Chapter 22
Dillon
The wind blew harder on the beach than it did on the porch of the beach house. I’d hoped actually being in the sand would help me clear my head because nothing else had helped. Piper and Jake had argued with me when I told them I was planning to quit my job and come out to Pawley’s Island for a while, but they couldn’t make me change my mind.
Will had been upset, then livid, and finally accepting by the time we got off the phone. He wasn’t thrilled, but he was happy that I’d agreed to still write an occasional freelance piece with the understanding that it wouldn’t be anything as heavy hitting as it used to be. There was no way I could ever write like that again and be sure that I would stay objective.
Not for a long time anyway.
The island was the best getaway I could think of. People who lived on the island full time recognized me, but there was enough anonymity to suit me just fine. Luckily in the winter there weren’t as many tourists, so I could walk the beach without being interrupted. It had been a week since I’d first arrived at the house and other than a phone call to Jake to let him know I was here I hadn’t even looked at my phone. It was shoved somewhere in the back of my suitcase, probably with a dead battery and a ton of voicemails.
All I wanted was to avoid reality for as long as possible and putting away the cell phone was the first step. I was also writing with a pen and notepad because my laptop would be too tempting. My thoughts kept wandering back to the wedding and that night.
Everything had seemed so perfect. How had I misjudged him so badly? No matter how hard I tried, it always came back down to the one person I was trying not to think about. Just thinking his name hurt. Even though he’d never been here, I’d shared stories about this place with him, so it felt like there was a ghost of him here with me.
I thought it would actually be harder to be at the beach house than it was. The last few memories I had of this place were of my mom and our once perfect family. That was all before she got sick. Instead of being sad, the memories of having her here kept me from drowning in my own pitiful existence, reminding me of happier times. Every piece of furniture in the old house was pieces my parents had picked out together at local flea markets. Jake and I had spent our summers running up and down the pier out to the beach. I loved remembering all of our adventures.
Most of my afternoons were spent combing the beach for seashells. At least that’s what I told myself, it was mainly just an excuse just to get out of the house so the walls didn’t close in on me. Today was no different than any other day, but as I walked back up the beach I felt a little more energized than normal. I hoped it was because I was finally starting to get back to my normal self again, but I wasn’t sure. Spending my days in self reflection was starting to get a little old.
I took the last few steps up the boardwalk at a jog, but as I neared the house I came crashing to a halt. The last person I expected to see sitting on my deck was Zane. We stared at each other for a few long tense seconds.
“Your brother called this place a cottage, but I think anything worth over a million dollars doesn’t quite qualify as a cottage.”
I tried to ignore the excitement that I felt just being near him again.
He hurt you. Remember that. I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Why are you here, Zane?”
He stood up from the lawn chair and took a few tentative steps towards me. “I needed to talk to you, to explain why I said the things that I did.” I tried to brush past him into the house, but his hand reached out and softly grabbed my wrist. “Please, listen to me. I didn’t try hard enough before, but now I can’t let you walk away again. I didn’t mean any of it. I lied, but only because I had to. I love you, Dillon.”
“You love me?” I asked incredulously, shock and sarcasm clearly ringing out in my voice. “You have a really funny way of showing it, Zane. What kind of sick joke are you playing this time?”
I searched his stormy grey eyes, but there wasn’t any amusement there, only hurt and a hint of hopefulness. “We’ve never been a joke or a game. Will you please sit down and let me explain? Once I’m done if you still want me to, I’ll leave.”
I pulled my wrist from his grasp and walked over to the chair next to where he’d been sitting. He watched me with uncertainty as I sat down and stared up at him with what I hoped was a blank expression.
“Fine. Talk.”
He sucked in a deep breath and sat down across from me. “David knew you were investigating ESEC, that much is clear. We obviously found that one out the hard way.” I absentmindedly rubbed a hand over my throat. The last of the bruises had just faded over the past few days. “He never believed that it was a fluff piece like Will told the board of directors, but he couldn’t prove it, or stop the article, because it would look suspicious. I found out that he was researching you too though. And when you showed up with me, he didn’t know what to think, but he was feeling me out to see what I knew. It took me a few hours the day that you went with my mom and Savannah to try on the dress, but I found a way into his office to see how he was manipulating the prescriptions to look like they were coming from me.”
