He’s going to press me about the winery. I know it. And I’d decline the meeting if I wasn’t afraid he’d go after the winery in some way again, and hurt the employees. Or Nick. He could go after Nick, and while Nick can take care of himself, he doesn’t need to fight a war I create, when he has his own he’s fighting right now, in this moment.
I stand up and slip my purse over my shoulder, dread in my belly, but I can do this. I’ll navigate whatever he throws at me, milk him for information and missteps, and then hand it to Nick. Ready to get this over with, I hurry through the gallery, lock the doors, and make the quick walk to the coffee shop. I step inside and wave to the regular girl, June, behind the counter before my gaze lands on Bill sitting in a booth.
I cross the space between us and sit down. “What’s the emergency?”
“Look, honey. You’re the closest thing to a daughter I have. I know you don’t believe I care, but I do. And it killed me to be shut off from you.”
“And yet you slept with my mother.”
“That’s a complicated story that I still believe is not my story to tell. But I need you to set that aside, just for now. Because I need to tell you a story that ends right back here, in the present, with you.”
“I’m listening.”
“I heard rumors that you were struggling to pay the bills and I called the bank. They told me you bought out the note.”
“I did buy it out.”
“You mean Nick Rogers bought it out. He’s an owner now, right?”
“Emergency,” I say. “You said there was an emergency.”
“We need to go back in time. Way back. Your mother had a gambling problem and they were in a lot of debt. You father contained it the best that he could. Back before he and I had our falling out. Some men came to him. They offered him a hundred million to sell out.”
I blanch. “A hundred million? Why so much?”
“They were bad menandthere’s mercury on the property, a fact that I had buried way back then. No one else knew.”
“Mercury? I assume it’s valuable, then.”
“It’s used for weapons and these men were the kind of men who knew all about weapons.”
“How do you know this?”
“Your father came to me in dire straits because they’re also the kind of men that don’t take no for an answer. They’ll pay you, but you take what they offer.”
“But they did take no for answer.”
“Only because I hired an ex-CIA agent to help us. He tipped off the right people and they handled it.”
My brow furrows. “Why would they pay my father at all if they were that bad?”
“They couldn’t just take it without question, not with the way your father loved that place. And they knew that. They ran everything through a legit investment operation and the truth is, that mercury might not be worth much to you and me, but to them it would net billions.”
“Obviously there’s more,” I say, not liking where this emergency is leading.
“Your mother started gambling again when your father died and this time she went off the deep end. She came to me for money. I helped her and tried to get her into rehab, but she pushed back. She wanted to sell. She wanted to find the men who wanted the mercury.”
“Oh no.”
“I’m afraid so. She told me you wouldn’t sell and that I had to find a way to get around you having to sign off on the deal, and that if I did, she’d split the profits. I won’t lie to you. Your father and I had disagreements, but I agreed with him on the mercury. Selling to those people would be blood on his hands he didn’t want, and neither do I. I told your mother I’d look into pushing you out of the deal, but eventually told her there was no way around it. I urged her to go to you and confess the gambling issues. I told her I’d even buy the winery and give you both a profit.”
“She said no.”
“She said no and I told her I was going to you. That’s when she showed me a video of the two of us together and threatened to take it to my wife. I was out then, but I kept tabs on things, waiting to see if you needed me. And that brings me to where this is headed. I knew when you sued her for the property and I wanted you to win. I would have offered to fund your legal fees, but you hated me and wouldn’t even speak to me, and if your mother found out, I was at risk with my wife.”
“Why would my father want me to inherit the winery if it put me in danger?”
“This was ten years ago, Faith. I buried the mercury. The CIA buried the mercury. And you were not going to sell, which means no one who wants the mercury could get it.”