Chapter 75: THE FRUIT OF THE TREE

“For once, I’m just hoping this is good news,” Cage heard his father’s sleepy voice on the other end of the phone.

Sad to say, Carl… it was not.

“Dad… I think I killed him” Cage’s voice was thin, Carl could barely hear him.

But the sleep cleared from Carl’s eyes the moment Cage dropped the bomb. He snapped fully awake, reality slamming into him. “Who?” he asked, sitting up straighter in bed.

“I killed him,” Cage repeated in a weaker whisper, and heat flared up through Carl’s chest like acid.

It could not be what he was thinking.

If it was… today he would become childless.

Slow anger coiled in Carl’s throat, it gathered into a balled fist. “Cage Dustin Graves, what have you done to my son?!” His voice rose with suspense, raw and fierce.

“Dad…” Cage’s plea broke on the word.

“I swear to God, if you’ve done anything to Cash, I’ll kill you,” Carl snapped. “I’ve done everything to protect that boy his whole life. Millicent will haunt your fucking life from the grave if you did anything to her precious son…”

“No, dad…”

“And now I ask again, what have you done to Cash?!” His shout filled the dark room.

“It’s not Cash,” Cage sighed, and for a moment relief almost washed Carl’s darkened soul clean. But it didn’t dim his fury.

“Who is it?!” he barked.

“Pax… I killed Pax.” Cage’s voice trembled.

Carl’s brows drew together in confusion. “Who the fuck is Pax?!”

“He… I… we…” Cage stumbled.

“You were fucking him,” Carl finished for him, the accusation was like a well too known blade.

“Yes.” The answer came out of Cage like a confession.

“So he’s a nobody.” Carl’s tone went flat with contempt.

“Yes, I met him at… he’s my… dead.” Cage’s mind slipped each time he tried to look at Paxton’s bleeding, unmoving body.

Carl sighed tiredly, turned on his lamp and put on his glasses.

“Is this about Cash?” Carl pressed, voice sharp.

“Dad…” Cage could barely get the sound out. His throat was constricted.

“I didn’t mean to…”

“So it is about Cash!” Carl wiped his face in frustration. “I can’t believe you would go this far. You are such a daft bastard!” He spewed a cascade of curses at his son.

Cage sat quiet and let Carl rain those insults down.

“Fucking idiot! I wish I had a vasectomy before I met your mother!”

After he’d insulted Cage to a point, Carl paused. For a beat there was nothing but the rain and the cold night and dutiful crickets, the kind of silence that made a pindrop sound epic.

Carl could hear Cage breathing like a man holding a weight too heavy to carry.

“Of course you need help to erase this fuckery,” Carl said finally. “Is he breathing at all?”

“No… I don’t think so,” Cage answered in a small voice. “He’s not. He’s cold, Carl. When he asked me about… I panicked.”

“Yeah, yeah. I don’t want to know about the affairs with your sexual partners,” Carl said in a bored tone as he picked up his other phone. On autopilot he opened a special contacts list and scrolled without looking.

His fury made him want to strike anyone or anything next to him, but he kept his voice measured.

Carl didn’t want to terrify Cage more than he already was. “Listen to me. Call Philip immediately, he’ll know what to do. I’m ringing my contacts in that area. They are very skilled in disposing of these… things.”

“What if he’s still alive?” Cage made a sound halfway between a sob and a weak sigh. “If I call the ambulance, they’ll come and they’ll see if they can help him…”

“Are you a fool?!” Carl barked. “Do you know what this would do to you? To us? The reputation I’ve built for years? Listen to me, you stupid cunt! Put yourself together this instant and come up with an idea on how to find an alibi for your mess when his family comes knocking. I won’t always be here to wipe your butt for you!”

“Yes, yes…”

“When you fucked him, I know you fucked him like a hungry, starving man…” Carl continued.

“Yes…” Cage said, ashamed and small.

“So why the fuck are you acting like a pussy right now? Are you a chicken?!”