He handed me a jump drive. “It’s all there and everything is back in his desk, so if you want to turn everything over to Jake go ahead. Everything you need to write your article should be there.” He laughed humorlessly. “It should really take more than a few gigs of data to be able to ruin a career, but that was all it took once I scanned everything in.”
He ran a hand down his face and looked like he wanted to say something. He shook his head and said, “Please write the story. All I ask is that you let me warn my mother first. She doesn’t deserve to be blindsided like that. Justin and I want to tell her together.”
I nodded and looked down at the small black piece of plastic in my hand.
“That still doesn’t explain what you said to Kade.”
“I don’t know how you even heard it, not that it matters because you did, but I wish you hadn’t because all it was—I was trying to keep my heart safe. I was desperate not to admit—even to myself—that I was in love with you.” He took a step closer. “The part that you missed was Kade called me out on my bullshit and I finally admitted to him what you meant to me. Dillon, you were the first woman I’ve let in since Michelle. I hate that I hurt you.”
I nodded my head. “You did hurt me. A lot.”
He looked away. “All I can say is that I am so, so sorry. I know that’s not enough, but I can’t say anything else. I understand that you don’t want to get married or get into another relationship, but I want you to know that this past weekend was the best I’ve had in years. You made me feel like I could actually have a relationship again.” He nodded his head. “Thank you for going with me. I’m sorry that it turned out this way.”
I swiped at my eyes, trying to brush away the tears that were falling. He turned to walk towards the driveway.
“Think about writing the article, Dillon. David’s been committing fraud for God only knows how long—years probably—and you’re the one that figured it out. You are so damn smart and talented. He’s trying to place the blame on me because he knows his time is running out. I came in to the practice at the right time and it all fit his plan. You saw through all of the bullshit and you cared enough to save me in the process.”
My breath caught in my chest as I tried to suck in oxygen. Why was this so hard? He’d hurt me worse than even Travis had. And why? Because he was scared? Fuck that. Those nosy ass nurses had a point, Zane did deserve a dose of his own medicine, but I wouldn’t be the one to give it to him.
“I’ll think about writing the article.”
He nodded and turned back towards me, covering the distance in two steps. My head tipped up towards his and I felt my lips part.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t try harder to stop you from leaving. You deserve better than me. The whole relationship thing was new and I was terrified of everything I felt for you, so it was easier to let you go.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Truth or dare?”
I choked out a laugh.
“Dare,” I whispered.
He smiled sadly. “I dare you to write this story. Put an end to all this and finish what you started. If you still want me after that, then you’ll know where to find me.”
“Zane, I—”
He cupped my face and brushed his lips over mine softly. I didn’t want the kiss to end, but he pulled away almost as soon as it began.
“I love you, Dillon.”
I watched as he stood up and walked around the side of the house, leaving me alone with the last few minutes of sunlight.
* * *
The words flowed easily. For the first time in forever, I felt myself getting excited with each new paragraph that revealed the truth—a truth that would essentially tear apart Zane’s family. Danielle didn’t deserve to be hurt like that, but she did deserve someone that didn’t try to put her own son behind bars for something he wasn’t responsible for just because it was convenient. My words bled about the sorrow from the families that had lost children from the drugs and how it wasn’t just them paying the price for David’s horrific actions. I talked about how he’d tried to frame an innocent man and essentially stalk me when he figured out I was onto him.
Jake had already taken my evidence to his boss and they would be arresting David within the next twelve hours. I didn’t really want to know anything about his sting operation, but just like he’d promised, I was going to be the one to break the news in real time. When I started digging deeper in the beginning, I found out that the drugs weren’t just in our sleepy little town of Parkview, Georgia. This crossed six states and was bringing in just under thirty million dollars each year. It astounded me that David had been able to keep it going for so long without getting caught.
There was already talking of who on the hospital board would go down with him and who would be replacing him as chief of staff at the precinct. My money was on Zane, not that I’d said anything to anyone about it though. For the past four days I’d either been at the police station or holed up in my apartment researching the evidence and trying to write the perfect five thousand word article. Whatever I said had to be amazing because it would be gracing the covers of newspapers around the United States.
