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Her uncle sat back. “What meeting with Kirk?”
Della looked at her uncle. “He really hasn’t spoken with you? You don’t know, do you?” At least he hadn’t lied about that.
“Know what?”
“Douglas Stone is Councilman Powell’s son. The whole council has known this for years.”
“No,” Feng said. “They wouldn’t … Kirk wouldn’t.”
Della saw the sense of betrayal in his eyes. They grew brighter.
“Why would I lie about it? And it gets worse. I think Kirk is trying to get Chase to do something. And I don’t like it.”
Her uncle threw a five-dollar bill on the table and shot up. He took one step and looked back at her. “You coming?”
“Where?”
“You want answers or not?”
* * *
Almost an hour into the drive, Della broke the apparent code of silence and asked, “Where are we going?”
Her uncle drove a gold Malibu. Nothing flashy, but it still smelled new. He’d been quiet, and for some reason it disturbed her. As had Bao Yu in the backseat.
Della cut her eyes back to her aunt. Still a young girl, still silent.
The insides of Della’s palms started to itch. Hadn’t her mama always told her not to get into cars with strangers?
This man driving might be her uncle, but he was still a stranger. Considering Chase had told her that he’d lost most of his Reborn powers, she could probably take him.
But laying a hand on a man who looked so much like her dad wouldn’t be easy. Not that it was really him she was afraid of. It was what he planned on doing that scared her.
“I told you. To get answers.” He put both hands on the wheel and stared straight ahead.
Della noticed the window starting to fog up. “Can you elaborate?”
He finally glanced at her, and the hurt in his eyes told her that he was thinking of his friend’s betrayal. “First we’re going to go have a chat with Powell. Then I figured we’d go see my pal Kirk.”
And that’s what she was worried about—seeing Kirk. “Why don’t you just call Chase? He’ll tell you everything.”
“He asked me not to call him, or contact him. He didn’t want to have to lie to you.”
And how did that make her feel? Chase had purposely cut off contact with someone who might have helped her father’s case. She pushed that aside.
“How about if I give you permission to call him? You can tell him we’re together, so he wouldn’t have to lie.”
“I’d rather get the whole story. I expect they’ll tell me more than they told Chase.” He leaned in and turned on the defroster.
“You think they’ll just tell you?” She saw steam leave her lips and she tried not to visibly tremble.
“With some convincing,” he said.
“Okay,” Della said. “I’m just gonna be honest here.” She stuck her hands between her legs to keep them warm. “I want to know the truth, but in the last twenty-four hours I’ve committed breaking and entering and grand theft auto. And assault and battery might be included, but that wasn’t me. Not that anyone will believe it. Anyway, I’m at my limit for committing crimes. I mean, if I do any more, I’m gonna go down. It’s a Murphy’s Law kind of thing.”
He looked at her. His eyes were bright and serious. Then he laughed.
And God help her, but it was the first time she’d heard her father’s laugh in so long that she laughed with him.
