Keep Quiet(52)

“12:10. I’m supposed to be in Western Civ at 12:15, but Dad, I’m not going. I’m done for the day! Tell me what’s happening!”

“Listen to me. You have to let me handle this.” Jake disengaged the emergency brake. “The only way to deal with this is if you do what you’re supposed to do. Go to class, then practice, then come home. I’ll explain everything.”

“Dad, get real!” Ryan exploded, distraught. “I can’t go to class! What do you think, I can sit there and listen? Take notes like nothing’s wrong? You don’t know what it’s like at school today! All the girls are crying, all the teachers are upset. They’re going to do a memorial for her tonight. They’re planting a tree out front. The girls track team went around the homerooms to collect money for a scholarship fund.” Ryan gestured, his arms flailing wildly. “Janine Mae was tight with her, she was popular! You saw, she was supercute, Dad. She had tons of dates. I killed her, and this guy knows it. Who is he?”

“Ryan, work with me. We can talk about this at home tonight. Nothing’s going to change between now and then. You give me your phone and I’ll get you a new number.” Jake put the car in gear and was about to give it some gas when Ryan’s phone signaled an incoming text. They both looked down at the screen.

“Oh my God! It’s another picture!” Ryan tapped the thumbnail on the touch screen, and it opened to the photograph that Deaner had shown Jake this morning, of Ryan and him arguing in the headlights, next to Kathleen Lindstrom’s fallen form. “Oh no! No!”

“Ryan, don’t panic. I have this under control—”

“Oh my God!” Ryan dropped the phone. His hands flew to his head. “He has a picture! There’s a picture! Oh my God, what are we going to do? He has proof! That’s proof! Dad, I don’t want you to go to jail!”

“Ryan, you have to keep your wits about you. I have this in control. I saw that photo already. I know what to do about it.” Jake started to put a hand on Ryan’s arm, but he batted it away, angry.

“What are you talking about? You knew about this? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Take it easy, I just found out this morning.” Jake kept his tone reassuring and put the car back in park. “But you don’t have to think about it anymore. It’s going to go away.”

“What do you mean? How did you see that picture? It can send you to jail! Tell me everything!”

“Okay, relax. I’ll tell you but you have to be calm. I’m handling it.” Jake had no choice but to level with him. “Bottom line, a man came to my office today and he’s blackmailing us.”

“What?” Ryan’s hands flew to his face and stayed there, cupping his own cheeks. “Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me right now, Dad?”

“You have to calm down. It’s as simple as that.”

“You mean we’re getting blackmailed like on TV? Like a movie? Did he have a gun? In your office—”

“I’m not telling you another thing unless you calm down, and you have to go to class after this.”

“Oh my God! What are you talking about? Are you crazy?” Ryan threw up his hands, bursting into mirthless laughter. “Are you blackmailing me now?”

“Stop.” Jake felt his temper begin to give way, his anger at Deaner and himself spilling onto Ryan, scattershot. “You said you weren’t a baby, so stop acting like one. You need to rise above this, Ryan. You need to ask more of yourself.”

“How?” Ryan dropped his hands. “What?”

“Calm down. Get a grip.”

“But I’m scared! I’m scared for you!”

Jake felt a deep pang of guilt. “I know that, but the best way to help me—to help us both—is to stay in control. In charge.”

“Okay, okay. Okay, I’m calm.” Ryan took a breath. He picked up his phone and held it in his hand. “Okay, I hear you. I’m calm. Just tell me what the guy said, and I’ll go to class. Who is he?”

“I don’t know who he is. I don’t know any more than I’m telling you.” Jake put the car in gear again, fed it some gas, and pulled away from the curb. “All you need to know is that the man is asking for money. Luckily, we have money, and I’m going to give it to him. After I give him the money, it’s done. Period. Do you hear me? It ends.”

“How do you know he won’t go to the police anyway?”

“Because it’s not in his interest. If he goes to the police, he goes down, too.”

“Why?”

“Because blackmail and extortion is illegal,” Jake answered, off the top of his head. He had no idea if that was the proper name for the crime and he didn’t care. He had to end this conversation. He drove past the lovely houses of Stone Hills and the young mother pushing the stroller, feeling surreal talking about blackmail and thugs.

“So you’re going to pay him? How do you know he won’t try asking for more money? That’s what they do in the movies.”

“I don’t, but you don’t have to worry about that because I have plenty of money. If he asks for more money, I’ll give him more money.”

“But where does it end?”

“We have the money, Ryan. It’s not an issue. We live within our means, you know that. We all say I’m cheap, and it’s paying off.”