“Then Mom did.”
“How could she…? Oh.” His voice clouded. “She did leave for a few minutes before we left the hotel. Did she have access to your room?”
“Of course. I gave her a key.”
“Oh no.”
“So what’s going on? Where is she? You’re saying you didn’t take my money?
“I did not take your money, Sydney. But why didn’t you put it in the safe?”
“I did.”
“Then how…? What was your combination?”
“Duke’s birthday.”
Roy was silent for a moment. Then, “Easy for your mother to guess. She’s ill, Sydney. If I wasn’t sure before, I sure as hell am now, knowing she stole her daughter’s money.”
“What happened, Dad? Why did you leave?”
“Your mother was scared that Sam would take us to court and drag Duke through a big mess. I tried to tell her Sam was a nice man, that we’d work something out.”
“Sam had decided to talk to you about that, Dad. He also wants what’s best for Duke. But honestly, I don’t know what he’ll do now. There are other circumstances as well. He was—”
“Sydney,” Roy interrupted, “please let me explain about Duke and your mother. I need you to know what’s going on. Then you can tell me what’s going on at your end.”
“All right. Go ahead.”
“As I said, your mother was scared about Sam trying to take Duke. She insisted we run. She was adamant. I figured I’d go along with it and head for home. No harm done, right?”
“Well, not exactly.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. After we got on the road, she canceled our cell phones and started to talk about… I don’t know how to tell you this.”
“Tell me what?”
“About our families, your mother’s and mine.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve talked to Blake. I know everything.”
Silence again. Then, “How is your brother?”
“He’s had some rough times, but he’s doing okay now from what I can tell. He was very willing to help Sam and me find you.”
“I’m sure he was. Anyway, if he told you about your mother and me being children of rival crime families in Chicago, he was telling the truth.”
“Yes, that’s what he told us.”
Her father’s sigh cut into her ear. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions about that, and I promise I will take the time to tell you everything you want to know, but right now, let me get back to your mother.
“We were taking turns driving. When it was her turn I dozed off for several hours. When I woke up, she had changed our route. She said we were going to Florida to get the money from our Cayman Island account. I assume Blake told you about that?”
“He did.”
“Okay. I can only imagine what you must think of us.”
“Please, Dad, just go on.”