Chapter 5 Calder #3
“A diversion.” He pulls a file from a stack on his desk, sliding it across to me.
“Allie Porter. Emma Porter’s oldest and heir to the Porter Ranch.
I was told she was coming home for the weekend.
She should be here by today. Saintlyn and Allie are best friends.
” I open the file, already knowing what I’ll find inside.
Details of Allie Porter’s life—her habits, schedule, weaknesses.
Everything necessary to make her a convincing scapegoat.
“I’ll need you to plant evidence at the James place suggesting Porter went there.
Then make sure Allie Porter disappears too.
All anyone will see is two young women running off together.
From there, the town will draw their own conclusions.
The kind that a preacher from a small town wouldn’t want anyone to examine too closely. ”
The casualness with which he suggests destroying another innocent life to cover up the murder of another enrages me.
Perhaps I am growing soft, or maybe I’m just done being my father’s bulldog.
I don’t know. What I do know is Allie Porter hasn’t done anything wrong except come home from college at a bad time.
And now she’ll be erased simply to provide cover for what I’ve done.
“I’ll take care of it.” The words taste like ash in my mouth.
My father nods. “See that you do. And Calder—” his voice hardens, “don’t fuck up again. When I give an order, I expect it to be followed to the letter and I expect all information, every fucking detail, to be shared with me. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.” The response is automatic, ingrained from childhood.
“Good.” He turns back to the window, a clear dismissal. “Send Kade in on your way out. We need to discuss the Henderson property.”
I rise, tucking the file under my arm, desperate to be out of this room, and away from the man who can read me like an open fucking book.
“And remember son, you’re a Bishop. My blood.
My heir. Everything I’ve built here will be yours someday, but if you continue to make me question your worthiness I’ll be forced to remind you why everyone fears us. ”
The threat hangs in the air. If I fuck up again he’s coming for me.
I leave without another word, closing the door quietly behind me. Once I’m in the hallway, I lean against the wall taking a small reprieve, the file feeling like a twenty pound weight in my hands. I look up from the floor and find my mother standing at the end of the hall.
Her worried gaze bleeds into mine. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I lie, straightening up. “Just tired. Is Kade around? Dad wants to see him.”
She nods. “He’s in the kitchen having breakfast.” Her lips part and it looks as if she wants to say something else, but the words never come out, so I walk away.
I find Kade at the kitchen table, halfway through a stack of pancakes.
At twenty-six, my brother is the image of our father in his youth, same broad build, same confident bearing, same unquestioning loyalty to the Bishop name. Where I inherited our father’s cold calculation, Kade got his temper. And that’s a dangerous combination.
“Mornin’,” he says through a mouthful of food.
“Morning. Dad wants to see you.” I announce with icy disdain, pouring myself a cup of coffee. Kade raises an eyebrow sensing something off.
Discussing feelings, and problems, isn’t something we typically do. We talk with our fists, and if that doesn’t work we use bullets. But from the look on Kade’s face, that’s not sufficient enough today.
Setting his fork down, he pins me with a glare. “What the hell is going on?”
“Nothing. I got a little sloppy on a job last night. Dad’s pissed, as he should be. No real point in explaining it because it won’t happen again.”
“Sloppy?” A bubble of laughter slips past his lips. “It’s my job to fuck shit up.” He says it like a joke but I know better.
He covers up his insecurity with humor. Kade’s been trying to prove himself to our father for years.
Nothing he does is worthy, or good enough, and it probably never will be, not in our father’s eyes.
I don’t understand the dislike there, but again I’m not about to dive deep into feelings with my brother, or ask my father what the hell his problem is.
“No worries, the trophy is still yours.”
I sip at the black coffee, and the burn of the liquid helps to clear some of my lingering thoughts. I need to figure this thing out with Saint, and I need to do it fast. My father’s going to be even more paranoid than usual. I’ll have to watch my back.
“Good, can’t risk you trying to take my place.
” He grins back at me and I pause wondering if I should tell him what I’ve done.
No. Who’s to say he wouldn’t tell Dad? Kade’s always had my back, but he’s so eager for our father’s approval I’m not sure he wouldn’t run right to him just because. “Is everything else good?”
It’s his way of asking me if I’m okay, and if I were being honest with him I’d probably tell him the truth but I don’t want to draw more attention to myself, and the betrayal I’ve committed. I watch him take a few more bites, then I reply.
“I’m fine.” I take another gulp from the mug, to stop myself from confessing what I’ve done out loud.
“Sure ya are.” He rolls his eyes. “Are we still on for drinks at The Rusty Nail tonight? Sawyer won’t shut up about the new server they hired this week.”
The normalcy of the question is jarring. Drinks. Waitresses. As if last night never happened. As if there isn’t a woman chained to the bed in my cabin right now, her life irrevocably altered because she had the misfortune of opening her door to the wrong person.
“No. Got another job and I can’t fuck it up this time.” I hold up the file. Little does he know I’ve already fucked up. Fucked up on a level that can’t save me from our father’s rage.
Kade shrugs, and then shoves out of his chair, stretching like a lazy cat. “All work, no play. It’s your loss, brother.”
“If catching chlamydia is my loss then I’m fine with that.”
He flips me the bird before walking in the direction of our father’s office, the picture of ease and confidence. No weight on his shoulders. No doubts clouding his mind. All he wants is to prove himself.
Meanwhile, all I want is to disappear. To stop suffocating beneath my father’s shadow.
Once I’m finished with my coffee, I head for my truck, mind already racing ahead to what needs to be done. Right now I need to go to the cabin. See if Saint is awake and figure out what the hell I’m going to do with her.
While I’m at it, I’ll need to come up with a plan to deal with Allie Porter too. Fuck me. There are so many moving pieces, and in the middle is Saint.
A betrayal that I need to keep straight until I have a solution.
There’s no going back, no changing my mind.
I made my choice. I chose obsession and need over loyalty and blood.
Now I have to find a way to save our lives, because if my father finds out what I’ve done, there won’t be anything to stop him from killing us both.