Love You Always (22 page)

“You’re too kind-hearted, Laura. You always want to think the best of people, but it’s time you faced the facts. Dad is just an evil person and there’s no defending him.”

Her face softens. “Could Mom have loved us after all?” she asks. “Do you think she fought him to save Spence?”

My eyes tear up as I look into hers.

“Maybe she did after all,” I reply. “Maybe she did love us but just didn’t know how to express it.”

I hug my sister and hold her tight. Mom never showed us love and she ended up without her children’s love either. If she tried to save Spence, I will give her my love from here on and think of her in a good way, remembering that about her, sacrificing her life for our brother, for her son. If she did that, I’ll mourn her as any daughter would their mother. She would deserve it then.

When we part our embrace, Jade says, “Would I have to testify against Dad?”

I move a strand of hair back to the side of her face. “I don’t know. I don’t know what they’ll need from us.”

“I’m scared it’s true, Laura. That he killed Mom.”

“Me too.” My eyes look at her with sorrow.

“I don’t know if I can visit him in prison. I–I–I don’t want to ever see him again.” Tears fall from her eyes.

“Nobody’s going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do. You won’t have to visit him if you don’t want to.” I hold her hand in mine.

She looks at me tentatively. “Will you visit him?”

I pause for a moment to think about the question.

“I don’t know yet. I might. At least to ask him why he did it, why he hurt Spence, and if killing Mom was an accident. These things I want to know.”

“He’ll just lie to you.”

“Yes, maybe he will, but I still have to confront him about them. It’s just something I need to do for myself.”

Jade doesn’t say another word. She hugs me again.

“I love you,” she says, her voice cracking with emotion.

Tears once again sting my eyes.

“I love you too,” I reply as I embrace my sister with all my heart.

* * *

A few days pass and Detective Donnelly calls me.

“Ms. Walker, your father’s made a confession.”

Oh my God. So Mom didn’t run away. Even if I had suspicions earlier, to finally hear that he actually did it is still hard to believe and hits me in the face like a wet towel.

“We’ve got him in custody. Do you have a paper and pen handy? I’m going to give you a website where you can schedule a visit.”

“Just a moment,” I say as I head for the kitchen where I know there’s a pad and pen on the counter. “Okay, go ahead, sir.”

Detective Donnelly gives me the URL, sends his condolences, I thank him, and we hang up.

I pull the paper from the pad and stare at it. My mind plays back what Detective Donnelly just told me.

Oh my God, Dad’s finally being punished for his sins.

* * *

Jade didn’t want to come with me to visit Dad. She wasn’t kidding when she said she never wanted to see him again. I decide to do this myself, without Marcus, even though he wanted to come with me for moral support. I feel it’s better if he isn’t here in case he tries to punch out my dad. At the very least, he may make things uncomfortable for Dad to talk to me.

My heart is beating so fast, I’m so nervous to see him, to talk to him, knowing this man who I’ve called Dad for all my life, has done such horrible things.

I wait, sitting here at the table in a room filled with other families visiting their incarcerated relatives.

Oh God, here he comes. His face looks so drawn and old. I don’t smile, I can’t, I don’t feel like it, and I’m not going to fake it either. He doesn’t deserve a cordial greeting. My hands are shaking, and I move them from the tabletop to my lap.

Dad looks me in the eyes and I feel weird, like I’m looking in his eyes for the very first time. Who is this man? This murderer and child molester?

“I didn’t think you’d care to come,” he says. “I see Jade didn’t want to see me.”

“Can you blame her?” I boldly say.

He doesn’t answer, instead he lets out a sigh. He shifts in his seat and clasps his hands in front of him.

“I know about Spence,” I tell him.

He squints at me.

“I know, Dad. I know why he killed himself.” Oh shit, I feel the tears coming; I don’t want to cry. I try hard to hold them back.

“How could you do that to Spence? Why did it happen?”

He looks to the sides of him as if checking to see if anyone’s listening. But nobody is. It’s just he and I in on our conversation while everyone else is engaging in their own.

I can sense he’s uncomfortable, nervous, edgy. Good, he should be, he should feel what I’m feeling.

