Page 111 of Be My Brayshaw (Brayshaw High 4)

Our dad’s eyes cloud with guilt. “Every boy grows into a man, but not all are meant for this, not all are strong enough to let go of the past and be the difference in the future.”

“Stop,” Maddoc draws out, a calm to his tone that has all eyes moving to his. “No more bullshit. Say it.”

Our dad nods. “When Mero died, I hired his mistress as our maid.”

“A maid,” Royce repeats, turning to us.

A maid...

All at once, realization hits us.

“You gave her a home because you loved your brother, and she murdered your wife, murdered our mothers.”

Our dad swallows, moisture building in his eyes. “She could have killed you all, but Maybell heard the screams. She got here just in time.”

“That’s why you sent her to prison instead of killing her yourself, because she was pregnant.”

He nods. “I couldn’t murder my nephew, even if his mother murdered my wife and the wives of my best friends.” He clears his throat. “A couple months later, a woman was on my doorstep, an infant boy in her hands, and without a blink, I sent her away. I would not have him grow up in my home, with my sons, and come home to find you all dead as I did your mothers.”

“He was innocent.”

“As was she, until she wasn’t. I put her away for life, she had nothing to lose. I have no doubt in my mind she’d find him as an adult and do all she could to turn him on our family.”

“Mero never stopped watching this place,” Perkins says, stepping forward. “He must have known the second his son was denied.”

Our dad sighs. “I assume so, too.”

“This is why you allowed Victoria into the group home. You knew it was her. You knew Maria was her mother.”

He doesn’t deny it. “Yes. I led her there myself, but I didn’t tell her. She figured it out on her own.”

I drag my hands down my face, turning to Perkins. “What made you come here today? Why’d you assume she was gone?”

I’d swear he was waiting for my question.

“Mero Malcari’s offshore accounts have been sitting idle for almost three years.” His eyes move between mine. “It was cleaned out yesterday. Every penny.”

My gut twists.

No.

“How much was in the account?” I force my voice steady.

“Just over twelve-five.”

My soul begins to ache, and slowly, I turn away from my family.

I lick my lips, trying to ease the sting threatening to knock me on my ass.

This is on me.

I asked her to leave, and so she did.

Twelve million, five hundred thousand dollars.

I’ll never find her, never get to thank her for what she did, let alone grovel over what I have.

I swallow and take a deep breath, turning back to Perkins.

Raven lets go of Maddoc’s hand and walks over, looking up at me with tense eyes. “She wouldn’t take a dime of Donley’s money when it should have been hers. She wanted me to give it all to Bass Bishop,” she whispers, looking to my brothers as they step in closer, closing off our circle.

“Maybe that’s ‘cause she was sittin’ on millions, RaeRae,” Royce says quietly.

Raven shakes her head. “She didn’t take from that account, there’s no fucking way.”

Royce looks back to Perkins. “How did you know the account was emptied?”

My head snaps left, and it hits.

“She left you a clue,” I say before he can answer. “Didn’t she?”

“I got an email,” he shares. “There was a contingency on the account. The moment funds were withdrawn, it auto-sent.”

“Why you?” Raven asks.

“Because I was the first person she forced herself to trust when she had nowhere else to run,” he tells us.

I step toward him. “Show me.”

He pulls the phone from his pocket, handing it over.

My eyes fall to the screen where no words lie, only a clip art image.

A single, outlined anchor.

My chest caves.

She trusted Perkins to understand what it meant, to tell me something was wrong if she were gone, because she swore she’d never leave.

“She didn’t take the money,” I croak.

“Keep scrolling, Captain. There’s one more. One I couldn’t figure out.”

With shaky fingers, I drag my thumb up the screen and every muscle in my body locks when the second image stares back.

“A bird?” Royce whispers, shaking his head in confusion.

Holy shit.

Her friend. The boy from the Graven estate.

He found her for his father, and then spent his life watching her, following her… and now he’s come back for her.

Beady eyes and a red neck, white painted wings, rimmed in black feathers.

A fucking vulture.

“It’s Mike.” I shock them all, my pulse pounding double-time.

“Whoa, are you for real?!” Royce runs a hand over his hair.

“I knew something was off with that motherfucker. I had that damn feeling and I did nothing about it.” I drop the phone and drag my hands down my face, folding them around the back of my neck as I clamp my teeth together.