“No sir.”

“Are you a coward?!”

“No sir.”

“Exactly. Quit being one and tell me everything you know about this Paxton. Slowly.”

Cage opened and closed his eyes. They were flat and exhausted. The name came out as a mumble he could hardly bear to form. “Paxton Gregory,” he said.

“We met when he came for an interview. I paid him to be my escort. It wasn’t supposed to get this far, but he started being clingy and… it went wrong. I swore I’d never…” His hands trembled. “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean it, I swear…”

“Shhhh,” Carl cut in.

“I swear, I cared about him. This was a mistake, but he kept pushing me… he pushed me…” Cage’s voice trailed into silent sobs.

“Damn it, Cage! Wipe those ugly tears.” Carl’s voice softened a fraction. “I’ll stand with you while you do the right thing.” He forced the words out with a strange gentleness that didn’t fit the rage under them. “Which is to rid you of that unwanted body and this guilt.”

“You sure?” Cage’s fear sounded very young.

“Yes.” Carl exhaled and swung his legs out of bed. “After this, go out and fuck madly. A pint of beer and some dumb blondes will fix you up in no time.” His thumb hovered over the screen, already dialing.

He could picture the body in Cage’s living room; he’d been in this situation before, countless times.

He pictured his trembling son, the shallow panic and hoped the men he’d dispatch would make this disappear, as fast as possible .

“If there’s any chance he’s alive, he has a higher chance of causing you trouble if he makes it. If he’s dead, don’t move anything. Don’t touch anything more than you already have. Preserve what’s here until the professionals I’ll send in take over. I’ll be there by the weekend. We’ll do everything to get you out of this, unscathed.”

There was a long, ragged silence. “I’m terrified, Carl.”

“Oh, there’s more to come in the future. Fear doesn’t fix anything, and that’s why you need to face them now. Besides, it’s just the adrenaline rush. You’ve successfully executed your first murder; after you get rid of the body, by morning the sad feeling will be gone. It’ll be like it never happened and you’ll be good as new.”

“But…”

“No buts! Your freedom is hanging on a line here, Cage, and I’ll be damned if I let anything happen to either of my sons. You can’t save that young boy again. If he’s not yet dead, I advise you to man up and finish it now before it gets any worse. Do I make myself clear?”

Cage had always known his father was a cold-hearted swine; what he didn’t know was how solid that heart could become.

He felt a squeeze in his chest and then,  like a mask snapping in place, he set his face into something eerily calm.

He was his father’s son, after all.?The Great Graves

“Do you have your lawyer on dial just in case you blindly leave trails?” Carl asked.

“Yes, Dad. Alvarez is at my beck and call.”

“Good. Tony and Rico should be in your house anytime now. Go shower up so you can give them your bloodied clothes to discard, too.”

“Yes, Dad.” Cage stood obediently.

Carl’s next words were a low, hard command. “Cage, I need you to come back home. You need to be far away from the crime scene so I can fix your shit. Again.”

Cage went silent for a breath, then finally said, “No.”

Carl ground his teeth. “Don’t you fuckin’ play with me, boy…”

“No, Dad. I can’t leave Cash here with her…”

“Leave Isabel out of this. He’s the reason you’re in this mess in the first place.”

“No! She’s the reason this happened to me. If only she’d get her claws off him, she’s taking all his attention and…”

“Leave them to me. Get on the next jet and fly back home before I make extreme measures to extract you out of Oregon, Cage!”

“No, Dad! Don’t make me leave him.”

Carl’s silence hummed with fury.

“Not again, please, I… I care about Cash so much,” Cage’s voice cracked, a soft, convincing lie.

“You’re a sick bastard, Cage Dustin Graves. I wonder how I ever gave birth to you,” Carl spat, and Cage felt his heart squeeze with hurt for a flicker.

Then, on the other end of the line, Carl could hear the slow, eerie smile that crept into Cage’s tone. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Dad.”