Run Away - Harlan Coben Page 0,102
to Vartage?”
“Yes.”
“So two sons go on the same site, for example. They realize that they are half brothers.”
“Right. Then a third. Then a fourth. All fairly recent.”
“And someone in your cult decides that the best way to eliminate the problem is to, uh, eliminate the problem.” Ash looked at her. Dee Dee smiled again. “In exchange for a leadership position?”
“Something like that.”
He had to shake his head in awe. “How much is Truth Haven worth, Dee?”
“Hard to estimate,” she said, “but probably close to forty million dollars.”
That opened his eyes. “Whoa.”
“But this isn’t just about the money.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Stop being cynical for a second. Just imagine what would happen to Truth Haven if fourteen more sons come forward with claims. It will, in effect, destroy the Truth.”
“Come on, Dee.”
“What?”
“Will you stop with the Truth? You know that’s all a lot of nonsense. You just admitted that to me.”
Dee Dee shook her head. “You’re so blind, Ash. I love the Truth.”
“And you’re using it to get what you want.”
“Yes, of course. Those two things aren’t contradictory. No one believes every passage of a holy book—they pick and choose. And every pastor who makes money from his religion—if he believes in what he preaches or not—is getting something out of it. That’s life, my love.”
That was wild rationalization, but on some level, it was also absolute truth.
It was getting hot in the car. Ash turned up the AC. “So we only have two more sons to eliminate.”
“Yes. One in the Bronx, one in Tallahassee.” Then Dee Dee added: “Oh, and now we also have to get rid of Simon Greene.”
Chapter
Thirty-Five
Simon and Cornelius stood outside the same bank branch where a few hours earlier Simon had withdrawn the money for the DNA test. Rocco had sent Cornelius to make sure Simon understood that he wasn’t getting this information for free. So here Simon was, back at the bank, looking to take out more cash.
Because he’d already withdrawn a somewhat large amount of money and didn’t want to draw more attention to himself, he’d called Yvonne for help. He spotted her now, walking toward him.
“Any issues?” he asked.
“No.” Yvonne glanced over at Cornelius, this black man with the threadbare T-shirt and the thick white beard, then back at Simon. “Who is this?”
“Cornelius,” Simon said.
Yvonne turned to him. “And who are you, Cornelius?”
“Just a friend,” Cornelius said.
She looked him up and down and then asked, “And what do you need this money for?”
“It’s not for him,” Simon said. “He’s helping me.”
“Helping you what?”
Simon quickly explained about Rocco and Luther. He naturally left off the fact that Cornelius had been the one who saved his and Ingrid’s lives. When he finished, he braced for Yvonne’s counterarguments. None came.
“Stay out of sight,” Yvonne said. “I’ll get the cash from my account.”
Simon wanted to tell Yvonne that he’d pay her back, but Yvonne was Ingrid’s sister and would get pissed off if he made the offer, so he just nodded. When Yvonne entered, Simon and Cornelius walked down the block so they weren’t loitering directly in front of the bank.
“Good time to fill me in,” Cornelius said.
So he did.
“That’s messed up,” Cornelius said when he finished.
“Yup.” Then: “Why did you help us, Cornelius?”
“Why not?”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I. Not a lot of chances to be a hero in real life. You got to step up when the opportunity presents itself.”
Cornelius shrugged as if to emphasize it was a no-brainer and that simple, and Simon believed that maybe it was.
“Thank you.”
“Also Ingrid, she was nice to me.”
“When she wakes up, I’m going to tell her what you did, if that’s okay.”
“Yeah, that’s okay,” Cornelius said. “You still got the gun I gave you?”
“Yes. You think we’ll need it?”
“Never know. But no, I don’t think you’ll need it. Still, we will make provisions.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning we don’t just walk in with thousands of dollars unarmed.”
“Got it.”
“And one other thing,” Cornelius said.
“What’s that?”
“Don’t let me be the black friend who gets killed. I hate that in movies.”
Simon laughed for the first time in what felt like months.
Cornelius’s phone buzzed so he stepped aside. Yvonne came out of the bank and handed him the cash. “I asked for nine thousand six hundred and five dollars.”
“Why that amount?”
“So it’s not the exact same as yours and trips up a computer somewhere. Six hundred and five, six five. June fifth. You know the date?”
He did. Simon’s godson Drew, Yvonne’s oldest kid, was born on that day.
“I thought maybe it would bring you luck,” she said.
Cornelius came back. “That