Page 58 of Betrayed

“AJ, if I ask you a question, will you be completely honest with me?”

He paused, weighing his options. His dark eyes bore into my soul while I waited. “I’ll be as honest as I can be,” he finally said, putting his book face down, creating a tent on the table between us.

Which means he’ll give me the party line and I won’t learn anything.

I gathered my courage to deal with whatever answer he gave me.

“Does SSI really think my father is involved with whoever is threatening me?”

AJ hesitated a second before answering. “This will be hard for you to hear, but I don’t want to lie to you.” He ran his hands through his dark hair, making it stand up in places. “Even though I could get in trouble.”

This can’t be good. I nodded and waited for the hammer to fall.

“Blake, there’s a lot of circumstantial evidence suggesting your father is involved with criminals, including the one trying to hurt you.”

The room turned blurry as I shook my head back and forth. I thought I was ready to hear what he had to say, but I was wrong. I wanted to shout, Take it back!

Instead, I argued, “I don’t believe you. He wouldn’t do that. He’d never do anything to hurt me.”

“We don’t think so either, but we think they’re using you to get to him,” AJ said.

Could it be true? Could he have connections to criminals?

“I’m sorry, Blake.”

Sorry?Was that supposed to make me feel better? Because it didn’t. My mind went into overdrive trying to think of something that could explain it all away.

“I bet they offered him a bribe and are threatening him because he refused to take it.” That made sense, fitting what I believed about my father.

“Maybe,” was all AJ said.

A glance at my watch revealed it barely lunch time.It’s going to be a long day. I got up and went to the kitchen to make myself something to eat. I found sliced ham and turkey, a variety of sliced cheeses, and mustard in the fridge. When I pulled away from the refrigerator, I felt AJ’s presence before I saw him.

“Want a sandwich?” I didn’t really want company, but I didn’t want to be rude either.

“Sure. I’ll grab plates and the bread.”

We each made our own sandwiches. Mine was a couple of slices of turkey and a slice of provolone. He made two, one ham and swiss, the other turkey and provolone. Both thick and slathered with mayo and mustard. I gained ten pounds just by looking at them.

Not that he has to worry about it. AJ was solid muscle and probably worked out every day. I wasn’t shallow enough to be attracted to someone based solely on their looks, but that didn’tmean I couldn’t appreciate a ridiculously good looking man when I saw one.

“You want chips?” he asked, breaking me out of my stupor.

Please tell me I’m not blushing.“Thanks.”

We ate in silence, which AJ disrupted as soon as we finished. “Blake, can I ask you a few questions?”

Something in his tone made me nervous. I bit my thumbnail before answering. “I guess.”

“How well do you know your step-mother?”

“Not well. I know she’s a gold-digger who married my father for his money and she’s pissed he didn’t inherit my grandfather’s.” I didn’t mention I had.He probably already knows.

He nodded. “What happens to your inheritance if you die before you turn twenty-five? Would it go to your father, then?”

Yup, he knows. Maybe SSI had it all wrong, and it was Priscilla who was involved with the people threatening me, not my dad.

“Do you think she’s behind this?” I asked.

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