Chapter 32

Rhett

 

I arrived home in a state of utter sadness, heartbroken that I’d been forced away from the best thing that had ever happened to me, because of the man that I hated–the one that I shared some unfortunate DNA with. I hated being such a coward, and I kept internally criticizing myself for making that decision, but all it boiled down to was that I had no other choice.

Mom had been surprised to see me, and even more so when I told her everything. She’d dismissed a lot of what I’d said about Dad, not caring to hear my opinion on him no matter what he did. She understood that I didn’t want to see him again, but she didn’t seem to want to hear why.

“I’ve had enough of my own bad experiences with that man,” she said to me with pursed lips. “If you now have your solid reasons for never wanting to see him again, then that’s fine. At least you tried, and there’s no way that I can be blamed for keeping you apart.”

I could only assume from that statement that he had also used Mom as an excuse for his shitty parenting, which made me angrier than ever. But at the same time, it drove a desire inside of me. One that I needed to get this all resolved once and for all. If dad thought that I was going to run away with my head between my legs, then never become an issue again, then he was very wrong.

But before I got to that, I told Mom everything about Danica. I explained to her how we met at Camp Woodtree, how a spark had developed, and about how shocked I was to see her at Dad’s.

As I told her that I tried to stay away, but that there was something so real there, she explained diplomatically that my dad might have been trying to think of the family when he sent me away. I knew that she was trying her best to prevent a meltdown from me, but that was the last thing that I wanted to hear.

I got the impression that she assumed Danica and I were wrong for one another, and that I would eventually move on. How wrong she was. I may have given Danica up temporarily, but I wouldn’t forever. Not when I loved her.

Oh God; there were so many times that I should have told her that I loved her, and I didn’t. I was in idiot, a fool, and I regretted that massively. Sure, it might have helped ease the pain of my disappearance somewhat, but I felt guilty that she didn’t know. It didn’t feel right.

Which was what really spurned me on in the end, to get done what I needed to do to get back to her. After the first few days of pure misery, I started on the mission that I really should have been focusing on while at my dad’s house.

Of course, it was harder doing it from a distant location, but how else was I going to spend the rest of my summer? Breaking my heart and doing nothing to make it better? Hell no. I needed to take my dad down if I was ever going to find my way back to Danica–which was my one and only focus now.

It took a while, and a lot of digging in places that I never expected, but I eventually stumbled across my answer. I expected to find something. Of course I did, or I wouldn’t have been looking, but I never thought I’d find out what I did.

As soon as I had all the evidence in my hands, my mind was spinning with what I’d learned, and I realized that I needed to tell someone what I’d just discovered. A few faces crossed my mind before I eventually settled on one. This was the one person who had been there my whole life, who might actually finally be able to understand what had happened to make my mind up about my father in the way that I had.

When I came home, I’d had something of a heart to heart with him, but only to explain the general gist of why I was home. He hadn't pushed me for more, but I was certain that he was intrigued. He was waiting for me to be ready, and now I finally was.

“James?” I panted into the phone, wondering how the hell I was going to get all of this out in a coherent fashion. “Can you talk?”

“What’s going on?” He sounded as if I’d woken him up, which caused me to glance at my watch–just after eleven p.m. He was clearly with his girlfriend, Lilly, and she’d tamed him enough to have him in bed at a reasonable hour. What a difference. Lilly was amazing, though. I could understand why she’d been the one to finally reel him in. She was spontaneous, sporty, exciting–almost the female version of him–and gorgeous to boot. She was absolutely perfect for him. Luckily, she was understanding of our friendship, too; she never stood in the way when we wanted to do stuff alone. I couldn’t have asked for anyone better for my friend–however jealous I felt of his easy-going happiness. “Are you okay?”

“I’ve found it,” I replied simply, knowing that he would instantly understand what I meant by it. “I found what I was looking for.”

I hadn't told my mom about my plan because of the way she’d reacted to how everything went with Dad, but I’d discussed it with James. If he didn’t think that it was a good idea, then he never said it. He simply remained supportive of what I wanted to do, like the amazing friend that he always was. I knew that he didn’t fully understand my awkward family situation, but that didn’t stop him from helping me out. Any small rift that I’d once felt between us was well and truly gone.

“You have?” he gasped, clearly shocked. “What have you found?”

