CHAPTER NINE
- NOW -
I AWOKE EARLY THE next morning, surprised that I’d actually managed to fall asleep. Rolling over onto my back, I glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand. It was eight AM, which meant that I’d only slept for around two hours. It was little wonder that I felt like death warmed over.
The day had barely begun and I was already exhausted – both physically and mentally. I’d tossed and turned for most of the night, the adrenaline that had cursed through me during the break-in leaving me drained. Mostly, it was the troubling thoughts plaguing my mind that had me so weary.
I wondered where Dad was and whether he was okay. I needed him desperately. I needed his comfort and his reassurance. I needed to know that I wasn’t alone, that I had someone out there in the world who loved me wholly and unconditionally. He was the only family I had left. The thought that I might never get an explanation for his name being on that list distressed me, but it was nothing compared to the pain I felt thinking that I might never see him again.
I had no idea what he’d gotten himself involved in, but the revelations from last night had opened up whole new possibilities about what could have happened to him. Suddenly, Archie Chambers wasn’t looking nearly as threatening.
It had been over three weeks since I’d seen him last, and all the uncertainty was torture. It felt more like three years had passed. I’d give anything in the world, strike any bargain, and make any deal, just to be able to see him again. To be able to talk to him.
Hearing the shower, I realized that Kellan was up and awake, and hauled myself out of bed. The guestroom was pretty much like the rest of his apartment. Minimalistic. It actually kind of reminded me of a hotel room with neutral cream walls, plain white sheets, and wooden floors. Even though Kellan had been living in this apartment for over a year, I was pretty sure that I was the first person to use the room. It had a vacant and untouched feel to it.
I made my way towards the kitchen and immediately went about making a pot of coffee. I needed at least two mugs worth before I’d feel anywhere near ready to face the rest of the day.
Needing a distraction, I rearranged some of Kellan’s cupboards while the water boiled, moving all the mugs, sugar, and instant coffee into one cupboard, and plates and wine glasses into another. I felt restless despite my fatigue, and keeping my hands busy helped.
I was pouring my first cup of coffee when Kellan stepped out of the bathroom, clad in only a towel. I nearly dropped the mug in my hand. His chiseled stomach was the first thing that caught my eye, followed by the beginnings of a tattoo on his left hipbone that disappeared into the towel wrapped around his waist. I had a very clear view of his decadent body and it rattled me.
“Sleep well?” Kellan asked, a groove appearing between his eyebrows. He looked concerned… until he took in the splash of color high on my cheeks. His lips quirked.
“I slept fine,” I said before he could open his mouth and send an arrogant remark my way. I glanced away, staring into the bottom of my mug as though it held a great deal of fascination.
I glanced up, unable to help myself, when I heard his retreating footsteps and caught a glimpse of the curve of his ass just before his disappeared down the hall into his bedroom.
His door shut behind him with an audible click, and I tried to reign in my thoughts. I was lusting after Kellan... and that was just plain weird. I’d been young and naïve last time. I had no such excuse now.
In my defense, I’d been deprived of male company for a while now. I hadn’t dated anyone in almost a year. The only guy I spent time with was Axel, and now Kellan. Thinking of Axel, I sent him a quick text asking how his weekend was going. I didn’t want him to worry, and decided I wouldn’t say anything about the break-in. The French doors would hopefully be replaced by the time he made a trip down. He’d never need to know.
I sighed, finishing off my coffee before pouring myself a second cup.
I moved towards the TV and switched it on. It was way too quiet in the apartment, and I needed some noise to help drown out my thoughts.
I felt more desperate than ever to uncover the truth behind Dad’s disappearance, and crazily enough, last night had given me hope. Before that, I hadn’t been able to come up with any reason as to why Dad hadn’t returned home other than the fact that he was out there hurt. Or worse. The information on the flash drive had brought up a whole new set of possibilities.
It hurt to think that I didn’t really know Dad, that he’d kept such a massive secret, and maybe broken the law. We hadn’t found anything in the flash drive that had said what Dad had been involved in. Dad’s name on that list might not actually mean anything. I’d give him the benefit of the doubt, and I’d continue to do so until I received concrete evidence showing me otherwise.
I sipped at my coffee, not really seeing the TV screen at all. I couldn’t help but go back to those last few weeks with Dad. Conversations came back to me, and I went over them over and over again. Nothing jumped out at me. No explanation. There had to be more to this than we were currently seeing. There had to be.
Kellan stepped out of his bedroom a short while later and was fortunately – or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it – fully dressed.
“I called someone to replace the broken French doors. He’ll be there at half nine. If you hurry, we’ll have time to stop for some breakfast on the way to your place,” Kellan said, helping himself to some coffee. He looked like he’d been up since dawn. Actually, he looked like he hadn’t gone to sleep at all.
