Page 92 of Sexting My Ex’s Dad

The word Daddy still makes my chest tighten in strange ways, but I nod. “Yes. I can’t prove the whole chain yet, but I know it was him. And if it was him, then Cindy is somewhere in the background, and Meredith is probably somewhere beside her holding a clipboard.”

Maya sits up straighter. “Okay. That I can work with.”

I rub both hands over my face and breathe through my nose. The plan is already building in pieces. It feels ugly but clean. Direct. “If I message Nate and tell him I know, he’ll panic. He doesn’t do anything alone when the consequences get real. He’ll run straight to his mother.”

Maya nods slowly. “And Cindy doesn’t let him improvise. She’ll want to contain it.”

“Exactly,” I say. “So I give him something to panic about, then while they scramble, I go sideways.”

Ivy raises her hand. Maya blinks. “Did you just?”

“She’s planning,” Ivy says, offended. “I have a question.”

I point at her with my spoon. “Proceed.”

“What does sideways mean.”

I lean back against the couch. “It means while Nate and Cindy are busy being evil together, I go looking for the weak brick in the wall.”

Ivy processes that with total seriousness. “And the weak brick is Meredith.”

Maya points at her. “This child is terrifying.”

“She gets it from me,” I say.

That earns me the first real smile of the night from Ivy, and I cling to it longer than I should.

I pull my phone out and open my messages. Nate’s contact is still buried under old threads I never deleted, mostly because every time I thought about doing it, I got angry and decided I preferred the evidence.

My thumbs hover for a second, then I type.

I know it was you who attacked Nathan.

I stare at the sentence once, make sure it says exactly what it needs to, then I send it.

Maya watches my face. “That’s it.”

“That’s enough,” I reply. “He’s a coward. He doesn’t need paragraphs. He needs one line that tells him the room is already on fire.”

Ivy squints. “You should also say he smells bad.”

Maya presses her lips together, trying not to laugh. I look at Ivy and nod slowly. “Strong note. Maybe later.”

My phone stays face down on the table. I don’t need to watch it. I know how this part works. Nate will read it, swear at the screen, then call Cindy. If Cindy doesn’t pick up, he’ll call again until she does. Then they’ll both start moving, and movement leaves traces.

I already know who I want for the second part.

David answers on the third ring.

“Athena,” he says, surprised and then immediately alert. “You okay.”

“Not remotely,” I reply. “I need a favor, and it’s ugly.”

That is enough to sharpen his voice. “Talk.”

I stand and walk toward the kitchenette, lowering my voice out of instinct even though there is no one here I’m hiding from. “I need everything you can get on Meredith Carson. Hawthorne HR. Employment history, credentials, past complaints, external contacts, especially anything tying her to Cindy Clarke.”

David is quiet for a beat. “That’s not a casual favor.”