Free The Fall (ATCOM Book 2) by Jennifer Lowery

never before. Losing Ray had hurt after the bitterness wore away,
but not like this. This time her heart tore in half. She wasn’t sure she’d
recover from this one.
     “Mom? You okay?”
    Pulled out of her thoughts she looked at her son,
grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge.
    “I’m fine. Why?”
    “You look upset. Is it the money?”
    She wished. Somehow the loss of her inheritance
hurt less than finding out Brendan was the kind of man she’d vowed to steer
clear of. “I’m sure it will work out.”
    “Brendan and his friend seem confident.”
    “Yes.”
    Jason took a swig of water. “You think Dad did
this?”
    Some of the fight went out of her. “I don’t know.
It’s kind of odd that he showed up at the same time my money disappeared.”
    “Can I tell you something?”
    “Of course. You can always be honest with me, you
know that.”
    Jason shifted uneasily. “That day you came home
from the grocery store to find Dad here.”
    He paused and she moved to his side, put a hand on
his arm. “What did he do?”
    “He asked me to brew a pot of coffee so I did. I
thought he would wait in the living room, but when I came out…”
    “It’s all right. Nothing you say will make me upset
with you.”
    Jason averted his eyes. “I found him going through
your laptop.”
    Mia squeezed his arm. “What did he say when you
caught him?”
    “Just that he was leaving you a note.”
    “You believed him?”
    Jason nodded.
    She hugged him. “Honey, you didn’t do anything
wrong. This is on your father.”
    Jason hugged her back and her heart soared.
    “He really is a bad man, isn’t he?”
    She’d never wanted him to think that of his father,
but Ray’s actions made it impossible to see him as anything else. Damn him for
using her son to get her account information. “I’m sorry, Jason. All that is on
your father and me. You’ve done nothing wrong. I love you and that will never
change.”
    His head bobbed against her shoulder. “I’m sorry,
Mom. I blamed you for taking away my father. Now, I realize why you did.”
    She’d never wanted him to see the true Ray. Not
fully. It would only hurt him and she’d do anything to prevent that.
    “Don’t hate him. He just made some bad choices.”
    “I don’t want to see him if we find out he stole
the inheritance.”
    She leaned back. “You don’t have to. It’s
completely your decision and I will stand by you, whatever you decide.”
    “Mia? We found something.”
    Brendan’s voice ended the mother/son bonding. Jason
looked at her then led the way into the living room where Brendan and Rogan
were hunched over Rogan’s computer screen.
    “What is it?” Jason asked.
    “Rogan tracked the bank transfer to an account in
the Cayman Islands. Looks like your ex is using an alias. Ever heard of Joey
Lane?”
    Her stomach clenched. Joey Lane. The name of the
bar Ray had taken her to on their third date. Said a friend of his owned it.
Now, she wondered if the bar had been a front for Ray and his cohorts’ illegal
activities.
    “Mia? Does that sound familiar?”
    “Yes. It’s the name of a bar Ray and his friends
hung in.”
    Brendan studied her so intensely she wanted to
bristle. He already knew all of her secrets. Even the one that could drive her
son away forever.
    “So this proves it? My dad stole the money?” Jason
asked.
    “Too many coincidences to think otherwise,” Brendan
answered.
    Jason dropped down on the sofa, looking stunned.
Mia went to him and sat beside him, putting her arm around his shoulders. To
Brendan, she asked, “What do we do?”
    “We’ve already contacted the police. No doubt it’ll
go Federal. We have enough evidence to prove it was Ray.”
    Some of the color drained from her face, she felt
it go. If Ray got convicted of this, he would go back to prison. And probably
never make it out. As much as she knew he deserved it and had done this
himself, didn’t make it any easier to accept. Her son truly would grow up