Fisher (Prince of Tigers, #3) - Kathi S. Barton Page 0,28

just don’t know anymore. She has a problem. And I don’t know if you paying the debt she made for my company will keep her from doing it again. It would be deeply appreciated, but I think she’ll continue with what she has in her head no matter what I do on my end.” Bryant handed the check to him. “I don’t know if taking this is a good idea.”

“You’ve been honest with me, Paddy, and I’ll do the same for you. If she hurts even a single hair on Piper’s head, she will be ended.” Bryant stood up, and Paddy did as well. “I take being related to Piper very seriously. She makes my brother laugh and smile. And they’re in love. But if Mary doesn’t stop with this and gets to the point of harming one of my family, I’m afraid there will be nothing I can do to save her.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Bryant put out his hand, and Paddy took it. “I’m calling the police right now. I don’t want her dead, and I’m sure you don’t want that either. But she’s done enough damage now that it’s impossible for me to trust her word that she’s going to stop before it’s too late.”

“It is too late, I’m afraid. You should check into your son’s credit history. You might be surprised by what you find there. As well as for Rachel. Piper loves both her niece and nephew, but they’re also going to suffer in ways you’ll soon be made aware of.” Paddy sat down again, hard. “Also, I’m afraid their scholarships are gone. My wife is looking into how they managed to get into the money for that. If you’re interested, I’ll be happy to pass on the news. But I’m afraid it’s going to get them into more trouble than either of them can buy off this time.”

“You knew this when you offered the money. That even with you helping me with my company, they’d still be in deep shit.” Bryant said he had. “Why? Why would you come in here and write me a check for that much money when you knew Mary was still going to have to go to jail?”

“Because, as I said, Piper is family. And she loves the kids of her family. Fisher also hopes that since he helped you out, you’ll still be a part of her family.” Paddy told him, of course, he would. “Good. I’m very glad to hear that. There isn’t any reason in the world why your company has to suffer because your wife made a few life changing choices without your knowledge. No matter how this turns out, you still have your son to think of.”

Thanking him again, Paddy pulled up a credit history on his son. Staring at the report, it occurred to Paddy that the date of his son’s first bad credit report was only a few days after he’d turned five. As he read through the list, he estimated his son had racked up nearly a million dollars in debt, all before he’d graduated from middle school. Paddy was sure the only reason it wasn’t more was because his rating had fallen so far down the chart.

Paddy started making a list of things he needed to take care of. First and foremost, he was going to call the credit bureau and have them look into Peter’s credit. After that, he started doing searches on other things. Like how much the debt was that Mary Margaret, Mary’s mother, had at the time of her death.

When his phone rang again, he picked it up without looking to see who it might have been. He heard Mary telling someone she was calling her husband now.

“Paddy? Are you there?” He told her he was. “Good. You’re not going to believe this, but I’ve some trouble here in New Jersey. I was doing a little shopping, and they’re saying my credit card is no longer any good. I might have been a little more upset about it than I should have been. They’ve had me arrested. I need you, honey. I need you to help me. Losing my mother has been difficult on me, as you know.”

“Do I? Know how you’ve suffered, Mary? The last thing I heard about you was that you were down in Tennessee trying to get poor Piper to give you something she doesn’t have. Money. It’s always money with you, isn’t it? Don’t lie to me again about