Chapter 18
Ellie
My mind was racing as I waited for MJ to drop the bomb. I could tell from the expression on her face that she was worried, and fearing that I wasn’t going to like what she had to say, I suddenly had the urge to dart out of the room. I’d had enough bad news, and I wasn’t sure I could handle any more. Just as my anxiety hit an all-time high, Diesel reached for my hand, taking it in his as he stood next to me. I took a deep breath as MJ said, “I just heard from Brady’s father.”
Diesel didn’t sound all that surprised when he replied, “Oh, really?”
“Yes. He wants to talk,” MJ continued.
“To who?” I asked.
“You. He’d like to meet with you tomorrow morning.”
“So, that’s the bad news?” I asked. “Why is that bad? It’s not like I have to meet with him.”
MJ grimaced. “Well … That’s just it. Your good news is tied into the bad.”
“How so?”
“He said that he had information that would help your case, but he won’t share unless you agree to meet with him.”
“Damn,” Smokey grumbled. “Gotta wonder what that’s all about.”
“Maybe he thinks I know something about Brady.”
“I don’t care what he thinks.” Diesel turned to MJ and growled, “You can tell him to fuck off. There’s no way in hell that she’s gonna have a meet with that piece of shit.”
“Diesel.” I tried my best to keep my voice from wavering as I said, “I can do this. I may not like it, but I can do it.”
“I know you can, Ellie, but that’s not the point. There’s no reason for you to be subjected to his bullshit. Not after everything they did to you.”
“Whether we like it or not, if he can help with the case, I have to go.”
MJ stepped forward and said, “She won’t be there alone, Diesel. I’ll be there, and for that matter, you and Cotton can go, too. We’ll meet at the coffee shop and let them talk. If anything goes wrong, we’ll be there.”
Diesel’s expression softened, but I could tell he still wasn’t convinced. “I can handle Brady’s father, Diesel. He’s not like his son. I know he didn’t always do the right thing, especially where I was concerned, but he had good intentions. He loved his son and just wanted to help him the best he could. There was no way for him to know that he was just making a bigger mess of things.”
Before Diesel had a chance to respond, Smokey turned to him and said, “You’re gonna need to talk to Cotton before either of you make a decision on this, ‘cause in the end, the final call is up to him.”
MJ gave him a slight smile as she shrugged. “I called him as soon as I got the call from the chief.”
“And?” Diesel pushed.
“Like you, he wasn’t exactly thrilled,” MJ started. “But he seems to think that we have to go along with his request if we want to get Ellie’s charges dropped.”
“And we can both be there?”
“In the coffee shop is fine, but he wants to speak with her alone.”
“Fine. Set it up,” Diesel ordered. “But if there’s any bullshit whatsoever, I’m taking her out of there.”
“Understood.” MJ then turned her attention to me. “We need to talk about what you’re going to say tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“If he brings up the shooting, try to be as vague as possible. Don’t give him any specifics. If you can, try to steer away from that topic altogether.”
“Okay.”
“I know you can do this. This isn’t an official interrogation, but we still need to be careful. You don’t want to tell him something that he can use against you.”
“I got it.”
She smiled. “Good. Now, try not to worry about it too much. We’ll be right there with you the whole time.”
“Thanks, MJ.”
After we said our goodbyes, we walked out to the bike. With the sun starting to fall, the ride home was a bit colder, but it was worth it to see the effect it had on Diesel. By the time we arrived back at the house, he seemed to be a little less tense, but I could tell that he was still worried. He was quiet and withdrawn, and as soon as we’d finished dinner, he said, “I need to run over to the clubhouse.”
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“No. I just need to talk to Cotton about something. Nothing for you to worry about.”
“Okay.”
“Do you want to come along?”
I hoped that talking to him might improve his mood, so I decided to let him go alone. “If it’s okay with you, I’ll just stay here and take a hot bath.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.” I leaned forward and kissed him on his cheek. “I’m sure. Just don’t take too long.”
“I won’t,” he assured me.
