Page 253 of Papa's Bébé
“Burgers actually sound really good.”
He threw back his head and laughed and she smiled at him, delighted that she’d made him laugh. She loved it when he let go like that.
“Urgh, the two of you are so . . . sweet, aren’t you?”
Shock filled her as she turned and saw Kathryn standing in the living room. She was looking around with her nose wrinkled.
“Kathryn! What are you doing here?” she asked.
“My God, what a dump. And I’m not talking about the smoke and water damage,” she said with a sneer. “Is this seriously thebest you could do? I’m glad I stopped your father every time he mentioned wanting to come and see your house.”
“Dad wanted to come and see where I was living?” Maya asked, amazed.
“Yes, he was always going on about it. But I had no interest in spending more time with you.”
“What are you doing here, Kathryn?” Matthieu asked.
Maya gave him a startled look. He didn’t sound happy.
At all.
Then again, no one was happy around Kathryn.
Except, maybe, for her father.
“Oh, I came to say goodbye. I really should have left already. But I couldn’t let it go, you see. It kept playing over and over in my head.”
“Goodbye? Where are you going? And what was playing in your head?” Maya asked.
“How much you always fuck up everything. That’s what, Maya. It was a friend of yours that found him, wasn’t it?”
“Found who?” Maya was so confused.
“Vince,” Kathryn spat out. “He was always the loose string. I wouldn’t have used him, but your father trusted him, he believed every lie that Vince fed him. And Vince was in love with me, so he was easy to manipulate.”
“In love with you?” Maya whispered.
“Oh yes, he followed me around with those big eyes. Panted after me. He’s so fucking dumb and gullible. But he also knows all of the secrets. Well, most of them.”
“It was you, wasn’t it,” Matthieu said.
“It was her?” Maya repeated, not understanding. Then it hit her. Why else would Kathryn be leaving? Why would she be here? Why would she be mad that someone had found Vince?
“It’s only a matter of time before Vince breaks and spills everything. And now my own sons have been arrested. I have nochoice but to leave.” Kathryn shook her head. “I made a mistake mentioning you in the threat. I never make mistakes like that, but that one was my undoing.”
“Okay, I’m getting confused,” Maya said. “Are you saying you made the threats to Dad? And that Vince was working for you? Are you . . . are you saying you were behind all of this? How? Why?”
“Keep up, Maya. You always were dense. God, I hated you from the moment I started hearing about you. Your father was always ‘Maya this’ and ‘Maya that.’ I knew I had to undermine your relationship if I ever had a chance of coming first. And I needed to come first so I could get my hands on all that money your mother left him. I didn’t find out until about two years into our marriage that he had started tying it up in trusts for the three of you. If I’d known that I never would have married him. I became angry. And I started to look at ways to get back at him. While building up my cash pile.”
What the heck? Who did this? What kind of psychopath was she?
“You did all of this for money?” Maya asked.
“And a bit of revenge. I know it was probably unreasonable of me, but you became even more of a target for my anger. I loathed you. That the money would go to you . . . it made me furious. I had to figure out a way to make money without your father knowing. That’s when I decided to use him. My sons helped me, they recruited other cops and brought them onboard. They targeted officers that we thought we could corrupt and use. Not that any of them knew about me. Malcolm, Robert, and Vince made it sound like every order came from your father.”
Dear Lord.
Maya felt ill.
