The fear pumping through him was replaced by red-hot anger.
The kind that made him want to drive to the city just to bang on Eric Taylor’s door. He wanted to grab him by the scruff of his neck and look him in the eye.
“I’m going to make him pay.” Ian stepped back and curled his hands into fists at his side. “He can’t keep getting away with this.”
Sophia’s hand darted out, and her eyes grew tight. “E, you need to calm down—”
“And do what, Soph?” Ian held her gaze and bristled. “Let him keep getting away with this? He’s a powerful, influential man, and he’s been allowed to go unchecked for a long time. I’m not going to stand by and let him destroy my family. Not again.”
Sophia lost some of the color in her face, and her eyes were growing wider and wider. “E, please. You said it yourself; he’s dangerous. What’s he going to do if you go after him, huh? If he knows that you’re gunning for him?”
Ian made a vague hand gesture. “Look around you, Soph. It can’t be any worse than this.”
Without waiting for her response, Ian fished his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his contacts. Lily, Liam, Darren, Ben, and Marissa piled out of a car and headed toward them. He turned his back on them, dialed Eric’s number, and waited.
His heart was doing little somersaults the entire time.
When Eric didn’t pick up, Ian couldn’t tell if he was relieved or wanted to put his fist through a wall. On the last ring, he was about to toss his phone onto the pavement when Eric Taylor’s cool, monotonous voice answered, sounding bored and impatient.
“Do you know who this is?”
Eric paused. “I’ve been expecting your call, Ian. How can I help you?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. I know what you did. I know you’ve been threatening me and trying to sabotage my investigation because you don’t want to get caught.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“What kind of man goes after another man’s house, huh? What kind of man goes after another man’s family? Oh, that’s right, I forgot. I’m not dealing with a man at all, am I? I’m dealing with a coward.”
“I would watch myself if I were you, boy,” Eric replied in a cool and even tone. “You’rethe one who went poking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Ian gestured to Liam, who stepped forward. “So, you admit it, then? You admit that you’re behind all of this?”
“I admit to nothing.” Ian set the phone on speaker, and Eric’s voice sliced through the night air, quiet and chilling. “But you are trying my patience, so I’m going to give you some advice. You are Kelly’s son, after all.”
“Don’t ever mention her name to me,” Ian snapped through gritted teeth. “You shouldn’t even talk about her after what you did.”
“Your mother was a deeply disturbed and delusional woman, who walked out on her marriage and her daughter. It’s not my fault she got herself into trouble, and it certainly isn’tmyfault you’ve decided to target me while you work on your mommy issues.”
Ian saw red, and he clenched his hands into fists. “You self-serving, arrogant son of a—”
“I’m only going to say this once,” Eric interrupted, his voice cutting through the ringing in Ian’s ears. “Do yourself a favor and drop all of this before things get even uglier. You’re not going to find anything on me because there’s nothing to find.”
Ian dug his nails into his palm hard enough to leave marks. “I don’t believe you. If you weren’t worried, you wouldn’t be sending people after me.”
“I would be very careful if I were you, Ian. You’re playing in the big leagues now.”
Ian’s heart was pounding in his ears now, loud enough to drown out everything else. “And you have no idea who you just pissed off. Here’s my advice, Eric. I’m not going to drop my mom’s case. I’m going to find out whatever you’re hiding. And I’m going to uncover the truth about my mom’s murder, no matter what it takes.”
Without waiting for a response, Ian hung up and clutched the phone in his hand. He twisted to face everyone else, who were gathered in a half-circle around him. Lucy came up to him, drew him in for a hug, and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
When she pulled back to look at him, Lucy’s face was pale, but she had a determined set to her shoulders. “How can we help?”
Chapter Twenty
Dean rolled up one of the sleeping bags and exhaled. “Shouldn’t we be staying home and planning for the holidays or something?”
Ian rolled the other sleeping bag up and rose to his feet. “There’s plenty of time to celebrate. You and I haven’t spent a lot of time together lately, so I think it’s a good idea to get out of the house.”
