What?

My dad was actually trying to arrest and prosecute Harvey Waldron?

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. Zac sat still and silent beside me. He also appeared to be brooding over this new shocking development. Honestly, it sounded too good to be true.

Was it possible my dad knew we were inside the townhouse with him yesterday?

Did he suspect that we took the lockbox from the study?

No, there was no fucking way.

Unless, unless, the dying bastard actually went back to the townhouse to look for it.

Or was I being too paranoid?

I worried that my dad might be telling us what we wanted to hear. To lure Zac and me into a false sense of security. However, if he wasn't aware that Zac and I knew about the nauseatingly perverted ties between Timothy Mazur, Walter Sinclair, Harvey Waldron, and Lily, then there was no reason for him to lie to us about targeting Harvey. Desperately, so desperately, I ached to believe every word that was coming out of my dad's mouth.

Despite all of his glaring shortcomings as a parent, I wanted my dad to stand on the right side of justice as a man. Harvey deserved to die a thousand deaths for what he did to Lily. A life sentence in prison was the next best thing to force him to repay his abominable debts to society, and, if my dad could make it happen, then I certainly wouldn't stand in his way. Hell, I'd do everything in my power to help him catch the monster.

I decided to test my dad. To grill him under rapid fire interrogation. To poke holes at the validity of his claims and see how much more he might be willing to reveal about his true motives.

Zac beat me to the punch. He asked tersely, "Are you working with Mr. Sinclair and Lily?"

"Yes," my dad answered with delay. "Walter has been an indispensable ally in helping my team gather evidence for our investigation into Harvey's crimes."

I blinked in shock. Again, it seemed as though Lily had been spitting truth at the charity ball.

Zac demanded, "Are you going to arrest Mr. Sinclair as well?"

My dad grimaced at this point. "No, my team was forced to negotiate a deal with Walter. In exchange for helping us take down Harvey, we're offering him legal immunity from prosecution for all of his crimes."

Zac looked deeply troubled. In acrid tones, he growled, "With all due respect, Mr. Hayes, that fucker pimped out his own flesh and blood daughter to a sexual predator. In exchange for what? A promotion? More money? How can you let him walk away a free man? He deserves to rot in hell."

Alarm bells blared inside my head.

Shit, shit, shit!

Zac fucked up. He wasn't supposed to know about the video with Harvey, Walter, and Lily. As far as my dad was concerned, that little black flash drive was still tucked safely inside Mr. Mazur's lockbox back at the townhouse...

As expected, my dad didn't miss a beat. He caught onto Zac's little slip up right away. "I'm curious to know, Zachary, how you chanced upon this very confidential information?"

Zac reacted quickly to amend his error, "I, uh... dated Lily very, very briefly at the beginning of the semester. She might have mentioned it to me."

Disapproval flashed in my dad's gray eyes. "Quite the ladies' man now, aren't we?"

"I do alright, I guess, but I'm completely devoted to your daughter now, Mr. Hayes, sir." Zac squirmed as he tried to undig his own grave. "Anyway, I still believe that Mr. Sinclair needs to answer for all the abuse he has subjected Lily to."

My dad murmured coolly, "I couldn't agree with you more, Zachary."

Zac slumped back into his armchair. I breathed a sigh of relief. We seemed to have escaped my dad's suspicions. For now. As I glanced over to check on my boyfriend again, though, a troubling sight greeted me. Grief and defeat seemed to cling to him like a second skin. It was heart-wrenching to see Zac in such a distraught state of mind.

My dad's voice pulled my attention away from Zac. He rambled on, "Unfortunately, this is how the real world works. We simply can't win them all. My team and I prioritized what we wanted most and poured all of our resources into making it happen. This was the only way we stood a chance in going after a man like Harvey. As I stated before, he has powerful friends in high and low places. If it makes you feel better, though, my team should be able to pull in a few more guilty parties who should've been prosecuted alongside your father. Sasha McLeary. Jim Harper. Clinton Neubauer. You might know their children. They also attend Ashton Wellesley Academy."

A bone-chilling coldness fell over me as my dad's words sank in. I couldn't believe it.

My dad was also planning to arrest Aleah's mom, Madison's dad, and Vince's dad?

This was, for sure, going to set off yet another shitstorm at Ashton Wellesley.

Genuine fear and concern for my dad overtook my lingering suspicion and mistrust.

How the fuck was the man going to accomplish all of this in between his chemo treatments?