After my bath, I crawled into bed, and I was just starting to doze off when Diesel came walking through the door. Without saying a word, he crawled in next to me and wrapped his arm around my waist. He lowered his mouth to my ear, and I could feel the heat of his breath as he whispered, “Hey.”
I rolled over to face him. “Hey there, handsome. Is everything okay?”
He pulled me over to him, and I laid my head down on his chest. “It is now.”
“I know you’re worried about tomorrow, but everything is going to be okay.”
“I’m the one who’s supposed to be saying that to you.” He chuckled. “But you’re right. Everything’s gonna be fine. I’m gonna make sure of it.”
“I know you will.”
He kissed me softly on the top of my head and said, “Get some sleep, angel. Something tells me that tomorrow is going to be a long one.”
I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep, but every time I drifted off, I’d wake back up shortly after. The vicious cycle of dozing in and out of sleep started to wear on me, and after several hours, I finally gave up. Trying to be as quiet as I could, I eased out of bed and went to the living room, where I spent the rest of the night watching some silly horror flick on TV. By the time Diesel finally woke up, it was time for us to get ready to go, so I finished my cup of coffee and went to take a shower. When I came out, Diesel was waiting for me in the living room. “You ready?”
“Almost.” I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. I inhaled a deep breath, taking in his scent and warmth, and after a brief moment I let him go. I looked up at him and said, “Okay. Now, I’m ready.”
“You sure you want to do this?”
“We both know I don’t have a choice. Let’s just get this thing over with once and for all.”
I followed him out to the truck, and once I was settled inside, we headed towards the coffee shop. When we arrived, MJ and Cotton were already there. Tensions were running high as we each took a moment to greet one another and were only made worse when the chief’s car pulled up in front of the shop. My back stiffened as I watched him open his car door, and I was trying to mentally prepare myself for what waited ahead when Cotton called out to me. “Ellie?”
“Yes?”
“Remember what MJ told you. Keep it simple, and if he asks you where Brady is, you have to make him believe that you know nothing, that you haven’t seen him since the night you left the house.”
I nodded. “I’ve got it.”
I walked over to one of the empty tables up front and sat down. My heart was pounding as I waited for him to come inside, and when he finally walked through the door, I thought it would beat right out of my chest. Once he saw me, he gave me a small smile and said, “Hello, Ellie.”
“Hi, Grayson. It’s good to see you.”
“Not sure that you mean that, but it’s nice of you to say.” He pulled out his chair and as he sat down, he took a quick glance around the room. A flicker of animosity flashed through his eyes when he spotted Cotton and Diesel sitting with MJ. “I see you brought your friends along.”
“I did,” I answered dryly.
“Not sure I know what to think about that. Do you have any idea who those people really are?”
“I know enough.”
“They’re criminals, Ellie. They make a living by selling drugs and guns all over—”
Before he could continue, I stopped him by saying, “Maybe so, but these so called criminals treat me better than your son ever did and he was an officer of the law! Besides, I’m sure you didn’t ask to meet with me just so you could tell me about the men of Satan’s Fury.”
“No. I guess I didn’t.”
“Good. So, why don’t you tell me what this is really all about? Why did you want to see me?”
Just as he was about to answer, one of the waitresses came over to the table. “Can I get you two something?”
“I’ll have a cup of coffee. Black. Two creams and one sugar. How about you, Ellie?”
“I’ll have a small mocha, thank you.”
When she walked away, Chief Blackwell turned his attention back to me. He studied me a moment before he said, “You’ve always been such a beautiful girl. I can see why my son was so crazy about you.”
Annoyed by his comment, I grumbled, “Yeah … crazy is a good word for it.”
“I remember the day he came home and told me the two of you were getting married. I have to admit that I wasn’t exactly thrilled about it. I thought you were too young, but he was adamant about doing right by you.”
“And when he beat me to the point that I lost your granddaughter, was he doing right by me then?” I snapped.
“What are you talking about?” His voice trembled. “Brady said you were in a car accident.”
