Ruthless Kings - Laura Lee Page 0,28
agreed to marry him.
"The honeymoon phase didn't last long, though. I was eight when she died, so it isn't too clear, but even in my earliest memories, I can easily recall how vastly different their personalities were. How often they argued. My grandfather told me she was planning to leave him right before she died. She was going to take Ainsley and me away from here and move to San Francisco, where she grew up.
“She called my grandfather one day, told him he was right all along; her husband was a liar. My mom confessed to learning something awful about my dad’s business dealings. She claimed she filed a police report, detailing everything she knew, so she had to take the kids and get out as fast as possible. When my grandfather asked her to explain, she promised she’d tell him everything once she arrived in the Bay Area.” I rub the tension at the back of my neck. “She never got the chance because she died later that day.”
Jazz isn't even trying to stifle her tears anymore, and it's killing me. "How did she die?"
I unclench my jaw. “The official cause of death is drowning, but a toxicology report showed she had a large amount of heroin in her system. Police concluded she shot up a little too much, went for a swim, and passed out.”
Jazz stares through the windows at the illuminated pool just beyond the door. “You don’t think that’s what really happened?”
“Not after speaking with my grandfather.” My eyes fog over as I look out the window. “The timing is too suspicious. And she was fully dressed, which is an odd choice for swimming, don’t you think?”
“Do you think your dad...killed her?”
“He was somewhere in the Caribbean when she died.” I exhale sharply. “But I do think he hired someone. Or maybe he asked your father to do it since he was in town that day. Knowing what I know now, they both would’ve had the same motive. They’re equally guilty as far as I’m concerned, regardless of who actually did the dirty work.”
“Were you and Ainsley home when it happened?”
“No. We were on a playdate a few houses down that afternoon. Looking back, I think my mom wanted to get us out of the house so she could pack our things without drawing attention. I think my dad somehow found out she was planning to run, and he put a stop to it before she could make that happen.
"I will never forget that day. It was getting late, and my mom didn't pick us up when she was supposed to. She wouldn't answer the phone when Mrs. Wallace—that's the neighbor—called. Finally, Mrs. Wallace brought us home herself, thinking maybe Mom's phone died, or she fell asleep. No one answered when we rang the bell, so we walked around the house to check the back. Ainsley tripped along the way and scraped her knee, so Mrs. Wallace stopped to take care of her.
“I kept going, though. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad had happened. When I rounded the corner of the house, I saw her floating face down in the water. I jumped in the pool, trying to save her, but as soon as I managed to flip her over, I knew it was too late. She was heavily bloated...her skin was almost...gray. Seeing her like that will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
“God, Kingston. No wonder you hate them so much.”
“Yeah.”
Jazz turns her head toward me. “Were you living in this house back then? Is that the pool?”
"Yes, on the house. Not exactly for the pool."
Her delicate eyebrows knit together. “What does that mean?”
“My dad’s second wife—the one he married not even a year after my mom died—had it redone. Ainsley and I wouldn’t go anywhere near it, so my dad told her about my mom’s accident. She was freaked out by the whole thing, so she hired someone to expand and redesign the landscape of it." I grind my molars together. "That's right around the time she demanded we remove all traces of our mom from the house as if that would erase the fact that she was dead or something."
“What a bitch.”
“Yeah,” I agree.
“Does Ainsley know? I mean, about our fathers?”
“She knows they’re involved in something shady, but she has no idea it’s this bad.” I shake my head. “And I don’t want that to change until I get proof that’ll take them down. I have measures in place