Page 54 of Mine to Love
Liberty shifted her gaze from Rhett to Miles. “I want to know what you’re thinking and I want to know now.”
“It’s a whole lot of conjecture based in little fact.” Miles pointed toward his brother. “He’s read the paperwork and his wife?—”
“Cut the bullshit,” Liberty said. “You have a sixth sense about this shit just like you do cars.”
“Damn, I knew I liked this chick, but now I think I’m kind of a little in love with her,” Rhett said with a chuckle. “Go on, tell her.”
Miles pinched the bridge of his nose. “There are a few problems with my theory. The first one is if Harvey wanted his children to be taken care of financially, why didn’t the money start rolling in to help her before she got married. Especially if this was all a setup before they left Palm Beach.”
“I’m going to fucking kill the lot of them.” Liberty bolted to her feet, knocking over the table. She paced in front of the steps. “Are you trying to tell me that my parents bribed Charlie and his family into…” She let the words trail off as she stared at Miles.
“What is it?” He raced to her side, wrapping his loving, kind, warm arms around her trembling body.
“What was the exact amount of those deposits?” She held Miles’ stare.
“Rhett?” Miles glanced over his shoulder.
“Fifty thousand a month,” Rhett said.
“That dirty rat,” she mumbled, covering her face. “And my father, why couldn’t he just tell me?”
“Okay, I’m not following.”
She swiped at her cheeks. “When my folks left, my dad did leave me with some money to start. I took it. I’m not a fool. But a couple of months later, fifty grand mysteriously appeared in my bank account. Charlie was already sniffing around and I told him about it and the idiot that I was, let him look into it for me. He told me it was a mistake. That the bank accidentally deposited someone else’s money into my account. He gave me something to sign.” She covered her eyes.
“Hey. You were young. Your parents had just abandoned you with a ten-year-old boy to take care of. Charlie was a family friend and you did what any of us would have done. You trusted him.” Miles kissed her temple.
“You know what that means, though, right, little brother?” Rhett asked with an arched brow.
“Yeah. That there’s an account somewhere with the name Liberty Livingston on it that her father’s been depositing money in that he thinks is going to his son and daughter.” Miles took her by the shoulders. “I need to call your father. You don’t have to be present if you don’t want to, but we need answers that only he can give and while it might not help us find Gabriel right now, it’s going to help us nail that fucking ex-husband of yours to the wall.”
“You’re not going to call him.” Liberty squared her shoulders. “I am.”
12
Liberty wished it wasn’t so early in the day so she could have a glass of bourbon. She swallowed. Hard. The last time she’d spoken to her father had been three days before he up and left. He’d been sitting in his den, drinking scotch, and playing a game of chess with Gabriel.
His father could have a fair amount of patience for Gabriel, even if he didn’t understand the child.
Their mother, on the other hand, didn’t give one shit. She couldn’t be bothered. At least their dad spent time with Gabriel and that’s what made this whole thing even worse.
Gabriel cried at night, not for his mother, but for his dad.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to do this?” Miles tapped her phone on the center of the island in her kitchen. “I’m happy to talk to him for you.”
“I know you are and I appreciate the support. I really do. But I have to do this.”
“All right.” Miles squeezed her biceps. “Do you want me to stay with you or step outside?”
“Stay.” She found her father’s contact information that Rhett had sent her and she hit the call button. It went to voicemail. She should have known her dad wouldn’t take a call from someonehe didn’t know. “Hey, Dad.” God, that felt weird to say. “It’s Liberty. I need to speak with you. It’s urgent. Please call me. Thanks.” She tapped the screen.
No sooner did she open her mouth to say something than her cell vibrated.
“Looks like he’s willing to have a conversation.” Miles kissed her cheek. “If you need me to jump in, just say the word.”
She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Hi, Dad,” she said softly.
“Wow. I can’t believe I’m speaking to you.” Her father’s voice bellowed across the air like a freight train. “Are you okay? Is Gabriel okay?”
