“You are not going to believe what I’ve discovered.”
Bayli’s blatant dismay filled Scarlet with dread. “You found Sam’s father?” she guessed.
“Oh, I found more than that.”
Scarlet sighed. “Oh, God. Please don’t say that. All I want is the man’s name.”
“Then brace yourself. I’ve just ripped the lid off a can of squirming worms.”
“Fuck.” She tossed the mail she’d been sifting through onto her desk. “Tell me Sam’s not about to become a suspect again.”
“Uh, no. Pretty sure not. I’ve got nothing on that guy. Clean as a whistle. Michael, too, at this point.”
“And Karina Vandenberg…?”
“Yeah … not so much.”
Scarlet cringed. She’d put Bayli on speakerphone and would have started walking her office with anxiety except that her feet were somehow cemented to the floor.
“May as well just yank the Band-Aid in one fell swoop. I’ve already ground the woman under my heel in front of her sons. Let’s see how much more damage I can do.”
“Hey, this isn’t your fault, Scarlet,” Bayli contended. “Karina Reed Vandenberg has plenty of skeletons in her closet. And apparently, she’s been incredibly good at keeping them locked away.”
“I can’t imagine what’s so hush-hush about this from her side of the story. Sam said his dad bailed and possibly changed his name. He didn’t want to have any connection to a kid and a woman who might try to tap him for child support. So that really should be that.”
“Should be.…” Bayli paused before saying, “If you’re not sitting at the moment, you might want to.”
“Bayli!” Scarlet wailed. Now how much was she about to torture Michael and Sam—and their family?
“Just take a deep breath. Or ten.”
Scarlet plopped down on her sofa and inhaled. Exhaled. Repeated. Then she said, “Okay, spill.”
“All right. So, first things first. I got my hands on some yearbooks from Karina’s high school alma mater. She was a cheerleader, very popular, voted ‘Most Likely to Rock the World.’ And there were plenty of photos with her and the same guy. Total modern-day James Dean ringer. Rebel Without a Cause to the extreme.”
“Explains Sam’s rugged good looks.”
“For sure. Dad was quite easy on the eyes.”
“Was?”
“Well, there’s no telling what a life of crime has done to the man.”
“So he’s still alive?”
“Unless he’s recently been shanked in prison.” There was some rustling of papers on the other end of the line; then Bayli added, “Wyatt Hill—real name, not changed following Karina’s pregnancy stick displaying a plus sign—is currently incarcerated in Florence, Arizona.”
“Something tells me I’m going to regret asking this, but what’s he in for?”
“This time? Money laundering and bribery.”
“And the last time?”
Bayli’s tone dripped sarcasm as she said, “Money laundering and bribery. And the time before that and the time before that.”
“What the fuck?” Scarlet was on her feet and circling the den.
“He has a law degree, if you can believe that. He’s some sort of Better Call Saul shyster.”