What was the most disconcerting was that I hadn’t talked to Zane, other than a single text to make sure he’d spoken to his mom. He’d handed me this article on a silver plate and I was terrified to talk to him.
When Zane had broken into David’s office, he’d found the counterfeit prescription pads, all sequential numbers to one’s he already had in his own office, along with the account numbers to the offshore accounts he was sending the money. The accounts themselves were linked to Danielle. David had been ruthless in his attempt to rip apart this innocent family. There were forged letters about Danielle’s suicide, which lead me to believe he wasn’t going to hold out much longer before killing his wife and running for it.
Just how bad would this have gotten if Zane hadn’t been able to get into that office? I shuddered at the thought. A whole family would have been ruined by drugs and lies and deception.
My phone rang, jarring me out of my concentration. Jake’s name flashed across the screen.
“Are you ready to go?” he said without saying hello.
“Fuck. Now?” I asked, glancing down at the clock on my laptop. “I thought I had a few more hours.”
“Nope, now or never. The chief is concerned that Rhodes is going to run if we give him another few hours. He’s acting twitchy.”
“Fifteen minutes. Can you give me that?” I asked, already starting to look over my work.
“Hurry,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’m going to get shit for this.”
I hung up the phone and rushed to send it off to Will for a final proofread. He emailed me back and we had it uploaded onto the AP site with two minutes to spare. This would definitely be national news, and it sure as hell would be taking down most of ESEC with it.
I bit down on my lip. Zane needed to read the article before it released. His whole family did. It only took me a few seconds to upload the file to an email and send it off. I wondered what they would think. I’d tried to protect them and hide their identities, but if people were truly curious, it would only take a Google search to find out who they were.
My phone buzzed a few minutes later with an incoming text.
It’s perfect.
I’m glad he thought so, but really? That was all I got? It’s perfect? What about how I’d tried to paint the picture perfectly, keeping his reputation intact and protecting his mother? What about the fact that I was taking down half the hospital board and probably giving him a big fat promotion in the process? Not to mention that I’d done all the work to make sure he didn’t even miss a day of seeing patients.
Fucking entitled doctors.
I glared down at my phone. The stupid thing was stubbornly silent, kind of like the doctor on the other side. Instead of agonizing over the response—or lack thereof—I decided to take a bath. It was the one thing that could normally calm me down, even when I was so worked up I wanted to throw things. I climbed into the tub and sank down into the warm, fragrant water. My phone buzzed again and I sighed. Reluctantly, I grabbed the phone to look at the message.
I’m so proud of you. You’re an amazing writer and journalist. Thank you for protecting my family. We’re all so humbled that you tried to soften the blow that was coming our way. Mom was able to help your brother get all the information he needed and quietly file for divorce. As I’m writing this David is being hauled away in cuffs.
I shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as I am.
My lips curled into a smile. I could just imagine the sour look on David’s face as the police manhandled him into a car. The bastard deserved it. After all the research and long nights it came down to this moment. My phone buzzed again.
I love you.
Tears pricked at my eyes. Could I really forgive him? I wanted to with my entire being, but the things he said—I closed my eyes. Love should be simple. Being with someone shouldn’t be a constant struggle, but maybe because of how broken we both were it made things harder. My hands shook as I pressed the button to call Zane.
“Dillon,” he breathed as he answered.
“I think we should talk.”
I could hear Danielle and Savannah’s voices in the background, but he must have walked out of the room because they became softer until I couldn’t hear them at all.
“Where are you? I’ll come to you.”
I chuckled softly. “I’m at home in the tub.”
“I can be there in ten minutes,” he deadpanned.
I giggled. “Come over for dinner tonight. We can sit down and talk about…things.”
“I like things.” I could hear the smile behind his voice. “I’ve missed you.”
I rested my head on the lip of the tub. “Me too. We’ll talk tonight. Say eight?”
“I’ll be there.”
We were both quiet, either unsure of what to say, or nervous to speak. “Zane, I love you too.”
I heard his sharp intake of breath before I disconnected the call. Now I had to figure out what to cook for the man I wanted to keep around for the next forty years or so.