“What about the time I shattered my collarbone, or the time I broke my wrist? Did he tell you that those were accidents, too?”
“There must be some misunderstanding—”
Unable to contain my anger, I interrupted him again. “And what about all the police reports that were never filed? Were they just misunderstandings, or did you know exactly what you were doing when you got rid of them?”
He didn’t respond. He simply sat there staring at me, and I could see the torment in his eyes as he thought about everything I’d said. Brady had been feeding him nothing but lies for years, and I had no doubt that it was difficult for him to hear what had really happened. He remained silent until his face twisted in anger and he growled, “Is that why you turned against him? Because you blamed him for losing the baby?”
For a brief moment, I actually thought he was starting to accept the terrible truth about his son, but he wasn’t. He couldn’t accept the truth because it was simply easier to believe otherwise. Unfortunately for him, I was done living with the lies. “Did you know that I actually had to deliver the baby that night? I held your granddaughter in my arms, and she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”
“Answer my question!”
I tried to keep my voice from quivering as I said, “She still felt warm to the touch. I almost couldn’t believe that she was really dead. Brady felt awful about what he’d done, and for a long time after that, he tried to make things right between us. But there was something broken inside of him, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t fix it. And neither could you.”
He leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table as he stared at me with pleading eyes. “Just tell me where he is. Let me try to help him, please.”
For a split second, I actually felt compassion for the man. Like any loving parent, he still had hope for his son, unfortunately, I knew differently. There was nothing in this world that could change a man like Brady, so I told him, “I don’t know where he is, Grayson, and quite frankly, I don’t want to know. As far as I’m concerned, he can stay gone.”
“You honestly expect me to believe that you don’t have any idea where he could be?”
“Yes. Why shouldn’t you believe me? Brady never told me anything. He never told me how he could afford his new car or how he managed to buy that new house. I knew better than to ask him, because I knew there would be hell to pay if I did. So, I just left it alone and tried to make the best of a bad situation.”
“Brady was a good boy.”
“Maybe, at one point he was a good boy, but he wasn’t a good man. You and I both know that. I finally let go of the hope that he could ever be better, and maybe it’s time that you do the same.”
“I can’t give up on my son. He’s all I’ve got.”
“That’s not exactly true. You have your wife and your career. You’ve worked hard to get where you are, and you need to hold on to that.”
“And Brady?” he asked with dread.
“If what the news is saying is true, he’s gone, and he obviously doesn’t want to be found. We both know if that changes, you’ll be the first one he turns to.”
I wanted to ask him about the evidence he had about my case, but I decided to leave it alone. I would just have to hope that he would keep his word and share what he had with the prosecutor. Having nothing else to say, I stood up and started to walk back towards Diesel. I’d only taken a few steps when I heard him say, “I’m sorry, Ellie. For all those things he did to you.”
His words caught me by surprise, and tears stung my eyes as I turned back to him and said, “Thank you for saying that, Grayson. I really do hope that you can find some peace in all this. I wish there was more that I could do to help.”
“If you hear anything …”
“I’ll call you.” I lied. “Take care of yourself.”
By the time I made it back to Diesel, I was relieved to see that he was already gone. As soon as I sat down, MJ asked, “How did it go?”
“Better than I expected.”
“Did he ask about Brady?”
“Yes, but I didn’t tell him anything. I basically told him it was time to let him go. I’m not sure if he listened, but I guess we will see.” I shrugged. “I’m just glad that’s over. I could use a drink, a hot bath, and a nap.”
“I’m just the guy who can make that happen,” Diesel replied with a smile. He stood up, and we all followed him out into the parking lot. Before we went out to the truck, Diesel turned to Cotton and asked, “Did you get that thing taken care of?”
Cotton nodded. “Just let me know when, and you can consider it handled.”
“Thanks, brother.”
As soon as we got back in Diesel’s truck, I asked, “What was that about?”
“Something.” He smirked.
“So, you’re not going to tell me?”
“Nope.”
“Seriously?” I pushed.
“You’ll see soon enough.”