Chapter Nineteen
Chad’s respect for his mother grew tenfold as he observed her meeting with Otis. She was a rock. Standing tall and not giving an inch.
Otis had arrived at the house with Lincoln by his side, both men frowning.
Evelyn had met them at the door and led the way to the office.
It was where her husband had conducted all his official business, and as she sat in Austin’s leather chair behind his large wooden desk, inviting Otis to take a seat, she set the tone by taking charge.
Lincoln and Chad took up positions against the wall by the door. Both had their arms crossed over their chests, and they didn’t miss the uneasy glances Otis kept giving them as he fidgeted in the chair across from Evelyn.
She didn’t beat around the bush. Jumped right into the matter at hand. “Are you embezzling money from Lobster Cove?”
Otis had stuttered and stumbled over his immediate denial.
But Evelyn didn’t let up. She asked about one specific item after another that Otis had a hard time explaining.
She’d obviously done her research the evening before. Instead of going to bed, as they’d all thought, it was clear she’d pulled up the Lobster Cove Auto Body financials and inventory. Had researched for herself the things that Britt had brought to light.
She’d also researched the Lobster Cove tax returns for the past several years. His mom might not be an accountant, but she was doing a damn good job of asking the right questions—questions Otis was clearly surprised by and didn’t have good answers for.
The man was sweating and answering in general terms, not incriminating himself but not giving any details that could be verified either. He was lying by omission, trying not to say anything that might bite him in the ass later.
Finally, Evelyn seemed to have enough. She pushed a stack of old tax returns to the side and leaned forward, putting her elbows on the rough wooden desktop. She met Otis’s gaze straight on.
“You’ve been my friend for decades, Otis. We’ve laughed together, cried, had good times and bad. I don’t know how I would’ve made it through Austin’s death without you. And yet I have a feeling it all meant nothing to you.”
“What? That’s not true.”
“Yesterday, I could’ve died. If it wasn’t for Britt’s quick thinking, we both would’ve drowned.
Or died in a head-on collision with another car or a damn tree.
Tell me to my face that you had nothing to do with my car being tampered with.
That you didn’t talk to your son and tell him the jig was up.
That the money you’ve been stealing from me, from Austin, from my sons, was drying up. ”
“I didn’t.”
Otis didn’t hesitate to say the words, but even to Chad’s ear, they sounded insincere.
His mom sighed and sat back in her chair.
“You’re fired, Otis. Done. You and your son aren’t allowed on Lobster Cove property anymore.
For any reason. Our friendship is over. You let greed win.
I’m disgusted and disappointed. Oh, and I’ll be filing restraining orders against both you and Camden.
If you come within one hundred yards of me or Lobster Cove, you’ll be arrested.
All the passwords to the accounts you had access to have already been changed. ”
All the blood drained from Otis’s face. He looked shell shocked. As if he couldn’t believe he’d actually been fired.
Evelyn stood then, bracing her palms on the desk as she kept eye contact with one of her oldest friends.
“Austin is rolling in his grave right now. I’m glad he’s not around to learn what one of his best friends has done.
How you’ve been screwing over his family.
Austin worked his tail off for Lobster Cove.
I knew we should have had a lot more to show for it than we did.
And now we know it’s because you were stealing his hard-earned money, you bastard!
Get out. I’ll see you in court. I’m gonna do whatever I have to in order to recoup every penny you stole.
Not for me. But for my boys. For the legacy of Lobster Cove. ”
“Evelyn—” Otis began in a pleading tone.
But she was having none of it. “Out!” she ordered, pointing at the door with narrowed eyes.
If Chad hadn’t been looking at Otis at the exact moment he turned to leave, he would’ve missed the sheer hatred that flashed in his eyes. As it was, Chad wasn’t sure he’d truly seen what he thought. Because as soon as the emotion flared to life, it was gone.
Otis paused at the door. “I know you don’t believe me, but I had nothing to do with your accident. And I’ve been nothing but honest with you and Austin. I’d never steal from you.”
“Get out,” Evelyn said again, this time sounding bone-deep weary.
Without another word, he left. Lincoln followed him out, Chad staying behind with his mom.
“Mom?”
But she shook her head. “Not now, Chad. I need a moment. Alone.”
He hated to leave her when she looked so ... broken. But if that’s what she needed, that’s what he’d give her. She’d rally. She always did. His mom was the strongest woman he knew.
Chad walked over to where she sat back in the big leather chair and kissed the top of her head. “I’m proud of you,” he said softly, wanting her to know how he felt. “That wasn’t easy, and you were awesome.”
She nodded but didn’t speak.
Chad left her and went to the window at the front of the house, watching as Lincoln, Knox, and Zach stood with their arms crossed, glaring at Otis as he got into his car, with Camden already in the passenger seat, and pulled away.
It was done.
Hopefully that would be the last any of them saw of the Calverts on Lobster Cove.
As soon as he had the thought, Chad’s stomach churned. He had a bad feeling this wasn’t the last they’d see of the pair. He just hoped whatever happened in the future would be in a courtroom and not in any other capacity.
“We’re done for,” Otis told his son.
“This is bullshit! They have no proof of anything,” Camden seethed.
“They will. They’ve changed all the passwords to the accounts, so I can’t cover my tracks.”
