“Let me give Dale and Donny a call.”
“Brock,” Dad says, “this is my business. It’s my business more than anyone else’s in this family. I’m the oldest Steel. I’m the CEO of this company.”
“What if this doesn’t have anything to do with the company? What if it’s personal?”
“It always is, son. When you have this kind of money, it’s always personal.”
I glance at the pool, the water still rippling from my laps. I’m exhausted. To dive back in would be stupid. I’m an accomplished swimmer, and I know this. Would I drown? No. But I need to let my body rest.
Dad knows this, and so do I.
“Tell me, Brock. Just tell me.”
I see so much of myself in my father, both the good and the bad.
“Quid pro quo,” I say. “I’ll tell you if you tell me. Level with me, Dad. We are all involved now.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Rory
After a raucous rehearsal with Jesse and his band in our main garage, I pack up my equipment and head toward the door.
“Where are you off to?” Jesse asks.
“I’m starving. I’m going to make myself a sandwich.”
“We’re going into town for lunch. Why don’t you come with us?”
“What the heck is open in Snow Creek on a Sunday?”
“That Taco Bell on the edge of town just opened. We’re going to check it out.”
“Yummy.” I roll my eyes. “No thanks.”
“Actually…” he says, frowning.
“What, Jess? What?”
“We’re going to find Lamone.”
My head thuds into my stomach. “No. Please. You said you wouldn’t…” I subtly gesture toward the rest of the band.
“I didn’t tell them,” he says softly. “Not about the photos.”
I grab him and drag him through the door into the house, closing it behind us. “What exactly did you tell them?”
“That he’s been spreading lies about our family, and I’ve had enough of it. Plus, we all got dragged in and questioned by Hardy Solomon on that dumbass vandalizing case. Dragon didn’t have an alibi—he was alone at his place—but the rest of us did. Luckily Hardy let it drop for all of us.”
His words are true enough, but Pat Lamone isn’t the first person to lie about me, Jesse, or anyone else. This is a small town, after all.
He opens the door and heads back into the garage.
I follow him. “So you’re not going to Taco Bell?”
“Hell yeah, we’re going to Taco Bell. We can’t pummel the dude without a full stomach.”
“Please, Jess. You guys are only going to make things worse.”
“Listen,” Cage, my cousin, says, “he’s not going to get away with this shit. Right, guys?”
The other two murmur in agreement. Dragon Locke, the drummer, looks especially menacing. Of course, Dragon looks menacing when he’s watching a bluebird sing. It’s just his thing.
“I appreciate the sentiment,” I say. “Really, I do, but it’s not going to help things. This man tried to have Callie arrested for spilling coffee on him. What do you think he’s going to do with the four of you if you beat him to a pulp?”
“He’ll think twice about spreading lies,” Jesse says. “Sure, he could have us arrested. He could have us arrested a million times, and when we’re released, we’re going to go back and pummel him a million more times.”
“He’ll get a restraining order.” This from Callie, who somehow made her way into the garage without me noticing.
“Where’d you come from?” Jesse asks.
“Donny just dropped me off.”
Jesse goes rigid. He and Callie’s fiancé still have a stupid high school rivalry going. It’s really time for them to get over it.
“Yeah,” I say. “He’ll get a restraining order.”
“He’s not smart enough to get a restraining order,” Jesse says.
I open my mouth to agree with him, but then I stop myself. Pat Lamone has already proved that he’s not as stupid as we think he is.
“A restraining order costs money,” I say. “Can he afford an attorney?”
“I don’t know,” Callie says. “The first thing he’ll do is go to Hardy Solomon, the sheriff, who’ll arrest you guys. We’ll get you out on bail, and it will probably be a condition of bail that you can’t go near Pat Lamone. So he may not even need to get a restraining order.”
“And who’s going to keep us away from him?” This from Dragon. His menacing gaze hasn’t strayed from mine.
“You’re going to keep yourselves away from him,” I say, locking my gaze with Dragon’s. “Because Callie and I are not going to let this happen. We’ve gone through enough, and we don’t want any more that he can hold against us and our family.”
“Rory’s right,” Callie says. “Please don’t do this, guys.”
Jesse’s hands are curled into fists. So are Cage’s and Jake’s. And Dragon looks like he’s about to commit murder.
This is not good.
“Fine,” Jesse finally says through clenched teeth.
“Thank you.” I squeeze my brother’s forearm.
I’m not completely sure we’ve convinced him. He and the band just finished an awesome rehearsal, and they’re high on the music. They need to release some steam.