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“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.”
“But you must have some kind of theory, or maybe a couple, and I want to know what they are. Why do you think I chose this happy little home? What do you think is happening here?”
“I think you’re a parent.” She looks as surprised as I am that she said those words out loud, then her expression doubles down. “Or maybe not a parent, but I think there’s someone who relies on you to care for them, someone you love very much.”
“Because of the phone call?”
Jade nods.
I think back through the conversation downstairs, but I was careful to be vague. I didn’t say a word that could lead back to Gigi. I’m positive I didn’t mention her by name.
“I didn’t say anything about a kid.”
“No, but you called somebody pumpkin, and you seemed...”
“What?”
She shrugs. “Worried.”
I shake my head. “Stop trying to change the subject. This has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with Cam.”
With him having to live out the rest of his miserable days with what he’s done. With knowing that whatever happens today, however this ends, it’s all his fault. With knowing he was helpless to prevent tragedy.
“What, did he fire you once upon a time? Did he run you out of business? Is this about revenge?”
“This isn’t about revenge,” I say, though that’s not totally true. It’s in part about revenge, but mostly it’s about getting what I deserve. The money Cam cheated me out of two years ago plus interest, the resulting hole in my income that meant I lost my home and my savings and health care, all the medical treatments that I couldn’t pay as a result. For the way Gigi got weaker, scrawnier, sicker. Just thinking about it burns like the skin on my back, where Jade split me open like a hog. “This is aboutjustice. About me getting what I deserve. What I amowed.”
“Owed to you by Cam.”
By Cam, by God, by the universe. Take your pick. Nothing about these past two years has felt fair. I’m not leaving here today without taking back what’s rightfully mine.
And taking down Cam’s family is a nice bonus.
Jade reads my silence as an affirmative. “If you tell me what Cam did, I can help put things right. Cam’s not a bad guy. He listens to me.”
Her words are like kerosene on the fire roaring in my belly.
First, that her husband is not a bad guy, which means she’s either ignorant or willfully blind. Cam is selfish and greedy and will mow down anybody in his way. Heisa bad guy. He’s a guy who looks out only for himself.
And second, that she still hasn’t figured out who I am. The same person she shook hands with all those years ago. The same one who only a few months ago, stood here in this very same room and told her my whole, sad story. My money worries, my pain, the constant nightmares a parent gets at watching their child slip away. Jade plopped into one of these leather recliners, wrapped a hand around one of mine, and squeezed out some crocodile tears and a false promise. She’s no better than Cam.
So yeah. Too little, far too late for these kinds of platitudes. Like she could turn this train around. Like fixing things could ever be as easy as calling Cam.
“The only way you can help is by making sure that money gets here on time—and he doesn’t have much left. What do you think’s taking him so long?”
“Traffic. Distance between the safes. Banking rules. A million things.”
“Or maybe he’s having trouble scrounging up the cash.”
“Cam owns five successful restaurants. He runs tens of thousands of dollars over his bank accounts every night, and that’s on top of the pile that’s already sitting there, money he uses to keep those places running. He decides where every cent of that money goes. If he wanted to get his hands on that cash, he could. There’s more than enough. The only problem is going to be time.”
Interesting. I stare at Jade for a couple of beats, waiting for her to break character, but her conviction doesn’t fade. Maybe she really doesn’t know.
I toss her a roll of duct tape I dig from my backpack on a far chair. “Enough stalling. Tie her up, and make sure you do a good job. I’ll be checking your work.”
She catches the tape, then stands frozen. “What makes you think Cam would have trouble gathering the money? Why would you think that?”
I slide my cell from my pocket and scroll through the texts. Still no word.