Truth Be Told (Blackbridge Security 4)

“Dad!” Alex yells when I approach. “Did you see that play in the fourth?”

“I did.” He’s an amazing player, and I hope I have the chance to be around and foster his love of the game.

“Where are we going for lunch?” His eyes dart between Tinley and me. “I’m starving.”

“We have food at home.” Alex’s face falls. “We have more packing to do.”

I look over at her, brows scrunched in confusion. “Did you find another house?”

That would be ridiculous, unless she’s finally made up her mind to get Alex out of that neighborhood. This could be a good thing, but also bad at the same time because she hasn’t consulted with me about where she’s going. The chances of it being St. Louis are now slimmer than ever.

She frowns in my direction, but immediately pulls her eyes away and looks over at Alex.

“Ready?”

“Can Dad come, too?”

“He’s got—”

“I have some stuff I need to take care of,” I tell him, preventing her from having to lie to our son. There’s no reason both of us should need forgiveness later.

Alex gives me a quick hug before I watch the two people I love most in the world walk away.

Chapter 30

Tinley

“You’ll be fine,” I tell Alex when he refuses to get out of the car. “Go inside and lock the door. This won’t take long.”

“But if you’re going to Dad’s, I don’t understand why I can’t go, too.”

His eyes plead with me, but there’s no way I want him to witness the anger that’s been bubbling up inside of me. I’ve had sad eyes on me all day, but as much as I’d like to say I’m immune to my kid looking at me like this now, I’m not.

“Go,” I urge. “The sooner I leave, the sooner I can get back. There’s pizza in the freezer. Preheat the oven to four hundred degrees. Wait for the beep this time or it’s not going to turn out right.”

“Is this a sex thing?”

I sputter at his question. “What? No, it’s not a sex thing!”

Jesus, what has my kid learned at school.

Reluctantly, he eventually climbs out of the car, and I wait to pull away until I watch him safely enter the house.

It’s hard to keep my eyes off my purse. I put the envelope Ignacio left in there because I didn’t want Alex finding it, and I’ve ignored the damn thing way too long. Letting him drop it on me then walking away was a cowardly thing to do. If the man wants to give me bad news, he can face me while he does it.

The drive is short, but I take my time anyway. Nerves have my shoulders tense and my fingers tapping on the steering wheel as I pull up in front of his house. I can’t focus on the other car parked on the street because there’s a huge ratty dumpster taking up most of the driveway.

I keep my eyes on it as I climb out of the car, running into someone I didn’t notice. Chills race up my spine when warm hands land on my bare arms. Getting lost in thought is so very dangerous around here, and I don’t calm at all when I snap my head around and find a smiling, familiar face looking down at me.

“Ms. Holland,” the man says, his hands giving me a little squeeze before he releases me and takes a step back.

“M-Mr. Morgan,” I say, my voice unsure as I speak to the man who bought my mother’s house. “Are you buying this house, too?”

The dumpster makes sense if Ignacio is planning to remodel his grandfather’s house to prepare it for sale. It also means he’s going to be living in a better house, one that will present much better than the one I’ll have to scrape enough money together to rent. His one-up is a slap to the face.

I consider asking the man in front of me for more time in the house, maybe until Alex is done with the school year and baseball season is over, but I don’t. He’s a businessman and owes me nothing. Plus, if he’s buying houses for gentrification plans, I doubt he has any concern for the people who will be either displaced or have to move because rent prices go through the roof.

“This house?” He looks over at Ig’s house with such disdain in his eyes. “Possibly, but the guy who owns it is a real asshole.”

I snort my agreement.

“You’re not going to go in there are you?” Movement on the porch catches my eye, but I don’t have to look over to know that Ignacio is standing there with a scowl on his face. “You’re way too pretty to be around a jerk like that.”

I roll my lips between my teeth, growing uncomfortable with his compliment. I didn’t take him for a slimeball when he came to my house, but I was in a bad mood that day, and there’s a real chance I didn’t catch his leering. Not that he’s leering now.