“The big deal is you didn’t take me fucking seriously. You came here with cash—”
“I made a mistake,” Baylor says. “I apologize for that. OK?” He spreads his hands out in a mea culpa.
I don’t say anything. I’m too angry. I was counting on that transfer going through last night and now I find out it didn’t. So I think I’m justifiably pissed off.
“But since you’re already here, how would you like to make a little more money?”
I shake my head and laugh.
“I mean to say a lot more money. I’ll pay you double what I paid Lanrey.”
“Yeah? How much was that?”
“Two hundred and fifty thousand.”
Well… that makes me shut the fuck up.
Baylor smiles. Because he knows he’s got my attention.
“You paid that asshole a hundred and twenty-five thousand to what? Tame your daughter?”
“No, you misunderstood. I paid him two fifty. You I will pay five hundred.”
“What the hell? Why would you—”
But he cuts me off by making a stop motion with his hand. “Just as I do not need to know your business, Mr. Macintyre, you do not need to know mine.”
I shake my head again. “No. No, I’m afraid I’m not interested in being part of your sick daddy-daughter plans.”
He laughs a little. “Sick? What?”
“She showed me her bedroom. That’s pretty fucked up.”
“What are you talking—” Then he sighs. “Oh. OK. I get it. She told you that story, did she?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Which story?”
“The one where I make her sleep in a child’s bedroom? Did she tell you I decorated that princess room for her?”
I don’t say anything. Which is the answer he was expecting.
“I see,” he says. “Would you like to come with me?”
“Why?”
“Because I’d like to show you something.”
“Show me what?”
“Just indulge me, Mr. Macintyre. Please. I’ve had a very trying morning and it would be wonderful if I could get someone to cooperate.” He walks over to the door and waves his hand, beckoning me to come forward.
“I’m pretty sick of the games,” I say. But I go with him over to the stairs. We walk up the closest staircase and stop on the second floor.
He points to the end of the hallway where the princess room is hidden behind the closed double doors. “That room,” he says, “is for my future grandchildren.”
“So I’ve heard,” I grumble.
“Yes, I’m sure she told you quite a story. But did she show you all the rooms? Or just that one?”
“I saw a few of them.”
He walks down to a closed door, one we didn’t peek into last night, and opens it wide. “Go ahead, take a look.”
God, these people are fucking weird. But I go to the door and walk into the room.
It’s a little boy’s room. Sports theme. Big Fathead stickers of pro ballplayers on the wall. Blue and orange-themed color. Twin bed. The kind with a bunch of drawers underneath. A desk with a football light.
“There’s more,” Baylor says. Walking down the hallway. I follow him and he opens another door we didn’t look into.
A nursery. Neutral yellow on the walls. White crib, teddy bear mobile hanging over it. Changing table, rocking chair, and a toy box filled with toys.
“I know what she told you. Or at the very least, what she implied. You aren’t the first person she’s lied to about me, Mr. Macintyre. She is the most manipulative, selfish, out-of-control young lady I’ve ever seen in my life. And yes, I raised her. So maybe I turned her into that. Or maybe…” he says, lowering his voice as he stares down the hall.
I turn to follow his gaze and see Lyssa down the hallway. Leaning against an open door like she hasn’t got a care in the world.
“Or maybe,” he continues. “She was just born that way.”
I look back at him.
“She was a difficult child and now she’s a very disturbed young woman. And she’s gotten herself into a lot of trouble over the years. I have a whole file of her police record down in that office. It was for Lanrey, but you’re welcome to read it. I am only trying to help her. And this marriage? It’s good for her,” he says. “It will be helpful for her to have structure in her life. To be here, in this house. One that is hers and hers alone. And to have a man like Dickerson Worthington beside her, keeping her steady and straight. He is steady, Mason. He is straight. And my daughter needs that more than you can comprehend right now.”
I cringe a little when he uses my first name. Because it changes our relationship somehow.
“She will tell you he’s boring, but he’s just calm. There is nothing wrong with being calm. She’s just been running wild for so long, she’s lost her way. And ever since her mother died two years ago, she’s only gotten worse. That’s why we set up the marriage. And she agreed to it. Make no mistake about that. She took his ring and told him yes. But… she’s gotten worse over the past several months. Much, much worse. The toll of her mother’s death has changed her in ways that might not be reversible if she doesn’t get help and settle down. She needs that, Mason. She needs help. So I’m begging you. Help her. It’s clear that the two of you formed a bond over this little abduction job. She listened to you down there. But more than that, she wanted to listen to you. I will not only have your wire transfer of fifty thousand dollars for last night’s job go through first thing tomorrow morning, I will add half a million more to that same transfer. Money up front. Just like I did for Lanrey.”