Page 108 of The Quiet After The Fall

I go through the rest of the house. The living room, the kitchen, the sunroom no one ever uses. Upstairs, their bedroom door is open and half his closet is bare hangers. His car isn’t in the garage.

He’s gone.

I go back downstairs and stand in the middle of his wrecked office, stomach churning.

Moretti wouldn’t have taken his car. Something else is going on.

He’s running.

I pull out my phone and call him, putting it on speaker.

It rings and rings. I’m ready for voicemail when the line opens and there’s nothing on the other end for a second, just road noise.

“Why are you calling me so early? I’m busy.”

“Where are you?” I ask.

“I’m driving.”

“I’m standing in your office.” I toe a folder on the floor. “You want to tell me what happened in here?”

“Spring cleaning.”

“It’s August.”

He doesn’t respond, there’s only the faint hum of his engine. He could be minutes away or hours, and there’s no way for me to know which.

“Where’s Mom?”

“How should I know? Probably still passed out in bed.”

She’s not, but I don’t bother telling him that. He couldn’t give two shits.

“I talked to Moretti last night,” I say.

The pause is long enough that I check the screen to make sure the call’s still connected.

“Yeah? So?”

“He’s done with you. Dropped you like that.” I snap my fingers into the phone. “No more partnership, and I’m working on the wedding too.”

“Doubtful, son. I know men like Vince, and they don’t give up easily.”

“You’re a dumb fuck if you think that.”

“Watch your fucking mouth.”

“Or what?” I plant a hand on the edge of his empty desk. “You’ll beat my ass again? Cut me off? Newsflash, Richard, you’ve already made sure I have nothing left to lose.”

There’s silence on the line.

“You think you can hide all your files,” I say. “But I found the truth about Velocity, about David…about every single thing you’ve been hiding since before Owen even died.”

“You don’t know⁠—”

“Save your bullshit.” My voice comes out louder than I mean it to and it bounces off the bare walls of this room. “I’ve talked to David. I’ve seen the reports. I know you cut corners on the Velocity project to pad your own pockets, I know that was only one of many like it, and I know you let him take the fall for crimes that were mostly yours.”

For a long moment, there’s only him breathing.