Damon’s criminal past. The last thing he wanted to do was give people like that a link to Ari and Evan.
Ari shrugged. “I have Facebook, but not with my real name. S’okay. We can text or something.”
“Sure. We should do that. Skype, maybe.”
“Yeah. That’d be good.” She gestured toward the road with her chin. “I should get back.”
“Okay.” He put the car in gear. “What’s Randy’s last name, anyway? Are you using it too?”
“Ingram. Yeah, I’m Ari Ingram now. Evan too.”
“Cool.” I wonder whose name is on the kid’s birth certificate though. Sleazy, Skeevy, or Perv? The thought nagged at him as he drove out of the park and turned back north. He should leave it alone, but he couldn’t help saying, “Did you ever report that lawyer bastard to anyone other than your mom?”
“No.”
Her flat tone was a warning, but he still said, “What was his name again?”
“I didn’t say and I’m not going to.”
“Just in case. For your protection.”
“Drop it, Nick. He doesn’t know where I am, and that’s all the protection I need.”
He changed tactics. “Don’t you ever dream of him getting what’s coming to him?”
“Sure. But I’m not risking Evan for some crazy revenge fantasy.”
“Risking?”
She gave him a withering look. “He said if I didn’t have the abortion, he’d go for custody and take my kid. Probably a lie, but I’m not taking chances. If I’m lucky, the bastard got hit by a dump truck years ago.”
And if you’re not? If he’s out there seducing another girl? Nick bit his lip to shut himself up. The cop in him wanted to say that anyone who’d messed with a fifteen-year-old girl needed to be named and taken down. But he also knew how hard it was to make a case like that stick even with Evan as proof, especially years after the fact. Sometimes when it all shook out, rapists even got shared custody rights. Ari was smart. He needed to let it go. There are plenty of scumbags in the world. You can’t get them all.
They drove in silence until he pulled up in front of her house. She put a hand on the door, then paused. “Are you going to be in town long?”
“I don’t know.”
“The thing is, Randy’s down sick with his headache. Tomorrow, we have stuff with church. Then it’s Christmas and his mom will come over. I don’t want to upset anyone. It’s not that I don’t want to get to know you better. Maybe meet Brian.” She paused.
“But not right now?”
“Yeah.”
“No worries.”
“North Carolina’s a long way, but maybe I’ll be out there someday.”
“Sure.” By then, maybe enough time would’ve gone by to be sure Brian was safe, and the baby was born with just one head, and Damon was off the radar, and for the vandalism to have stopped, so his life would be less fucking complicated. “I’d like that.”
She looked at him for a silent minute. Her eyes are so deep blue. How could I have forgotten? He’d never forget now. He would’ve reached to hug her, despite the awkward space in the car, but she’d retreated to some cool, self-contained place that didn’t invite it. So he waited, until she gave a little headshake. “I so didn’t see this coming when I woke up this morning, but it’s a good thing. Take care, Nick, you and your guy.”
“And you and Evan.” He didn’t include Randy, not yet. He was going to research the hell out of Randy Ingram first. “Call me if you need anything.”
She slid out of the car, stood gracefully, and closed the door. Walked up the uneven path with her head up, looking like a queen returning to her kingdom, not a prisoner going back to jail. Went in without hesitation or a backward look. The door swung shut behind her.
Nick blew out a breath. Then a couple more.
He could hang around town, ask questions, track down Ingram’s work buddies and drinking buddies, and find out how he acted when he wasn’t down with a migraine. If he had drinking buddies— the guy sounded pretty straitlaced. He could try to get a look at Evan’s birth certificate and see if the slimy pervert who made him was listed there. Or maybe Ari had a friend she’d confided in…
Or we could go home.
He suddenly needed Brian. There was a stew of hate and worry and bile inside him, ready to spill over, and he wanted to tell Brian. For all the shady and criminal shit Brian had