“I can talk to you however I want. I’m a grown man now.”
His father laughed. “A grown man. No real job. No home. Nothing.”
“I have Becky Lee and Scotty.”
“You won’t have the boy for long.”
“You’ll never get custody of him. Ever.”
“I always get my way. One way or another.”
“Well, your plan with the Abellis didn’t work out so well.” Cal caught a glimmer of surprise in his father’s eyes.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” His father picked up a letter from his desk and absently looked at it.
Cal knew that was a tell, what his father did when he was sorting something out in his mind. Quickly. Trying to stay one step ahead.
“Luca Abelli was arrested. For kidnapping Becky Lee and Scotty among other crimes. He’ll never get out of prison now.” Cal stepped up close to the desk. “I know you were working with him. Met with him.”
“And if I did meet with him. What does that prove?”
“I know you well enough that it means you knew what was going to happen. At the very least, you did nothing to stop it. You were probably even in on it.”
“Prove it.” His father set down the letter.
“I don’t have to prove it. I know you were involved. You never let a little thing like laws and common decency get in your way. You are ruthless and… cruel.”
“You are a weak man. Always disappointing me.”
For the first time, his father’s words didn’t bother him. Didn’t ring true. He no longer needed or wanted his approval. Nor cared what kind of expectations his father had had for him.
“No, despite all your attempts otherwise, Gordon and I turned out to be honest men. Happy, even.”
“Gordon went to prison.” His father stared him down.
“Because you set him up. And Gordon didn’t have the heart to let his sister go to jail for what she’d done, not what he’d done.”
“It was easier to let Gordon take the blame than lose Jillian. She’s a wonder at the business. She just made an awkward mistake.”
“So you let Gordon pay the price.”
“It was a small price to pay. He wasn’t going to amount to anything. He wasn’t ever going to be able to take over the business like Jillian will. It was a choice I had to make. It was an easy choice. Gordon needed to take the fall. Jillian has been much more careful since then. A good lesson was learned by all.”
“You let your son go to prison for something he didn’t do.”
“It was easy enough. Just had to have Tyson plant some evidence. Like I said, Jillian was always proving herself and I couldn’t afford to lose her then.”
Tyson, his father’s right-hand man. He’d been right, it was all his father’s doing. “You are the worst father in the history of fathers,” Cal spit out each word.
“You can’t talk to me like that.” His father slammed his palm on the desk. “You always were so impertinent.”
“Well, you messed up on the Abelli, deal, didn’t you? Didn’t work out like you planned.”
“The man was an idiot. He couldn’t follow a plan if his life depended on it. It was all set up. The fool.”
“I thought it was too well orchestrated to have been Abelli’s plan.”
“Of course, it wasn’t his plan. The man is an imbecile. He couldn’t follow my directions at all.” His father’s face reddened and he took a deep breath, calming himself.
His father plastered on a cheshire cat smile. “And yet, there is nothing to connect me with him. I made sure of that.”
“What if Becky Lee or Scotty had been hurt?”
“I gave him strict orders that the boy wasn’t to be harmed.”
“But Becky Lee?”
“I really didn’t trouble myself with what happened to her. Just the boy.”
“That was very caring of you, Father.” Cal stood and stared at his father for a moment or two, then he looked down at his watch and said slowly, “Do you have enough?”
“What are you talking about?” His father raised an eyebrow.
Cal heard a commotion in the hallway and the office door flew open. The lead agent stepped into the room flanked by two other agents and Franklin.
“I’m sorry, they just burst in, sir.” Franklin shifted nervously.
“Mr. Grayson, you’re under arrest.” Mr. I’m-in-Charge walked over to the desk.
Cal was almost beginning to like the man. Maybe he should learn his name…
Cal’s father shot him a deadly look. “You.”
“Yes, Father. Me.” He took off his watch and handed to an agent.