Page 186 of Wordless


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He'd just said something about the place not being paid for.But not with money?What did he mean?

I asked, "So if you don't owe money, whatwouldyou owe?"

"Deeds."

"You mean like property deeds?"

"No. The other kind."

I shook my head. "Like…good deeds?"

"Or bad deeds," he said. "Depending on how you look at things."

I tried to laugh. "Now I'm really confused."

"Lemme back up," he said. "This mountain – I own it."

"Seriously? The whole thing?"

He frowned. "Oh yeah."

I studied his face. "But isn't that a good thing? I mean, your books didreallywell, so it's not like you didn't earn it, right?"

Jake gave me a serious look, but said nothing.

As the silence stretched out between us, I suddenly realized what he was getting at. "Oh." I winced. "Unless you bought itbeforeyour books took off?"

He nodded. "Good guess."

"So I'm right? But that must've cost a fortune."

"It did."

"So…whose money did you use?"

He grimaced. "I think you know."

"Your dad's?"

"Right." As I listened, Jack went on to explain that when he left home as a teenager, he'd had access to one of his dad's many off-shore accounts. He'd drained it dry and then used the money to buy his own private mountain through a private trust.

I stared in shock. "Why a mountain?"

"I wanted to be alone." He gave a low scoff. "AndI was a dumb-ass."

"Why? Don’t you like it here?"

"I love it. But I don’t like how I got it."

"You mean, because you took money that didn't belong to you?"

"No. Because I took money that didn't belong tohim."

"You mean your dad?" When Jack nodded, I asked, "So whodidit belong to?"

With a tight shrug, Jack replied, "Hell ifIknow."

"So what are you saying? He stole the money?"