“He’s a criminal,” I still couldn’t quite believe it, even as I said it aloud. I always knew that he was horrible, and a bad person, but I’d assumed that I would discover more about him cheating, not this. It had stunned me to my core, which was why I’d made sure that I was totally certain before making this phone call. “He’s a con man and a swindler.”

“Really? Are you…are you sure?” I couldn’t blame James for being doubtful–I’d been there myself only a short time ago–but I knew the truth now. There was no denying it with the evidence sitting right in front of me.

“I’m definitely, one hundred percent sure. I’ve been researching for weeks, and I’ve found out so much evidence that it’s unreal.” I grasped the printouts between my fingers, clutching them like they were the Holy Grail or something. This was the key to everything, and nothing would cause me to let them go.

“How has he never been caught? What sort of crimes are you talking about?”

“Conning, money laundering, fraud…all sorts. He’s never been caught because he never directly gets his hands dirty. He has minions to do all of the bad stuff for him, but I know that they are his men because I met a lot of them at the wedding.” Half of me couldn’t believe his gall; the other half wondered why I ever expected anything different.

“Oh my God…” James jumped in, but I quickly shut him down. I wasn’t done just yet.

“It gets worse. I discovered a massive case that he’s mixed up in which has involved him setting up this fake company, stealing money, and absconding,” I wasn’t sure that I was getting it out right, but I was doing my best. All of this legal jargon was way out of my bounds of knowledge, but I could understand enough to know that it was bad. “And the law firm involved in the case is the one that Lyla works for.”

“His new wife? Doesn’t that put everyone in trouble? Won’t that make it easier to track?”

“I honestly have no idea,” I admitted. “From what I can understand, Lyla wasn’t directly involved, but it’s suspicious, right?”

“Do you think that she’s a part of it?”

James sent my mind reeling in a direction that I haven’t even considered. I thought about it for a moment, really thinking about that possibility, before I shot it down. There was just no way; Lyla was a good woman who worked hard for her future. There was no way she’d throw it away over a scam that seemed to lose people millions.

However much she loved Brad.

“No, I don’t think so. But it does make me wonder if he married her for some reason linked to the case. It did all happen very quickly.”

“So, what are you going to do about it?” He asked the one question that I really had no answer for. “Will you take it to the police?”

“I’m not too sure just yet,” I told him honestly. “I just… I don’t know, I needed someone to talk to about it.”

“Well, if you do make a decision, I’ll do whatever I can to help you.” He brought up a whole range of emotions inside of me that almost made me tell him the full truth about Danica, before I shut down once more. I couldn’t, not just yet, not until everything was sorted.

“Thanks, man.”

Long after I’d hung up the phone, my mind was reeling about what to do next. I was due to start my course at Grange soon, but I knew that Danica would already be at college. She’d already told me that her course was starting a little before mine, so I could be safe in the knowledge that at least she was safe. At least she wasn’t in the same building as that bastard.

And if she was out of my father’s home, surely she was out of his sights, too? I couldn’t imagine that such an important man would care enough to keep his little game going on now that she was away from him?

Should I? Could I? Was I actually considering calling her?

As I glanced down at the papers in my hands once more, I realized that I needed to. I absolutely had to. So I gripped my phone tightly and I dialled the number that I’d been so desperate to do so for what felt like forever.

Ring, ring.

As the phone rang against my head, my heart fluttered with nerves. I had no idea how she was going to take my communication after all this time, and I was terrified that she’d be too angry to even speak to me.

Ring, ring.

“Please pick up,” I muttered to myself, praying that she was somehow getting my telepathic messages. “Please answer, Danica.”

Ring, ring.

But she was either too busy to speak to me, or she was ignoring me, because unfortunately the phone just rang out, so I was forced to leave a message on her answer phone.

“Hi, Danica; it’s Rhett. I hope this is okay…me calling you like this.” Oh God, I was floundering already. I really should have planned what I was going to say in advance. “Erm…look, I just need to tell you that my dad isn’t a good man, and I have proof of that. In fact, he’s dangerous. Please call me, so that I can talk to you about it. I… I need to speak to you.” I held the phone for a couple more seconds, willing myself to say something about my sorrow and my feelings, but it was as if my mouth was sealed shut.

I felt awful as I hung up the phone, but there was nothing more that I could do. I would just have to hope that she would believe me, and that she would be able to read between the lines and understand how I really felt.