Page 47

Back in the foyer, we listened to the voices, trying to determine from which direction they emanated.

Costa pointed at the floor, suggesting there might be a basement, and I agreed.

It didn’t sound like they originated from upstairs.

If you were stowing a child in a house, it would be safer if that place didn’t have too many windows to the outdoors. Basements were ideal.

We inched forward, checking closets and hidden alcoves. We found a kitchen, a dining room, and a pantry. The rear door led to a contained backyard with an inground pool, patio furniture, and robust flower gardens that had grown wild in the absence of the house owners.

In another hallway, we cleared a bathroom, a home office, and what appeared to be an unused guest bedroom if the sparse furniture told me anything.

We also located the staircase to the basement where the sound of two men arguing originated.

Blindly descending stairs into an unknown situation and location was never good.

We couldn’t see what we were walking into until most of our bodies were exposed.

We would lose the upper hand if we were spotted.

Costa touched my arm and held up a finger before tapping his ear. Listen , he said without words.

I was listening, but I thought he meant we should pause and consider how to approach the situation.

Evaluate the tempers below and get a feel for the level of danger.

Also, I’d heard nothing to confirm that Crowley was with them.

Was the child downstairs or hidden away in another part of the house ?

“That’s not all. I’m giving you a chance to tell me the whole goddamn truth. Don’t fuck with me, Flynn.” Nixon’s temper was a boiling pot of oil. He spat the words with such venom I feared being burned by their assault, even at the top of the stairs.

It was impossible to tell how far into the conversation they were or how much had been revealed before we arrived.

“There’s nothing more to say. It was a long time ago. Short-lived. A mistake. Walk away, Nixon.” Flynn’s cool demeanor, the one I’d witnessed throughout the entire case, remained. “The boy isn’t yours. I have proof.”

“He will always be mine,” Nixon yelled.

“Dad.” The terror-filled cry of a child made my breath catch. “What is—”

“I said shut up,” Flynn roared with unnatural anger. “Don’t call him that. He isn’t your father.”

Costa’s entire body went rigid, and for the first time since I’d known him, a wall of wrath and revenge descended over his once clear eyes.

His nostrils flared. His jaw tightened. I feared he was ten seconds from barreling into the basement, guns blazing.

Costa was a father, and his paternal instincts had kicked into high gear.

I placed a hand on his arm before he could react. Our gazes clashed. The fire simmered. For as much as I wanted to run into the fray as well, we needed a plan, or it could all go to shit. Costa nodded that he was calm, so I released him.

Holstering my weapon for a moment, I got down on my hands and knees to see if I could assess the layout of the basement or at least deem if it was safe enough to go down the stairs or if we would be seen.

The child whimpered.

Flynn hushed him again .

“Crow. It’s okay,” Nixon said. “Dad’s not leaving without you. I promise. Just do as Uncle Flynn says and stay quiet, buddy.”

“You are leaving. This conversation is over, Uncle Nixon. ”

“It’s not. You haven’t given me the whole truth.”

“I have—”

“You haven’t! I know the whole truth. Genie told me. It wasn’t a onetime thing. It didn’t happen years ago and stop. Your affair was ongoing until you decided to fuck with our nanny on the side, and she ended things. Genie told me it started long before Crow was born.”

“She’s a fucking liar.”

“She’s not.”

“She’s lied to you about Crow for your entire marriage, Nixon. What makes you believe her now?”

Nixon didn’t answer the question but threw more gasoline onto an already out-of-control inferno. “I know about the money, Flynn.”

Stillness filled the air.

A child’s soft whimpering was the only noise.

I held my breath. Had Imogen told Nixon about the statutory rape when she was thirteen? About the baby? The abortion? About the hush money she’d been receiving for years from his father?

The immediate basement seemed shadowed. I craned my neck and inched forward, glancing from the top of the stairs.

Costa crouched behind me, waiting for a report.

A light emanated from a room somewhere beyond my line of sight.

We had to risk it. I didn’t know if the men were armed, but I knew Flynn wouldn’t let Crowley go.

And if Nixon knew the whole truth…

“Do you mean the money dad’s been paying her?” Flynn’s tone was level again, but a hint of concern leaked to the surface. “I was there when that detective asked you about it. What’s that got to do with me? ”

On my feet again and armed, I motioned for Costa to follow me as I slipped quietly down the stairs, weapon aimed at the ceiling as I slid my back along the wall and banister on the one side.

The area immediately below proved to be a laundry and storage room.

Beyond, an open doorway spilled light from within.

The partial line of a man’s body caught my attention.

Recalling what Nixon had been wearing earlier, I knew it was him. His back was to the doorway, which made me assume Flynn faced it. Crowley would be with him.

Flattened against the wall outside the room, I communicated what I knew without words, and Costa nodded.

Nixon hadn’t spoken.

A shuffling came from inside the room before Nixon’s caustic tone said, “I know everything.”

A child gasped.

Flynn snapped, “What the fuck are you doing?”

“You raped her.” Nixon’s voice quivered with emotion.

“I didn’t fucking rape her. We were in love, asshole.”

“She was thirteen.”

“Nixon. Put that down.”

“Dad, what are you doing?”

“You took her away from me.”

“She was mine first!” Flynn, too, had lost his cool, and something was happening that we weren’t privy to.

“You got everything in life, you spoiled brat. The grades, the looks, the attention, the girls. All I got was rejected and disowned. I was never good enough. Dad even helped you start your stupid business. But Genie… Genie loved me. Genie has always lo ved me.”

“She’s my wife.”

Flynn laughed, an ugly sound that raised the hairs on my nape. “Go ahead. I fucking dare you to pull the trigger, but you better make it a clean shot, or I’m taking him with me.”

Costa jerked my arm as I was about to turn to him and tell him we couldn’t wait any longer.

We needed to enter. The situation had escalated too far, and someone was going to end up hurt or dead if we didn’t intervene.

He made a sign for the letter N and pointed at me, then signed F and pointed at himself.

I nodded with understanding and counted down using my fingers as my phone vibrated in my pocket with an incoming call.

I lost a hiccup of time, wondering if I’d missed what was supposed to be the greatest moment of my life. I closed my eyes and prayed I was wrong.

Weapons at the ready, we barreled into the room.