“I don’t know how it happened. I–I–I didn’t want to do it, and every time afterwards, I’d feel remorse and tell myself it wouldn’t happen again, but then it did, and I couldn’t stop it.”

Tears roll down my face, but they’re not for Dad, they’re for Spence.

“Did something happen to you as a child, to make you this way? Were you molested as a boy too?” God, I don’t know why I’m asking these questions. They’re just spewing out of my mouth.

He doesn’t answer. He just looks at me with a solemn face.

“Did Mom find out and was the reason why you killed her?” I blurt out.

“I didn’t kill her. It was an accident.”

“How? How was it an accident?”

“She was yelling at me, cursing me, calling me a sick bastard. She just kept at it, and at it, and wouldn’t stop, so I hit her. She fell against the kitchen counter, hit her head, and when I saw the blood, I tried to help her, revive her, but she was limp, and I realized she was dead.” He says this with no emotion, no tears, or signs of remorse—it’s as if he’s numb.

“I panicked and put her body in the storage freezer until I could figure out what to do, since Jade and Spence were due home from school within a couple hours.”

“Did you bury her?”

He shakes his head. “You don’t want to know.”

“I can handle it. I have to know.” Oh God, I hope I don’t regret it.

He looks at me, probably contemplating whether he should tell me or not.

“Didn’t you see the bag of lye down in the basement when you found your evidence against me?”

Oh God, he knows it was me who turned him in. I gaze at him questioningly. Lye?

He senses my query.

“Look it up on the Internet and you’ll get your answer.”

He’s not going to tell me.

“Don’t you feel any remorse for what you’ve done, Dad?” My eyes plead with him to have some conscience. I don’t know why it’s important to me that he feels remorse, but it is. I need him to feel sick to his stomach for what he’s done.

“Of course I do. But it was a long time ago and it can’t be undone. I’m gonna pay my dues for it. I always knew this day would come. It was just a matter of when.”

I wonder if he knew it would be me. Or maybe he figured it would be Jade since she was so hostile to him after she found out what he was doing to Spence.

“I thought your sister would be the one who’d eventually turn me in,” he says, looking at me pointblank. “Never thought it would be you.”

Well, I guess that answers my question.

There are no ‘I love you’s’ or tears after this conversation is over. I have no tears for Dad.

As I walk out of the correctional facility, I know that I won’t be visiting this convict who was once my father for a long time—maybe never again. He did too much damage to our family—to Spence, to Jade, and to Mom. I don’t think I could ever love him or feel compassion for him. Forgiving him is almost impossible. At least that’s how I feel at this moment. Maybe things will change with time—or maybe not.

As I head home, the tears finally come, but still, they’re not for Dad—they’re for Spence, and for Mom. I hope their souls rest in peace now.

Be at peace, Spence. I love you.

~* Marcus *~

Today’s my meeting with George. It took several days before he could schedule me in—either he was busy or he was giving himself some time to prepare for my visit. Now that he knows the FBI are snooping around, if he’s guilty of the accident and kidnapping, I’m sure he’s shittin’ bricks. He must know they suspect someone from the company being involved.

I’m alone today, without Laura, since she’s got so much of her own shit going on. Yesterday, she went to visit her father and I know she’s frazzled. Finding out her dad killed her mom was a huge blow. I told her to just chill out today and get some rest. On the way back from my meeting, I’ll pick up some steaks and do a barbecue. Laura could use a break from cooking. Since Angela’s been away, Laura’s doing all the meals, so it’s time I help out with that—a barbecue will be right up my alley. Grilling steaks I can do without causing anybody indigestion.

“Mr. Cartwright will see you now,” the buxom, redheaded private secretary says to me. After what Vivian told me, I’m sure George is making sexual advances on this woman, if not outright screwing her. The thought chills my bones.

I enter the double-doors into George’s plush office. Dad’s office was very similar. They have all the amenities of a luxury hotel suite, sans the bedroom. No expense was spared on the offices of the two founders of this thriving company. When Dad died, I didn’t take over his position—I don’t have the credentials to do the legal work for mergers and acquisitions—but I attend the shareholders’ meetings and cast my votes whenever needed. Since I do have experience with investing and business, I provide whatever insights I can. After what Vivian told me, I can see why George would want Angela and me to sell most of our shares, because although it didn’t wipe us out of the company, we no longer have equal shares to George, giving him the controlling votes.

