“I hear Ben calling for me. I’ve got to go. Talk later?”
“Talk to you later.”
Once the line went dead, Ian picked up the folder and took it back upstairs. He shoved it into a drawer in his desk, situated next to the window of their bedroom, and his eyes lingered on the empty sheet of paper there. With a frown, he sat down, pulled his chair closer, and picked up the pen. Ian spent the next few minutes filling out his assignment for therapy, a low thrum in his chest the entire time.
As soon as he set the pen down, the timer went off, and the front door opened, Kelli, Dana, and Dean’s voices merging together. He smiled when he heard Lucy’s voice, struggling to be heard over theirs. Then he was hurrying down the stairs, a smile plastered on his face. He kept the rehearsed smile in place as he hugged his wife and kids and sat down at the kitchen counter to hear about their day.
He thought of his mother the entire time.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“We should have code names for these trips.” Dean peered into the bags and handed one sandwich to each of Ian’s cousins. “I should be something cool like Iron Man.”
“That one’s already taken, Dean-y boy.” Jeff clapped him on the back and adjusted the straps of the backpack. “You’re going to have to come up with something else.”
“Why are we always meeting with the PI guy in his town? How come we don’t ever arrange the meetings here?” Jonathan lifted a hand up to his face and squinted against the sun. “It’s too nice a day to spend hours stuck in a car.”
Dean brushed past him and hurried down the sidewalk. “I heard it’s going to rain today.”
Jonathan huffed and zipped up his jacket. “Should’ve known it was too good to be true. Little E, you sure this guy is legit this time?”
“He’s been my PI for a while now, and he’s given me a lot of evidence.” Ian swung the key in his hand and pulled the door shut behind him. “I think he’s in it for the right reasons.”
Ian had even made sure to have Bryce looked into again, just to be on the safe side.
The last thing he wanted was a PI in Eric Taylor’s back pocket, feeding Ian the wrong information to throw him off Eric’s scent.
He couldn’t afford any more delays.
Nor did he want to make room for them when he had more important things on his mind.
Jonathan took the driver’s seat and adjusted it. Jeff muttered something under his breath and squinted at something in the distance. Then he shook his head and folded himself into the passenger seat. Dean lifted the coffee cup up to his face and waved his father over. Ian glanced down both sides of the street before crossing over to them.
When he got into the back seat, he saw Kelli and Dana lingering on the front porch in their robes and pajamas. Ian smiled at them and gave them a small wave. The two of them wore identical grim expressions. Before the car rounded the corner, Ian turned and saw Lucy emerge behind them.
Ian’s stomach twisted as they drove off.
He settled back into his seat and lifted the stainless-steel cup to his lips, but the coffee no longer tasted good. It was lukewarm and bitter as it slid down his throat and settled into his stomach. Next to him, Dean was scrolling through his phone and mumbling to himself. In the front seat of the car, Jeff was pressing buttons on the radio while Jonathan argued with him.
Ian rolled his eyes, pressed his face to the glass, and squeezed his eyes shut.
When the car came to a stop, Ian jolted awake, and his heart was hammering unsteadily against his chest. He placed a hand over his heart, took several deep breaths, and waited for his breathing to even out. Then he rubbed his eyes, sat up straighter, and glanced over at Dean, who had his head thrown back and drool collecting on the sides of his mouth.
Jeff was mumbling something into his phone, and Jonathan was peering through the windshield. Ian scrubbed a hand over his face and stifled a yawn. Slowly, he leaned forward in his seat and spotted Bryce, who stood in the same position he usually did, next to the bus stop, leaning over the hood of the car in a dark pair of jeans and a sweater. As soon as Bryce spotted them, he crossed one boot-clad foot over the other. He didn’t take his eyes off of them as he eyed them through his glasses.
Ian rolled his shoulders and pushed the car door open, a thin mist settling around them. “Please tell me you have something good.”
Bryce reached for the folder on the hood of the car and pushed himself off it. “You’re going to like this. I got in touch with an old buddy of my dad’s, who owed him a favor. He managed to uncover several offshore accounts.”
Ian picked the folder up and flipped it open. “Several offshore accounts? In Eric’s name?”
Bryce took off his glasses and hooked them into his shirt. “No, that’s the surprising thing. They’re in your mom’s name.”
Ian’s throat turned dry. “How?”
“He filed the paperwork before they got divorced, and he made your mom sign the paperwork without being aware of it, or maybe he coerced her; I’m not sure.”
Ian’s heart was racing as he flipped through the paperwork. “Of course, he forced her. My mom never would’ve agreed to something like this.”
