Page 116 of Misguided
“Of course.” He nods quickly before stepping out and closing the door behind him.
I head around to his chair, figuring it’ll be all right to sit on that since it’s leather, and take a seat. The desk phone stares back at me as I set the subpoena down and take a deep breath.
Seems no matter how hard I try, I can’t escape the von Essen trap. My hand aches as I lift the receiver and dial the house number first. It rings out switching over to the message bank as I hang up. I try the old man’s mobile next and get more than I thought he’d give me.
“Hello?”
Probably helps I’m calling from a number he doesn’t recognize.
“Hey, Dad.”
I brace for the click, the dial tone, and the inevitable brush-off.
“Hello, Koen.”
Well, fuck me dead. “I got some interestin’ mail from your lawyer.”
“They went through with it, then?”
I rest my face in the palm of my free hand. “When were you goin’ to tell me?”
“To be honest, I’d hoped they wouldn’t involve you.”
“Why have they?”
“Because they need a character reference, somebody to vouch for Derek, who’ll say that the charges are utter bullshit.”
I chuckle, short and bitter. “No wonder you hoped they’d leave me out of it.”
He doesn’t say anything, just grumbles in agreement.
“How long?”
“Have they been investigating?”
“Has he been doin’ it?” I ask. I don’t have a shred of doubt that Derek’s guilty. Fucker always wanted what he couldn’t have, even as a kid.
“I won’t tell you that,” Dad says quietly. “I’d rather not talk about it at all, right now. There are more important things to worry about. I don’t even know why the assholes can’t fucking wait for a goddamn week before they make things worse.”
“What are you on about?”
He sighs heavily down the line. “Lorelle tried to kill herself.”
Derek’s wife.“That’s rough.” Even worse is the fact he didn’t sound the slightest bit shocked by it at all, as though she would have done something like that purely to inconvenience him.
“Seems she can’t withstand a little pressure,” he says with nothing short of contempt for her.
“Give the woman a break, Rollan. Her husband is facing real time, and for all you fuckin’ know she may have other issues it’s added to.”
“She needs to be strong for him, support him. There’s no place for weak women in our family.”
“Guess it’s a good thing Mom died then, huh? All that compassion of hers wouldn’t have been any use right now, either.”
“You’re such a little bastard, you know that? Everything comes back to you and your goddamn mother as though you were the only person who lost someone precious to you.”
“Didn’t see you jumpin’ up to help when she hit the floor.”
“Because,” he scratches out, “I didn’t want to believe what I was witnessing.”