“How are you, Marcus?” George holds out his hand as he meets me halfway between the door and his desk.

He’s sure cool as a cucumber. So far, he looks me straight in the eyes—no guilt yet that I can tell. He beckons me with his hand to sit on the sofa. He sits on the other end.

“Not too well, I’m afraid. You heard about what happened to Angela, right?” I come right out and say.

His mood turns somber. “Yes, I’m so sorry. How is she?” He seems sincere.

“Hopefully she’ll recover. She was traumatized, they hurt her.” I say this bitterly.

“Oh God, Marcus, that’s terrible. Please let me know if I can do anything to help. I once promised your dad I’d take care of you and your siblings if anything happened to him and your mother. After the accident, you were so self-sufficient, you wouldn’t let me help you and Angela. You’ve done well for yourself in your investing. Your dad would’ve been proud of you.”

Yeah right. How can he say these things with such a straight face? Hmm, but he still seems sincere when he says them. Either he’s a good actor or he has no conscience.

“When you wanted to sell your shares, I worried about it, but figured you needed it for something more important to invest in. I never questioned you because I didn’t want you to think I didn’t trust your judgment in your business endeavors. Of course, I didn’t know you needed to sell your shares for Angela’s ransom.”

It impresses me that he still hasn’t wavered. I can’t detect a single flaw in his behavior.

“I apologize for not reaching out to you right away. I’ve had this acquisition deadline that’s been costing me sleep for the past two weeks, but I was glad you called. I’ve been wondering how you and Angela were doing.”

He’s still playing his game. And he’s good at it. Time to throw things out there and see if he incriminates himself.

“George, I think someone might’ve sabotaged our boat the day of the accident.”

His eyes widen in shock. “Who in the world would want to do that? Kill your whole family? Your dad didn’t have any enemies that I know of, and if he did, that would be heartless to kill your mom and you kids.”

Hmm.

“Why would you think that?” he asks with concern.

“Just wondered if the kidnapping might have something to do with the accident. The FBI had mentioned it too.”

“Gosh, son, I sure hope the accident wasn’t done deliberately. That would be awful. Who’d do such a thing?”

I stare at his face. He sure seems sincere. I’m really confused now. Could George be innocent? Or could he just be that good at putting up a façade?

“That’s what the FBI and I are trying to find out. We suspect it has to be someone who knows how much stock Angela and I had in this company to request the huge ransom amount. We’re not publicly known, so it had to be an inside job.”

“I’ve given the FBI an empty office space so they can conduct their investigation. If someone from our company did this, hopefully with access to our records, the FBI can find that person out. I’ve given them my full cooperation and I’ve sent out a memo for everyone to do the same.”

Okay, this meeting with George is proving unfruitful. If anything, it’s making me rethink my suspicions.

“Thanks, George. The FBI can use all the help they can get. I’m sure they’ll catch whoever it is behind it. I have faith in their capabilities.”

If I’m not catching any clues from George, at least by telling him this, he’ll refrain from trying anything else while the heat is hot on this company’s tail. So far, the perpetrator is getting away with his crime, but he’ll tempt fate if he tries something again.

“I do too, son. Don’t you worry, they’ll find your man.” He smiles at me with confidence.

I smile back out of courtesy but I’m confused as hell. I know no more now than I did before this meeting. In fact, it’s making me think twice about his involvement.

Maybe, just maybe, George isn’t behind this. If not him—then who?

* * *

“How’d your meeting go?” Laura asks me when I get home.

“I don’t know. I couldn’t get a clue out of him.”

“It would be a bummer if he’s guilty, seeing he’s such a close family friend, one that’s as close as a relative.”

“Yeah. I sure hope it’s not George, but now the dilemma is . . . who could it be? It’s got to be somebody in the company.”

“Well, let the FBI do their job and I’m sure they’ll catch them.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s all I can do now anyway.”