”
“I’m conducting another search, but I’m almost positive that Pat Lamone was lying to you. He doesn’t have any more pictures of you and Callie.”
“Really?” My heart leaps. “How are you so sure?”
“He basically told me I could search everywhere. That I wouldn’t find anything.”