“So, you’re not trying to spy on my uncle?”

“Okay, maybe it is exactly what it looks like.”

Crickets chirp in the distance as a beat of silence ticks by.

“So, are you going tell me why you’re spying on my uncle?” I ask, breaking the silence.

“It’s … It’s complicated,” he says through a sigh.

“Well, I’m good with complicated stuff,” I assure him.

“I’m sure you are,” he mutters then releases a loud exhale. “Look, I can’t give you all the details. All I can tell you is that I’m here because someone hired me to look into your uncle.”

“Who?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Okay … Well, can you tell me why you’re looking into my uncle?”

“Because he’s the sheriff, and this person wants to know if he’s corrupt.”

I let out a low laugh. “I could’ve just told you that he is.”

“Really?” he questions, but he doesn’t sound that surprised.

“Yeah, really.” I consider what I’m about to say, but not for very long. “What else do you want to know about him?”

“Everything, basically. It’s difficult to find information on him … Honestly, it’s almost like he’s had a name change or something.”

“If he has, I don’t know about it.” An idea is coming to me. One that I might not have acted on earlier before he carved disappointment into me. But now, well, I might as well live up to my name. “You want some help? I can try to look through his stuff for you instead of you trying to break in.”

“I …” He pauses. While I can’t see his face, I’m sure he looks confused. “You’d do that for me?”

Would I?

Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m doing it for him or myself.

“I hate my uncle,” I admit. “So yeah, I’ll do it.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know. But I want to.” I’m not even positive why I agree to this. Revenge maybe? Or to finally find out for myself who the man is that has taunted me since the day I moved in with him?

“How about this?” he says. “You sleep on it and let me know tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I agree with a nod.

“Okay.” He grows silent again. “About seeing me out here …”

I hold up my hand. “I’m not going to tell anyone.”

“Thanks,” he breathes in relief. “I owe you big time.”

“Well, considering you bought me lunch and offered to help me with art, we can probably call it even.” When he doesn’t reply, I quickly add, “Unless you don’t want to do that yet.”

He swiftly shakes his head. “No, I definitely do. I’m just … You’re being very nonchalant about this.”

Am I? I guess I kind of am. “You just caught me at a weird time.”

He’s about to say something else when I hear a voice murmuring from somewhere. He curses and puts the phone to his ear, making me aware that whoever was on the call with him probably just overheard this entire conversation.