Page 63 of Rough

“Well, we certainly can’t constructively do anything about it until you tell me,” I said.

Linda took a deep breath, inhaling sharply and then releasing the air slowly. She closed her eyes as if preparing herself for what she had to say to me.

“I’m so sorry.” Her eyes welled with tears and my heart stopped.

“Sorry… for what?” I asked guardedly.

She swallowed hard and gave me a pleading look. “I agreed to sell. I agreed to sell… my bookstore.”

“You… what?” I asked. Fury brewed inside of me. Linda, Saul, and I had had a pact to never sell to Nelson. After what had happened to Saul, Linda must have been terrified. “I can’t believe you—”

“Just hear me out,” she said.

A single tear rolled down her cheek and her nose was red and runny.

“Okay…” I trailed off, feeling confused.

I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt because she was normally a stronghold I could count on.

“Nelson… he found out something about me that he used against me as leverage,” Linda admitted.

“Oh?”

“My son has gotten himself into some legal trouble where he’s living in St. Louis. Nelson offered enough to help him get out of it, including the legal fees and some left over,” she confessed.

I frowned. “You were the only one I had left.”

“That’s not all,” she said. “Just let me get through the rest of it.”

“Fine.”

“Nelson and his associates were subtly threatening to put pressure on the right people in this legal mess to have my son convicted of these bogus crimes if I didn’t agree to sell.”

She choked back a sob and flickered her gaze at the floor. Her posture was wilted in remorse and her features were saturated with despair. She had no other options, according to her. Nelson had hit her where it hurt. He couldn’t get away with this.

“What has your son done?” I asked.

Linda slowly raised her gaze and blinked at me with red-rimmed eyes of hopelessness. “That’s just the thing. He’s innocent.” Her voice cracked and her chin trembled as she began to quietly cry. “But Nelson—he has connections everywhere it seems.”

Linda was telling the truth. I could see the hurt and turmoil swirling in her eyes.

“It’s okay.” I placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’re going to get through this Linda, I promise you that. We will figure this out.”

I really did want to help Linda through this situation. Linda was compassionate, she was kind and she certainly wasn’t a conniving criminal like Nelson Sanderson was. She didn’t deserve any of what was happening to her; none of us did.

Linda gave me a perplexed glance. “You aren’t… mad at me?”

She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and dabbed at her eyes and nose with it.

“I’m irritated with the whole situation in general,” I said carefully.

Linda didn’t look relieved, but her energy relaxed slightly. “I’m so sorry Garret,” she said.

“I believe you, and I hate that this happened to you,” I said. “I will figure something out—”

“There’s not much time,” Linda interjected urgently.

“What do you mean?” I frowned, glancing between her and Felix, who had been quietly watching the conversation unfold without offering an opinion either way.