Page 38 of Being Lost

I shrug and simultaneously shake my head. “Phil and I thought it would be a good idea to get a safe deposit box when we got married. We put in our birth certificates, our wills, and the documents about the house. When the kids were born, we added their birth certificates too, and some of their baby pics, but never anything else. I’d forgotten about it until Phil wanted the key one day to put something in it. It struck me as unusual. It wasn’t a big one, so we didn’t have room for much else, and I thought we were only using it for the basics. I’d questioned him, but he just said it was some of his employment stuff. It seemed odd then, but I didn’t push it. After he moved out, I added the divorce papers.” I raise and lower my shoulders again. “Phil knew where the key was, I’d told him I kept it in my jewellery box. He may well have taken whatever it was back out.”

Lost looks disappointed. “I can’t think it’s anything to do with a piece of paper stored twenty years ago in a bank.”

“When was it last opened?” Dart asks.

“Not too long ago,” I confirm, realising it’s probably a red herring. “It’s been opened a few times when Beth needed her birth certificate for work. I never noticed anything obvious that I didn’t recognise in there. Sorry.” I grimace, realising I’ve wasted their time.

But Lost’s eyes sharpen. “You know nothing, yet Alder is desperate to find you. You have nothing of his or Phil’s. Did he leave something in your house?”

“It’s been twenty years, Lost.” I widen my eyes. “When Phil left, he took everything he owned. His office was cleared out. The kids grew up, so the house got changed. I’ve redecorated everywhere, changed furniture which wore out. His office was used as a playroom for the kids. There isn’t anything of Phil’s left there.”

“That box, Patsy? Did you take everything out when you last opened it? Could there be something in there that’s been forgotten all of these years?”

In response, I shake my head. “Lost, no. I didn’t take everything out. I know what’s in there so there was no need.”

Dart raises his chin toward Lost. “What if Phil had dirt on Alder that he wanted to keep hidden away, where Alder would never find it? What if, now Phil is dead, Alder wants his insurance policy back?”

Suddenly Dan’s sitting up straighter. “I overheard something once. An argument between Alder and Phil. I’d completely forgotten about it. Phil was trying to get deeper into his business and Alder kept knocking him back. They used to be partners, but Alder was too selfish for that and kept Phil out of a lot of the more lucrative stuff. I was worried at the time as I was still trying to impress Phil and hovered around in case things turned physical. Phil used those exact words. He reminded Alder that he still had an insurance policy.”

“So there was something he had over Alder.” Lost leans back in his chair and links his fingers behind his head. “And one possible place he kept it was in that safe deposit box.”

“Oh, come on,” I tell them, my eyes looking around in disbelief. “It’s too farfetched to think something’s been under our noses this whole time. I’ve never seen it.”

Dart grins. “Wouldn’t hurt to look. You still have the key?”

I nod. “I left it with Beth as we moved in a rush. There’s nothing secret in there, and if she’s going to marry Ink,” I break off and swallow thinking I wouldn’t be there to witness it, “she needed to have access to her birth certificate.”

“You mind her going through that safe deposit box?”

“Of course not. There’s no secrets to me.”

Lost raises his chin at me, then lifts an eyebrow at his VP. He gets out his phone and taps a pre-set number. He puts it on speaker, and places it in the middle of the desk.

“Demon. It’s Lost.”

“Lost, what can I do for you, Brother?”

“I’ve got Patsy, Dan and Dart with me. You’re on speaker.”

“That means trouble if you’ve come out in the open, Dan. You at the compound? Are you both safe?”

“Yes to all three,” Lost answers for my son, staring at the phone as though he can see the man speaking. He sends me a look full of apology as he drops me straight in it. “Patsy picked up a tail yesterday.”

“Jesus.” I blanch hearing Demon’s censure coming down the phone. “She alright?”

Lost answers for me, “She’s fine. She called me. We dealt with it. But it’s not safe to leave them without protection anymore.”

“So that fuckin’ message you got was legit. Shit.”

I start wishing a hole in the ground would open up to swallow me. I shouldn’t have called Beth, however much I wanted to hear her voice and reassure myself she was okay. If I hadn’t, Alder would never have found out where we are.

Lost sighs, looking my way. “Alder’s got eyes all over San Diego. He’s got a network of dealers and users, all primed to get a payout if they spot Patsy out and about. Well, yesterday they did.”

“They know Connor’s alive then.” Demon sounds both resigned and business like at the same time, acknowledging the problem and prepared to deal with it.

“Apparently not,” Lost interrupts. “It’s Patsy he’s after. No reason to believe he has suspicions about Dan.”

“Patsy?” Demon’s incredulity comes clearly down the line, clearly having difficulty understanding why a drug lord would be interested in a woman past her prime.

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