Chapter 19: Jenni
I knew something was wrong the minute Alex stepped into the kitchen. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were cold as he glared at me.
“I’m going to ask you a few questions, Jenni,” he said, “and I want the truth.”
I frowned, my heartbeat suddenly accelerating, hammering in my chest. “Okay,” I said.
“Garth Liston,” Alex started, and I felt my breath catch in my throat. “How long has he been distributing drugs in Kent?”
I hesitated. “Distributing drugs?”
“That guy we met outside the coffee shop, Jack something or the other. He’s one of Garth’s employees. He doesn’t exactly work Garth’s books, does he?”
I shook my head, trying my best to hide the sudden fluttering in my stomach. “I don’t know.”
“Bullshit!” Alex suddenly yelled, and I cringed at his outburst. “I said I want the truth, Jenni.”
I looked at him, feeling the tears well in my eyes, and I tried my best to contain myself. I bit my lip, looked away and felt my body shake like a leaf.
“He’s supplying the drugs, isn’t he?” Alex asked. “Garth? The whole real estate thing is just a front, isn’t it?”
“Alex, I –”
“Do you know how involved he is with Hope Enterprises? When you told me about Heath, did you know Garth was pulling the strings?”
I didn’t answer him, a tear rolling down my cheek.
“You let me go all the way to the Sheriff thinking that Heath was behind all this, behind my father’s near-death experience, when Garth was the one pulling the strings? You actually covered for him?”
“I wasn’t covering for him,” I said, choking on my words. “He’s crazy, Alex, and dangerous. I didn’t want you getting involved, but you wouldn’t listen.”
Alex’s hands closed into fists and he punched the table top. “My father almost died,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “Your drug dealing ex-boyfriend almost had him killed for a piece of land that was supposed to increase his drug business. And you failed to mention that?”
“I didn’t want you to get hurt,” I stammered.
“Get hurt?” he snapped. “How involved are you in all this?”
“I’m not,” I said.
“Is that why you’re here?” he asked. “Is that why you’ve been hanging out with us. What was the plan? Get close enough and then what?”
“Alex, that’s not what this is,” I said, tears rolling down my cheeks, feeling guilty for not telling him sooner but angry at being accused of something so horrid, all at the same time.
“Then what is it?”
I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it again, unsure if anything I said right now would make an ounce of difference,
“Answer me!” His voice roared through the kitchen, and I heard a door open and close upstairs, quickly followed by a flutter of feet down the stairs. Kelly appeared behind her father, eyes wide and full of concern.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Go to your room, Kelly,” Alex said, his eyes locked onto me.
Kelly looked at me, her concern giving way to fear. “Jenni?”
I sniffed, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “Kelly, I’m so sorry –”
“Don’t you fucking talk to her,” Alex shot. “Kelly, go to your room.”
“Not until someone tells me what’s going on,” Kelly replied, standing her ground.
Alex turned to her and grabbed her by the arm, shaking her. “I said, go to your fucking room!” he yelled.
The shock on Kelly’s face brought a fresh burst of tears from me as she stared at her father then looked at me. She whipped her hand out of his grip and raced out of the kitchen.
Alex turned back to me. “I said I want answers, Jenni.”
The front door opened and slammed closed, and Alex quickly turned around to see what was going on. “Kelly?”
From outside, a car door slammed closed and an engine started up.
“Kelly!” Alex yelled, racing out of the kitchen with me running close behind him. We rushed out the front door just as Kelly backed her father’s car out, turned the wheel around, and shot down the street with a screech of tires.
“Kelly!” I called after her.
“Fuck!” Alex yelled, pushing forcefully past me and running back into the house.
I barely made it to the front door when he came storming out again. “What are we going to do?” I asked, panicking at the thought of Kelly behind the wheel of a car.
“We are not going to do anything,” he snapped. “I’m going to take the truck and drive after her. You are going to go upstairs, pack whatever you have up there into a bag, and get the fuck out of my house.”
“Alex.”
He whirled around, his eyes burning with fury. “I want you gone by the time I get back, you understand? I don’t ever want to see you around me or my daughter again.”
With that, he raced down the steps, jumped into the Ford, and drove off after his daughter. I watched him leave, and when he turned the corner, I dropped to my knees and broke into tears.