I nodded, even as the mere thought of food made me feel nauseous. “Thanks.”
I got up and walked into the bathroom. It smelled of Kellan in there, the scent intoxicating. I had to shake my head to focus. Wiping steam off the mirror above the sink, I brushed my teeth. Kellan had taken one hot shower, and the bathroom was stuffy from the lingering heat of the water.
I dressed quickly in the guestroom, glad my backpack was large enough to have prevented my clothes from wrinkling. I pulled on the leggings I’d packed and a cute top that showed off some of my stomach. I’d shoved the items into my bag last night in a daze, and was glad to see that they weren’t completely mismatched.
“April?” Kellan called out.
“Coming!” I yelled, shoving my toiletries and yesterday’s clothes into the backpack as I hurried out of the room.
The door to Kellan’s room was right opposite the guestroom in the short hallway. Curiosity getting the better of me, I peeked inside.
It looked like the most lived-in room in the whole apartment. The bed was messy and unmade. A mental image of Kellan sprawled on it, his hands twisted around the wrinkled sheets, flashed through my mind. I shook that thought out of my head, and glanced over my shoulder to make sure that Kellan wasn’t around. There were some picture frames on the walls that I couldn’t resist taking a look at.
I ambled over to them, seeing that there were three frames. One picture was of Kellan and a guy I didn’t know. He had a crazy mop of red hair on his head and looked like he was the same age as Kellan. He was grinning at the camera, his arm slung casually over Kellan’s shoulder. Kellan’s smile was more reserved, almost a half-smile, as he too looked at the lens, but his dimple was still there, visible even in the picture.
The next photograph was of Kellan and Dad, causing a pang to go through me. God, I missed him. It was a candid shot, and I couldn’t quite place where they were. Dad was laughing as he ruffled Kellan’s hair. Kellan had his head ducked as he tried to escape Dad’s hold, but he was smiling too. That kind of smile was rare for Kellan, and it made my lips curve just looking at it.
The last picture surprised me the most. It was another candid shot, but of me and Kellan. We’d gone on a camping trip one weekend years ago, back when Kellan had first started living with us. Mom had been out of hospital at the time, and somehow Dad had convinced Kellan to come along with us. The four of us had spent two nights out in the wilderness, and on our way back to the car, I‘d hurt my foot tripping over a rock. Kellan had ended up lifting me up and giving me a piggy back ride for the rest of the walk. I had my arms around Kellan’s neck in the picture, my legs around his waist, as he carried me like I was a makeshift backpack. Dad was visible in the picture, walking a few feet behind us. I hadn’t realized that Mom had snapped a picture of us.
“Don’t have all day, ballerina,” Kellan called out again, impatience ringing in his voice.
I hurried out of his room, feeling a jumble of confusion and pleasure at the fact that he had a picture of me in his bedroom.
* * *
On our way to the house, we stopped by Pete’s Diner at my suggestion. Poppy ambled over to us as we slipped into a booth, wide-eyed as she looked at Kellan.
“Hey, hon,” she said, smiling at me. She’d been an angel these past few weeks after I’d returned to work. Not only had she provided me with free coffee and donuts whenever I’d wanted, she’d also always been around with an open ear to talk to. “You’re looking good.”
She scanned me over and then turned to look expectantly at Kellan. She didn’t ask if there was any news about Dad anymore, realizing that I crumbled a little inside every time I had to repeat that that there was nothing new.
“Hey, Poppy. This is my… this is Kellan,” I said, mentally kicking myself for that idiotic statement. Kellan glanced at me, looking amused, before politely shaking hands with Poppy.
“What are we having today?” she asked brightly, shooting me a discrete wink when Kellan turned to study the menu.
I gave her a warning look. I knew how it looked. Me, grabbing breakfast with some guy she’d never met. If only she knew just how I’d spent my night. It would have wiped the big grin right off her face.
After giving her our order, she left to see to some other customers.
“So, what’s the plan?” I asked when Kellan didn’t say anything. “There is a plan, right?”
He hesitated.
Just when I was about to tell him that he was crazy if he thought he was keeping me in the dark after last night, he spoke. “I thought I’d look through Mario’s study today while the windows are being repaired. See if I can find anything that the guys that broke in last night missed. They were pretty sure that there was nothing else to be found, as they stopped searching straight after finding the flash drive, but I’m not leaving anything to chance. Something that may have been insignificant to anyone else looking, might hold some answers for us.”
“And Uncle Luke?” I asked, swallowing.
The pause was longer now. Conflict warred in his eyes as he looked at me. “I think it’s best that we don’t mention the flash drive to him. Just for now. Just in case.”
The reason for the omission was left unsaid, but it hung heavy in the air between us.
* * *
“So what are we looking for?” I asked, going for the first filing cabinet a little while later. We were in Dad’s study, ready to begin our search.
