Chapter Thirty-One - OLIVER
“What do you know about sharks?” I ask Weston, who was waiting for me in my office when I walked up the stairs.
“What?” he asks. He hasn’t told me why he’s here yet. But he’s nervous about something. He turns away from the window and looks at me. I’ve got my boots kicked up on my old desk, leaning back in that chair that might fall over if I lean just half an inch more.
“Shark movies, specifically. Do the sharks eat the people?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Did you see Jaws? I never did. Did that shark eat everyone?”
West sighs and turns back to the window. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Well, I have no idea why you’re here. How about we start there?”
“My parents are coming,” he says.
“Your parents? Why?”
“Remember?” he says. “I told you they want to spend time with my new family.”
“What’s Tori say about that?”
“She fucking hates them.” He snorts a little, but it’s not a laugh.
I nod. I can see her point. I’ve never actually met the Conrads, but I’m guessing they are not really my people. Kinda like the Delaneys aren’t my people either.
“But Tori doesn’t know yet.”
“When are they coming?” I ask.
“Today,” he says, walking over to my desk and taking a seat in one of the two chairs. “This evening, I think.”
“Where the fuck do they think they’re staying? Ariel won’t let them stay with her if Tori says no. And there’s no five-star hotels in FoCo, dude. I don’t think I can picture your parents staying at the three-star Ramada over by the vet school.”
“They got an Airbnb on Mountain Avenue.”
“Fuck. Tori’s gonna love that.”
He just sighs.
“Is that why you’re here? Moral support? I’m not really the moral support kind of guy. You should talk to Mac. He’s all understanding and shit. He’ll walk you through it.”
“That’s not why I’m here,” West says, squinting at me.
“What’s that look for?”
“I’ve got a question for you.”
“Shoot,” I say.
“Do you think Tori is being dramatic?”
I laugh. Like very loud. “When is she not being dramatic?”
“I know,” he says, sighing. “That’s why I don’t pay much attention to it most of the time. But her hatred for my parents? Do you think that’s just misplaced loyalty to me?”
“Your parents bought you, Weston. Bought. You.”
“Right. I know that. But they were never mean. They saved me from a pretty shitty life. They were fucking good to me. And yeah, maybe they weren’t too happy about the rape charge, but it didn’t matter. I had Victoria as my alibi. I didn’t even care.”
I shrug. “Yeah, OK. So she’s being dramatic.”
“You really think she is?” West leans forward in his chair, like my opinion on this is make-or-break.
“West, I don’t fucking know. I don’t know her that well but she’s smart, man. Ya know? And she’s been around like”—I stop talking and rewind this morning’s conversation through my head—“like Katya.”
“Yeah, that’s weird. Don’t you think? I mean what are the chances that those Gori fucks would be so involved in both our girlfriends’ lives?”
“Yeah,” I say, thinking about the earlier convo with new eyes. “What are the chances?”
“Nil, dude. Zero. Nada. No chance at all this shit is not related.”
“So where do your parents fit in?” I ask.
“They’re old friends with Liam. And Liam is helping the Gori clan.”
“You know who I don’t understand?” I say, putting my feet back on the floor and leaning forward towards West now. “Mariel Hawthorne. Where the fuck does she fit it?”
Weston shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know. But she’s definitely involved.”
“And where the fuck did she go?” I ask. “She just drops my sister off at Nolan’s and then disappears? Never to be heard from again?”
“And what about Five? Where the fuck is Five?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “I’ve been trying not to think about that too much.”
“Why?” West asks. “You guys are friends, right?”
“More family than friends. But yeah, I guess we’re friends.”
“You don’t think he’s involved with them do you?”
“Nah,” I say, shaking my head. “Nah,” I say it again. But I have to admit, the thought has crossed my mind. I shoot West a look from the corner of my eye. “He did know about the Silver Society. It’s like he was leading us down a path that night at dinner out at the resort. And he knew there was a tunnel. Or secret room, whatever. And that they set fire to the rooms so they can escape. He had a lot of information that night.”
“Your sister?” West says. “Because of her, you think? The Rory one?”
The Rory one. I’d like to punch him. But then again, I do have a lot of sisters. “Or maybe he just did what Mariel did? Came in, stirred things up, and then left.”
“Hmm,” West says, getting up and walking back to the window.
“What are you looking at out there?”
“I don’t know.” He gives me a sidelong glance over his shoulder. “But I feel like I need to be looking for something. I just have a very bad feeling about all this.”
I let out a long breath and get up to join him at the window. I look over at Katya’s window out of habit, but there’s nothing to see there. “What are you gonna do about your parents?”
“What can I do?” He shrugs. “Nothing. I can’t do shit unless I have a real reason. And I don’t really have a reason other than Tori’s gut instinct.”
It’s my turn to shrug. “Maybe that’s enough?”
“Do you think I should leave town?” When he turns his head to look at me, I can see fear in his eyes. I squint at him, incredulous that this, of all things—his parents coming to town for a visit—is something he fears.
“Leave town?” I ask.
“I can’t tell them not to come, right? They wouldn’t even listen.”
“But you want to actually leave town? Is there something you’re not telling me about them, West? Because maybe Tori is dramatic, but she’s not the one talking about running away.”
He’s quiet for a long time. Almost a minute. And then he says, “They asked me about the gold, Oliver.”
“That fucking treasure that no one can touch without going to jail for piracy? What did they say?”
“They asked me if I still knew where it was. But that’s not the part worries me. Because they asked me that question last week.”
I narrow my eyes as I think about this. “What’d you say?”
He looks at me with even more fear in his eyes. “I never told them there was more, Oliver. I told them the same thing I told Liam. That I gave him what I had. That was the end of it.”
“So why were they asking?”
He swallows hard. “That’s what I’d like to know.”
“You think they’re after that gold? Why? They have more money than God. They don’t need it.”
“Neither does Liam. And he still wants it.”
We stand there for a little while. Mulling all this information over in our heads. And then I say, “Tell me everything you know about that treasure.”
So he does. He tells everything again. Same story though. Maybe a few more details about what it looked like. But that’s it.
“What are you doing for lunch today?” I ask, when he’s done talking.
“Nothing, I guess. Tori has plans. I was just gonna hang out with you today.”
“Well, how about we crash that little lunch party? I’ve got some questions for my sister and I think they need answering sooner rather than later.”