Page 52 of The Chad Next Door
“I don’t have…” I can’t even get the words out because they’re not true. Well, theyaretrue. Todd owes his brother almost ten million, and I can’t imagine what else he might owe to people who are far more dangerous. I don’t have ten million. But I havesomeof that, and I have a ridiculously rich brother who earns that in less than six months by throwing a ball. Houston would probably give it to me without questioning it if I asked.
But what really stalls me is the fact that I am even considering that in the first place. A month ago, I would have laughed in Todd’s face and hung up. But now he’s threatened Hope and the kids, and I can’t even think straight anymore.
Todd chuckles. “I knew you’d be smart,” he says, his voice low. “Besides, all you have to do is talk to that pretty little Hope of yours. She can get you everything I need.”
She can’t. Hope can’t even afford to fix a window in her rundown house. But Todd seems pretty convinced.
“Don’t even think about touching her,” I snarl, even if that’s not going to do me any good. Speaking the warning out loud at least makes me feel like I’m not entirely useless. I need to make a plan. Figure out my options. But I also need more information. “How is this going to work, Thwaite?”
“I’ll give you two days to get the money,” he says. “I’ll be at the Bird and Bend B&B, and if I don’t have my money by Sunday at noon, we’re going to be having a very different conversation.”
He hangs up, and I sit there with my phone pressed to my ear, trying desperately to breathe as I process all of this. Two days? Houston might be my only option, and then I’ll have to find a way to pay him back because no matter how ridiculous his wealth might be, he still earned it. It’s not like I’m entitled to anything from him just because he’s my brother.
You should go to the police, a little voice in the back of my head says, and I snap to attention, like whatever was broken inside of me just slipped back into place and I can think properly again. What am I thinking? I’m not giving that man acent!
I pull up the number of a cop buddy in Sun City and flip the phone to speakerphone so I can grab the recording of the conversation I just had with Todd. Thank goodness I got in the habit of recording all of my conversations a few years ago just in case I run into moments like this.
The line connects. “Briggs! It’s been a while. Got something good for me?”
“Tell me you can help me,” I say and send him the file, hoping this isn’t going to turn into a disaster.
* * *
I’ve never been happier to see Hope’s car when she finally pulls into my driveway. I’ve spent the last two hours on the phone trying to get enough on Todd to ensure he doesn’t do anything to hurt Hope or the kids, but the best I’ve gotten from the police is two days before they can get a warrant with the limited evidence I’ve got. Todd didn’t technically make any threats, and the fraud case with his brother is still being built.
I’m ready to take matters into my own hands, no matter what that means for me if I go outside the law on this. I’d rather know they’re safe than protect my own freedom.
Seeing that Hope is alive and well has me relaxing for the first time since my phone rang, and I don’t wait until she’s in the house. I run out to meet her, pulling her into my arms and crushing her against me.
“Uh, hi?” she says into my chest.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. You’ll never guess who I ran into at—”
“I know about Todd.”
She wiggles free, looking at me like I’ve just told her that I dyed all her clothes black. “What? How? Were you checking up on me?”
What is that supposed to mean? “He called me,” I say, as if she doesn’t already know. “Onyourphone.”
“Oh, he was callingyou? I wondered about that when he borrowed my phone.”
She is being way too calm given the situation. “Hope, what did he say to you?”
Shesmiles. “That’s what I was going to tell you. June and I were having breakfast when he came into the diner, and I told him that he looked really familiar to me and I wanted to figure out how we knew each other.”
I curse, shaking my head. “Are you insane?Youapproachedhim? Why?”
“Why are you making such a big deal out of this? It turns out he—”
“Why am I making it a big deal?” I groan, pacing a few times as I run my hand over my hair. “Hope, that was the stupidest thing you could have done.”
Her jaw drops. “Excuse me?”
“Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?”
“I’m pretty sure it was fine, Chad.”
