Page 92 of Undeniably Corrupt

I don’t come up here often and never into town. Most of the time if I want a new tattoo, I either do it myself with the tattoo machine I have—since my father taught me everything, and I’m a decent artist—or my dad comes to me with all of his equipment. I don’t like being here. And even on this sleepy Saturday morning, I feel unsettled here.

The coffee shop is open, and I park out front, needing a boost and to test my theory. I texted my parents late last night, and they’ll meet me for lunch. And with all of this, I’ll see if someone comes out to meet me.

The bell chimes overhead as I enter, the smell of freshly ground beans and bacon along with the bright multicolored tables and chairs hitting me with a profound nostalgia. I spent a lot of time in here as a teenager, drinking coffee and dicking around on my laptop. It was also where I’d kill time on Saturday mornings when Liora would work at my mom’s clinic. No one knew we were together, but on Saturdays, Cass always had some travel sports thing his parents would take him to, and I’d get to steal some daylight time with Liora.

It was my favorite day of the week.

“Good morn—” She stops short. “Oh. Vander. Hi.”

“Hello, Mrs. Heather. How are you?”

She blinks at me. “Shocked. That’s how I am. It’s good to see you. Wow, you look just like your dad. How long has it been?”

“Ten years or so.”

More blinking. “Right. Cassian’s funeral.” She frowns deeply. “Does your mom?—”

“Yes. I’m meeting them for lunch later.”

“Great. What can I get you?”

I place my order, and she refuses to allow me to pay exceptin answers to her questions. I give her all the basic details about work and life without going into any specifics. Finally she gives up and allows me to sit at my usual table with my laptop. I start to work but find myself staring out the window, lost in thought. Until something occurs to me.

“Mrs. Heather?”

“Yes, hon?”

“Do you ever see Cassian’s parents?” Hell, she brought him up.

Her face beams with pride. “Of course. Mr. James comes in twice a week at least.”

“Wonderful. I’m so glad to hear they’re doing well.”

“Yes. Well, of course Mrs. James doesn’t go out much. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I saw her.” Her face falls. “I think losing both her children was just so hard on her.”

That pulls me up short. “I’m sorry. Both her children?”

“Well, yes. You might not know. Liora left before graduation. It’s not really talked about, and I don’t think a lot of people know about it, but Corbin let it slip a while back that they hadn’t seen or talked to Liora since she up and left in the middle of the night without a trace. He said for all they know, she’s dead too.”

My heart stutters to a stop.

“Did he say why she left?” I manage, my voice not my own.

She shakes her head. “No. Just that they were devastated over it.”

“Right. I can only imagine.”

Except Corbin James knows exactly where his daughter is. So why is he telling people they don’t and that they suspect she’s dead? And that’s a different story from what they told my mother when Liora left. They told her she was visiting family. Not that she up and left in the middle of the night without a trace.

And why is Mrs. James hardly ever seen?

She used to be everywhere. She was the PTO mom and the social busybody in town.

I sit for a little while longer so it doesn’t seem strange, but then I get back in my car and drive out to the site where Cassian died. It’s an apartment complex now in a town two over from ours. I park in one of the spots and stare at the space where he fell. By the time I got there to meet him, two police officers were already on the scene, and they wouldn’t let me in. It was late at night, and it was dark and raining.

Light snow starts to fall as I glance up at the building through my windshield. Four stories he fell. I couldn’t see much as they had him pretty well covered, but I did catch a glimpse of his face. Of his lifeless eyes that were open and fixed.

I was losing it. Yelling and screaming for him until one of the officers shoved me in the back of a car and drove me into town and left me in front of my dad’s shop. No one really knew where our house was since it was tucked away in the middle of the woods. The cop just left me there. They didn’t even threaten to arrest me when I went after them.