Page 52 of All He Sees
"Chad is your son," Nicky clarified.
Chad...
She remembered seeing his name on Charles's file. Chad had a DUI charge ten years ago and was a Harvard dropout.
"Yes, Chad had some problems," Charles said. "I was busy then. I didn't have time to deal with it."
"If you did lose your way, Charles--" Nicky started.
"I didn't!" he said. "I just... sometimes I feel like... like I've lost everything in my life. And I don't know what to do with myself."
"Everyone feels that way sometimes," Nicky said. "But you don't need to take it out on other people."
"You don't understand," Charles said. "You don't know what it's like to lose someone you love. And come home to a child who's spiraled out of control. What am I supposed to do about it? I'm not a miracle worker."
"What do you mean he spiraled out of control?" Nicky asked. Her heart pounded hard against the wall of her chest.
She'd been looking so much at Charles, but what if--
What if that was all wrong?
"He got into bad habits," Charles went. "He dropped out of Harvard. He used to be such a good boy, but he started to change."
"Do you think he could be doing this?" she asked. "Do you think he could have kidnapped these girls?"
"No," Charles said. "I just don't. My son is a good boy. He's probably just out partying, doing drugs, getting in trouble. That's all."
Nicky stared at him. But he didn't know. He wouldn't say it if he did. He might not know. But Nicky could feel it in her gut--Chad needed to be spoken to. And there was one thing Charles needed to confirm in order for her to do that.
"Charles," Nicky said, "did Chad have access to your boat?"
Charles swallowed, his face pale. "Yes. Yes, he did."
CHAPTER TWENTY
The golf cart rolled down the hill, and Chad smiled to himself as he drove, the sun shining on his face. Beside him, his best friends--Marcus and Samuel--were laughing and cackling as they drove through the fields of his dad's second private island.
This was paradise.
Chad had never felt anything like it before. It was everything his dad had ever wanted for him... and it was everything Chad had never gotten. Charles had always treated Chad like shit, and now Chad was finally getting his revenge. As soon as they got back to the main part of the island, he'd order a round of shots, toasting to Charles being stripped of everything he had.
Charles Medina was Chad's father. He was also a drunk. And Chad planned on taking everything away from him.
As for now, Chad felt like he was the king of the world.
Chad steered the cart over the hill. And he was going to get away with it.
They were all good. His dad wouldn't find out. No one would. And--
"Hey, Chad, check this out!" Marcus exclaimed, pointing his shotgun in the air. He fired a round off, and it flew into the clear blue sky, the sound so loud it pierced Chad's ears. It was followed by a deadly silence.
In the distance, somewhere in the forest, they heard a scream.
"There she is," Chad said.
The ground fell away and the trees rose up; the island was rugged and untouched. It was the biggest island that belonged to his dad, and it was also the one that was still uninhabited. No one was here. No construction workers, no maids, nobody. Charles planned to build a house here, but he had no idea that Chad was planning on taking over the project and making this island his own.
It already was.
