Read Online Final Mend by Angela Smith - Free Book Online

control. “She’s probably scared out of her mind, and as usual you don’t give a damn about anyone but yourself. Are you afraid she’ll tell me who killed her daddy? You and Dillon?”
    “You’re out of your mind, Jake. Why would you think I had anything to do with Brandon’s death? What do you think, I kidnapped Amy, too?”
    “Yeah, I damn sure do. You tried to hang Brandon out to dry in court, but that wasn’t happening fast enough for you. Did your gambling debts get out of control? You thought maybe you could still collect life insurance on him since the divorce wasn’t final and having a dead husband is better than being divorced. Am I close? Kidnapping Amy is a good alibi for you, is it not? I mean, her own mother wouldn’t have done such a thing, would she?”
    “Have you been drinking?”
    With Lillian, it was always
have you been drinking?
Any emotion he showed that didn’t include worshipping her meant he must be drinking. She thought something was wrong if men weren’t falling at her feet, and Jake had disliked her the moment he saw her true colors.
    “You know I haven’t been drinking. But I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and I’m telling you if I find out you had anything to do with this, I’ll—”
    “You’ll what, Jake? Kill me?”
    “I’ll do whatever it takes.” He heard the rasp in his voice, but he couldn’t control it.
    “And I’ve been doing whatever it takes to keep my little girl safe. And to find whoever killed Brandon.”
    “Then you’d better look in the mirror. But make sure Dillon is standing right by your side, just like he always has.”
    “You’re crazy, little man. You need to go to the loony bin. If you try anything with me, I’ll make sure that happens. Amy may go so far as to say
you
did it. And when you did it, maybe you did far worse.”
    Jake had no doubt Lillian would do anything to make him look like the bad guy, even frame him for murder, and brainwash Amy. He wouldn’t put it past her to do something as crazy as accusing him of child molestation just to get him behind bars.
    Jake knew his anger might net him trouble. Lillian was good at playing the damsel. He’d already gone to the police and told them what he knew, but they didn’t believe him then and they sure wouldn’t believe him now that Amy was found and Lillian was televised for all the world to see her pretty face and hear her pathetic cries.
    “You can’t keep Amy away from me,” he said.
    “I’m her mother. I can do whatever I want. And the way you’re sounding, you shouldn’t be near her right now.”
    Lillian slammed the phone down so hard, it rang in his ear.
    He gripped the phone before slowly lowering it, urging anger to escape from his breath. He tossed the phone on the bed, hurling out negative emotions with the force.
    Control yourself
.
    He’d spoken the mantra for years, especially when the temptation for a drink arose. In the old days, a drink was the only way to mask his emotions. He didn’t want to feel, didn’t want to experience the world. Didn’t want to hurt again. At first, the addiction was all in fun. Lots of partying, lots of people who meant nothing to him, lots of wasting time so he didn’t have to dwell on the time he’d wasted.
    But he had to control himself, for Amy’s sake. She wasn’t safe with Lillian.
    He did jumping jacks, pushups, and squats over and over until sweat poured from his body. But the familiar hunger that haunted him for years continued to spread and branch and fester into the need for something far worse.
    Taking that drink would damage his soul.
    He didn’t know what to do next. The idea of a run no longer appealed to him. He was tired of being alone. Tired of feeling like the most isolated man on the planet. He knew he should pack his car and head out to see Amy, but he doubted Lillian would let him in. She’d already threatened him with false accusations, and he wouldn’t leave without a fight. She’d call the cops,