“ Fuck. And Zach and Knox made sure to tell me that the cops have towed the CR-V. They’re gonna find the cut brake lines and see that the steering was tampered with. What are we going to do? How will we find enough money to live on?”
“You could try actually getting a full-time job,” Otis muttered under his breath. He was pissed. More about getting caught and less about losing a decades-long friendship.
In all honesty, he hadn’t always stolen from the Youngs.
It started fairly recently ... like in the last ten years or so.
It was too easy because Austin was so trusting.
When Camden moved in after doing his last stint in prison—this time for involuntary manslaughter—Otis needed a little extra cash.
He had another mouth to feed, and all the other expenses that came with supporting Cam.
He felt bad in the beginning, but Austin and Evelyn had plenty of money back then.
They certainly wouldn’t miss a few thousand dollars a year.
As the years passed, it became harder and harder to control himself. And Camden pushing for more and more money from his old man hadn’t helped. Otis had given in to temptation and started taking as much as he wanted. More than was smart.
But Otis wasn’t blaming his son. He could’ve said no.
He could’ve put his foot down and kicked him out and forced him to make his own way.
But he hadn’t. And thanks to his ugly divorce, Otis partially blamed himself for the way his son had turned out—hot tempered, quick to use his fists when provoked, and greedy as hell.
And now ... here they were.
“It’s all that dumb bitch’s fault. If it wasn’t for her being so goddamned nosy, none of this would’ve happened,” Camden growled.
Otis nodded. This was all Britt Starkweather’s fault. She had Chad so wrapped around her finger that he’d believed her over someone he’d known his entire life. It was a massive insult—even if Britt was right.
“I’m not going back to prison,” Camden vowed.
Panic blossomed in Otis’s chest. He didn’t want to go to jail either.
But he’d encouraged his son to mess with Evelyn’s car, and he’d been embezzling money from the Lobster Cove accounts for years.
He’d be found just as guilty as his son.
And the thought of spending the rest of his life behind bars was terrifying. At his age, he’d be easy prey.
“No one’s going to jail,” he vowed.
“So what are we gonna do?”
“I don’t know. If Evelyn had been by herself when her brakes failed, things would be different.
If Britt wasn’t with her, those boys probably would’ve been engrossed in funeral plans and grieving.
I’d have time to cover my tracks. And they might love Lobster Cove, but if their mom died suddenly, I doubt any of them would actually want to stay in the middle of bumfuck Maine.
They came here specifically to help Evelyn with the property, and if they didn’t have a reason to stay .
..” His voice trailed off suggestively.
“I don’t know. Chad seems pretty content living there,” Camden said skeptically.
“Shit!” Otis fumed, his mind spinning. “If I can just get Evelyn away from her damn sons for a talk, I know I can convince her that everything’s fine,” he insisted.
“How are you going to do that? She fired you, Dad. And she’s getting a restraining order.”
Otis shrugged. “It’s just a piece of paper. It doesn’t actually keep me from doing anything. I’ll give her some time to cool down, then approach her.”
“And if she doesn’t want to talk? If she calls the cops? Or if they come for you before you can talk to her? What then?”
“I don’t know!” Otis yelled, sick of Camden’s questions. “But I have to try something ! I’m going to fix this.”
“Yeah, right. I think you should leave this to me, Dad.”
Otis snorted. “What would you do, smarty-pants?”
“I think we’re beyond talking at this point. And if there’s no one around to press charges at all, we’ll be off the hook.”
Otis blinked. “What’re you going to do? Kill them all? Evelyn, Knox, Lincoln, Chad, and Zach?”
“If I have to,” his son said calmly.
Stopping at the end of Lobster Cove’s long drive, Otis stared at his son for a long moment, hardly believing they were having this conversation.
“You think that’ll get me off the hook?” he finally asked quietly.
“Maybe. Maybe not. I’m sure there will be some cops that still think you’re guilty. But if you can delete files or tamper with them, without the Youngs to testify, there might be enough doubt to make it hard to prosecute,” Camden said.
Otis wasn’t sure about that ... but the idea of getting rid of the people who had completely upended his life was shockingly tempting.
“Besides,” he went on, “I hate that bitch. The new chick. She thinks she’s so smart? She’s not. Things were operating just fine before she stuck her nose where it didn’t belong. If she wasn’t driving, we would’ve taken care of Evelyn, and things would be very different right now.”
His son wasn’t wrong. Still ... “I don’t know, Cam—”
“I do. You got us into this mess. I’ll get us out,” he interrupted. “We have that money you transferred last week. We’ll use it to leave the state. Start fresh somewhere. Maybe Alaska.”
Otis wasn’t opposed to starting over on the other side of the country. If it could possibly keep him out of jail, he was good with going far, far away.
With a sigh, he met his son’s gaze. “What can I do to help?”
Camden smirked. “You’re a pain in the ass, old man, but I love ya.”
“I love you too,” Otis said. “What’s the plan?”
They spent the rest of the ride home strategizing. Desperate times called for desperate measures—and Otis Calvert wasn’t going to go to prison. He felt a pang of remorse for what he and Camden were planning for the Youngs, but it couldn’t be helped.
The easiest target was Evelyn. She’d be the lure for the rest of the family.
With any luck, by this time next week, he and Camden would be on their way to Alaska and the start of a new life, with a clean slate.
This would work.
It had to.
There was no alternative.