There was still remnants of the powder the cops had used to dust for fingerprints on the desk, cabinet, and some folders. I’d have to get the vacuum out later.
There was a lot of stuff tossed around, Dad’s belongings thrown carelessly on the floor. I shivered a little, thinking about those guys in here last night, manhandling Dad’s things, violating his privacy. Were we were doing the same thing by going through his things without permission? But we needed answers – desperately.
“I don’t really know,” Kellan admitted, looking around the room. “I guess we’ll know once we find it.”
“If we find it,” I said, skepticism clear in my voice.
And so the search began.
It was twenty minutes later that I pulled out a folder labeled ‘finance’. Sitting back down on Dad’s office chair, I opened it, not expecting much. I flipped through the statements, not really taking them in, but paused when my eyes latched onto a number on one of the bank statements.
Account balance: $10,000
Ten thousand dollars? There had to be some mistake. Dad didn’t have that kind of money saved. We’d spent practically every last cent when we’d bought this house a few months ago, and we’d still had to take out a huge mortgage to be able to afford it. What was Dad doing with ten thousand dollars sitting idly in the bank?
I flipped back to the start of the folder, and this time looked through all the transactions with a closer eye.
I was left stunned and completely confused by the time I reached the final page. There was no more debt. We were in the clear. Dad had made the final payment two months ago.
“What?” Kellan asked. I looked up and noticed that he was watching me. I vaguely wondered how long he’d been doing it.
“Here.” I handed him the statement, and began pacing the small space of the study.
We’d been knee-deep in debt just over a year ago. Dad would have had to have arrested hundreds – if not thousands – of fugitives to rake in the kind of money on his bank statements. Not only had he paid off all of the hospital bills, he’d bought this house without getting a mortgage. The amount of money he’d made in the past few years was staggering.
There had been nothing in the statements about where the money had originated, but my mind flashed back to the transactions we’d found on the flash drive last night. I had this small, unpleasant thought in the back of my mind that a man named Tony had been the reason behind the sudden turn in our finances.
I felt a little sick just thinking about it. I’d decided only this morning that I wouldn’t believe Dad had anything to do with the crime ring until I had concrete proof.
Now that it was in front of me, every cell in my body rejected it.
I wished Dad was here. I needed an explanation. I needed someone – anyone – to tell me that I was jumping to the wrong conclusions.
Why on earth would he work for these guys? We would have managed. We didn’t need the money that badly. We would have pulled through. Dad never needed to have gone to such extremes.
My mind struggled to comprehend everything that had come up in the past twenty-four hours. All the secrets. All the lies. I never wanted to believe that Dad would lie to me, that he was even capable of it, but the truth was in his bank statements. The childhood illusion that my father could do no wrong was gone.
I stared out of the window. I had so many questions for him. The more time that passed, and the more days that went by, the more my fears grew that I’d never see him again. At times I was so sure that he was gone forever. Others, I had hope that I’d see him again, because the thoughts of never seeing him smile again, never hearing his exasperated sigh after I’d done something he didn’t approve of, never getting any answers… it was unimaginable.
Kellan cleared his throat, pulling my attention away from the window. I turned to look at him, blinking away tears. “He wanted to save money for you, for college–“
“He did this because of me?” I felt my face drain of color, the thought that I was to blame shooting straight to my heart.
“No. No! That’s not what I’m saying at all.” He shook his head empathically. “I’m saying that one thing I can say for sure about Mario is that he was never motivated by greed. He would have had a reason for all of this. I just know it. Besides, I searched that flash drive for hours, and his name wasn’t on any cash transactions in that folder.”
I felt only mildly reassured. “Maybe…” I trailed off when I saw something odd on the floor. Bending down, I snatched up a folder that had a faint, but distinct, partial footstep on it. “Look at this!”
Kellan rounded the desk, a furrow passing across his brows as he looked at the folder. “That wasn’t there yesterday. This is one of the folders the police dusted for fingerprints.”
There was indeed white powder on the folder, interrupted by the imprint of the footstep. Someone had stepped on this folder after we’d left.
“Do you think… Uncle Luke? He was down here alone for a bit.”
“I don’t think he stepped inside the study. He was outside, working on boarding up the windows,” Kellan said, his eyes darkening. He didn’t like this at all. I could see his shoulders tensing, his jaw working. He eyed the room like something dangerous was about to be unleashed.
“Then… what? Do you think someone came back after we left?”
“That’s exactly what I think.” His eyes were full of intensity and a fierce protectiveness that caused a flutter in my stomach.
I glanced around the room, feeling unsafe in my own house. It hurt. The house no longer felt like an accomplishment, the product of Dad’s hard work. It was tainted now by the knowledge that it had most likely been purchased using illegal funds. It wasn’t the same.
Nothing would ever be the same again.