And what would happen to my dad if his team didn't succeed?

What if they failed?

I couldn't imagine people like Harvey Waldron, Sasha McLeary, Jim Harper, or Clinton Neubauer being gracious and forgiving souls to authorities who came after them as hard as my dad was planning to. I didn't even want to imagine the lengths they might take to retaliate against him.

My dad glanced over to me. His deep voice shook me once more from my despondent stream of consciousness. "Cate, I know you want to believe the worst of me. I suppose I can't fault you for it. I admit, I haven't been an ideal parent. As I told you before, I needed to prioritize what I wanted most in order to make it happen, and, regrettably, my career required me to sacrifice almost all of my personal relations. Even with family."

I studied my dad's face with an uncertain gaze. He sounded sincere, but I was scared to let my guard down. Zac's eyes darted between us like an awkward fly on the wall who had accidentally flown into an intimate conversation that should've been kept behind closed doors. Luckily, my boyfriend was sharp enough to keep his mouth shut, and let my dad and I hash it out without interfering.

In a small voice, I challenged, "Why didn't you ever try to talk to me about how you felt? About the toll your job takes on you? I would've tried to understand and support you. But you never said a word. You just... ignored... me."

My dad grimaced and sighed. "To be honest, Cate, I didn't know how to approach you. You've always been so independent. And self-sufficient. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not pinning the blame on you. I'm simply trying to explain why it was easy for me to forget that you're still a child in many ways. A child who needed her father. I apologize, Cate. For failing you. I didn't realize how much I'd hurt you until you yelled at me yesterday."

My dad's seemingly genuine apology filled my heart with a mixture of violent emotions. I always suspected that my existence occupied a very insignificant portion in his life. Now, though, it was confirmed that I had indeed ranked far below men like Harvey Waldron in my dad's eyes. This realization left me feeling conflicted, hurt, yet, also kind of relieved. At least, my dad hadn't been mistreating and overlooking me because he outright hated me. He had simply been too busy trying to save the world. I supposed this fucked up interpretation of my neglected childhood was far more palatable than the previous version.

In a quiet voice, I mumbled, "I get where you're coming from, Dad. If you're trying to take down monsters like Mr. Waldron, then the effort alone is expected to take most of your time away from Bea, Trick, and me. I won't hold it against you. Hell, I'll even cheer you on. But it doesn't change the fact that you've been a horrible father to us."

My dad winced. "That's a fair point, I suppose."

"And all this bullshit you've piled on me over the past few days has been confusing as hell. I don't know if you're telling the full truth, the half-truth, or a complete and utter lie. Why did you try to use my inheritance against me? Why did you lie to me about being diagnosed with stage four cancer? These are the kinds of questions that keep rolling around in my mind. I don't know how to trust you."

"I was always planning to give you an inheritance no matter what. I'd simply been too busy with work to properly look into dismantling my divorce agreement until now. And I only tagged on the, ah... additional conditions, —my dad shot a wary look in Zac's direction—"to dissuade you from continuing your investigations. I might have also exaggerated my cancer diagnosis to play on your sympathies."

"So, you're not dying of stage four cancer?"

"No," my dad answered. "Fortunately, my doctors caught it in the stage one phase. My chances of survival—with the proper chemo treatments, of course—are quite high."

I exhaled shakily. I didn't realize I'd been holding onto all that tension until it was finally released. "Well, that's a fucking relief!"

"I'm glad that you're feeling more at ease about my health," my dad murmured.

My anger flared as my anxieties eased. "But, damn, what a shitty move for you to pull on me! I can't believe you lied about something this serious! People end up in therapy over far less provocations."

My dad seemed unbothered. "I wouldn't say that I lied to you, per se, Cate. With a disease like cancer, one must always prepare for anything. Maybe I'll survive it. Maybe I won't. Not to mention, at the time, I still believed you were an obedient, biddable daughter and assumed I'd be able to stamp out your curiosity by using a heavy hand and issuing empty threats."

I grumbled, "Gee, thanks."

"Obviously, I was wrong. Once I recognized your true character beneath the calm exterior you've always shown me, I realized that I needed to change tactics. This is why we're even having this conversation right now. You're more like me than I ever realized. We're both stubborn as mules, and no one can force our hand in anything without first persuading us to believe in the cause."

"Is that what you're trying to do right now, dad? To convince me that you're one of the good guys so I'll back off?"

"Essentially, yes."