ever been caught. And what makes things worse is that your father never gave Mr. Swift back the money he stole from that particular poker game or any of the games he’d cheated during before.”
“Shit. How much did he steal?” I pursed my lips as I waited for the answer.
“$150,000.”
“What?” I found myself rapidly blinking again. I even considered pinching myself to make sure that I was awake and not stuck in the middle of a nightmare. “My father stole that much money from a guy who sounds like he buries people in the desert in his free time?”
“Yes,” Viv’s response was calm. “Now, I’d like to level with you, Mr. Williams. I was only able to gain so much information by going directly to the source. Mr. Swift was quite open with me about his ongoing feud with your father after the cheating was discovered. However, while he seems to have a cool head on his shoulders when it comes to you and Eddie, I’m worried that he might send someone to collect on your father’s debts. And… I can’t guarantee that the messenger will be as civil as Mr. Swift seemed to be.”
“So, what do you think we should do?”
“I think, if at all possible, you should pay the piper,” she answered. “Not only would it guarantee that you’ll never have to deal with Mr. Swift ever again, but it should also restore some goodwill around your father’s name in the city.”
“$150,000…” I mumbled through the words. “I’ll… have to talk it over with Eddie. See if he wants to work this out via our accounting team or through something else.”
“Of course, Mr. Williams. You should do whatever you think is right,” Viv said. “Let me know whatever you come up with, and we should be able to proceed from there.”
“$150,000?” Eddie looked like he was on the verge of passing out as he stared back at me from the living room couch. “Parker, are you fucking serious right now?”
While Eddie was on his lunch break, I’d decided to catch him up on the situation with the letters, making sure I mentioned everything Viv had said to me on the phone. I’d also made sure that Eddie was seated before I gave him the news, worried that he would collapse on the floor once he heard how much our father owed Mr. Gavin Swift.
And seeing Eddie’s body sway back and forth let me know that I was right to ensure that this was a seated, couch-based conversation.
“He… was a repeat offender,” I explained. “I’m guessing $150,000 is just what Mr. Swift added up over the years.”
“$150,000…” Eddie grimaced and rested his face in both of his hands. “I mean, fuck. It’s not like we can’t pay the guy, but Jesus Christ. With that kind of money, we could’ve invested in a condo downtown.”
“Is that something you had on your to-do list? Investing in a condo downtown?”
“I don’t know, Parker!” Eddie threw his hands up in frustration. “I don’t know how I would’ve spent $150,000, but I can pretty much promise you that I wouldn’t have used it to line a shady casino owner’s wallet.”
“Yeah, well, that’s what separates you from Dad.” I offered my brother a barely-there smile. “That’s what separates me from Dad, too.”
“Does it seem like he’s getting worse?” Eddie murmured. “I guess I just thought… when someone dies… that’s the part where you find out everything good about them, right? When someone dies, there’s supposed to be all these people coming out of the woodwork to tell you that whoever just died was actually a saint or deep down a good person or—” Eddie stopped himself mid-sentence and let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know, Parker. First, the secret family. And now this? Who the hell was our dad? It’s like he was living a double life.”
“That’s because he was,” I replied with a shrug. “Dad had a life with us, when he came home, and a life he lived, when he was out in the world.”
“It’s just not fair.” Eddie shook his head. “It’s not fair that Dad was so involved with all of this shit, but we’re the ones who get left holding the bag.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you so calm about it?” Eddie pressed. “Why are you acting like none of this shit is shocking to you?”
“Because it’s not?” I suggested. “Because I guess I always kind of knew that our father was... I just had a feeling that there was