by Jill Sanders
Every time her father wanted something, he would glance his way as if he was only around to wait on him. He kept his temper in check for the most part, but when he walked in after getting the man some dinner and overheard him berating Aubrey about how she and her friends had stolen all of Bridgett’s ex-husband’s money, he had to step in.
“You’ve got to be kidding.” He set the tray of food down with a slight slam. “I’m done playing these games.”
“Aiden,” Aubrey jumped in.
“No.” He shook his head. “I’ve sat in here all day and listened to you take the word of a woman that you’ve known for less than a year over the word of your daughter.”
Aubrey touched his arm lightly. “Aiden, you don’t have to—”
“Aubrey, you’ve done nothing but give into him your entire life. You dropped everything, your life, your job, to rush up here when you feared he was dead due to a silly game he wanted to play.” He turned back to her father. “Something tells me that was Bridgett’s idea.” The look on her father’s face confirmed his suspicions. “That woman has played this game before. I’ve heard what Zoey and Scarlett and their mother, Kimberly, had to go through all thanks to her.” He took a deep breath when he noticed a spark in the older man’s eyes. He could’ve sworn it was pride, but he was too fired up to stop now. “Aubrey and her friends made a successful business out of River Camps long before Jean Rowlett died. They didn’t need his money.”
“I know,” her father surprised him by saying. “I’ve known everything that’s gone on at that little camp of yours since the moment you stepped foot in that place,” he told Aubrey. “That doesn’t negate the things you’ve done to get there.”
“What are you talking about?” Aubrey asked.
“Bridgett told me everything.” He leaned back and closed his eyes.
“Like?” he asked the man. He could tell Harold was tired but knew that Aubrey wanted to get answers.
“How the five of you tricked the camp’s owner, Joe Saunders, into giving up the place. How you’d plotted long ago how you were going to take over the camp.” He closed his eyes.
“What?” Aubrey laughed. “Oh, that’s a great story.” She moved over and shook her father lightly. “Don’t you fall asleep until you hear the real truth. Elle Saunders, one of my best friends, is Joe’s granddaughter. Joe was the only man in my entire life whom I looked up to like a father.” Aubrey glared down at her father. “Including present company. We all loved Joe. When he died, we all mourned. By fate, he left the camp to the five of us, and Elle had the idea of turning it into what it is today. We all forked over every dime we’d saved up until then and worked our butts off to turn it into what it is now.”
“It’s true,” Aiden stepped forward. “I own the company that’s been in charge of all the remodeling. For the first year, I didn’t even take a salary. Hell, I’ve put more money, blood, and sweat into the camp than most. I know everything that’s gone on there since day one.” He glanced over at Aubrey. “And I’m Elle Saunders’s cousin. Joe was my great-uncle. He’d always intended to leave the camp to the Wildflowers.”
“I’m tired. Go away.” Harold waved them away.
“No, not until you see the truth,” Aubrey insisted.
“Aub.” He touched her arm. “Let’s let him rest.”
Aubrey glanced up at him and shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Why?” she said and turned around. “Why do you hate me so much?”
He laughed. “I don’t hate you. You’re my daughter. My only child.”
“Then why?” She shook her head. “Why are you doing this? Why believe her over me?”
“Because I refuse to believe that my only heir would turn her back on me and leave her legacy to run a glorified daycare for adults,” he spat out.
His color was improving, almost as if he thrived off the anger and the bitterness. He even looked refreshed as he sat up a little straighter.
“You abandoned me,” he finished.
“Me?” She laughed. “You’re the one who kicked me onto the street. I worked for years making barely enough to pay rent and eat. Then when I’d been pushed enough, you fired me.”
“You quit,” he retorted.
“It was either that or be blackmailed and forced to sleep with a coworker so he’d keep quiet as to just whose daughter I was,” she spat back at him.
Aiden felt his anger grow. Aubrey had never told him that part before. He noticed her father’s face grow red at that news.
“Who?” he asked quietly.
“Does it matter?” she threw back at him. “You’re choosing to believe Bridgett over me.”
“Why should I believe you? Your mother was nothing more than a drug dealer, a liar, and a cheat. She took you away from me, hid you from me until I tracked her down.”
“Did you kill her?” Aubrey moved closer to his bed.
“What?” Harold balked and then looked at him, as if waiting for him to explain what she meant.
“My mother wasn’t a drug dealer. She didn’t have enough money to buy us dinner, let alone ten pounds of coke. Did you kill her or have her killed?”
Harold was silent for a moment. Long enough that Aiden moved closer to him and Aubrey.
“Answer her,” Aiden said firmly.
“No, I never wanted her dead. I just… wanted her out of the way.” He waved his hand. “Do you know how long I’d waited for an heir? How long I’d tried?” The old man shook his head. “It seemed impossible. Then… she wanted to keep you away from me after…”
“Did you have someone plant the drugs?” Aiden asked, narrowing his eyes at the man, and anyone could see the truth in her father’s eyes. The guilt or hidden knowledge was written clearly on his face.
“She killed herself because of you,” Aubrey cried out. “You took the only person who ever loved me away and stuffed me in the attic. You took away any chance I had at being loved or loving someone else. I was raised outside of the presence of kindness with no access to warmth.” At this point Aubrey’s voice had risen, and a nurse rushed inside and took in the entire scene. Aubrey was hovering over her frail father with Aiden standing just between them.
“Is everything alright in here?” the nurse asked Harold.
“Leave us.” The old man waved her away as if she were nothing more than a hired hand.
“I’m sorry.” The nurse turned towards Aubrey, ignoring Harold’s demands. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“Gladly.” Aubrey lowered her voice as she spoke to her father. “If you continue to choose to believe a stranger over your own blood, then I no longer care what happens to you. Let her poison you and steal all your money.” She waved her hands. “God knows she’s probably spent more of it over the past year than I ever did.” She walked towards the door and grabbed her purse and jacket before storming out of the room.
“I don’t say this to too many people,” Aiden said, turning towards the man, “but you are one of the dumbest people I’ve ever met.” He turned and left the room.
He caught up with Aubrey at the elevator. She was punching the down button so hard, it was a wonder it didn’t break.
“Hey,” he said when the doors finally slid closed and they were alone in the elevator. Pulling her into his arms, he held onto her and felt her entire body vibrate with either anger or pain.
“What now?” she asked. “How can I get the truth from him? He should pay for what he set in motion.” She glanced up at him. He noticed it hadn’t been tears but anger she’d battled with while he’d held onto her.
“We’ll figure this out. Something tells me that he’s not going anywhere at the moment.” He sighed. “How about we head out and get some dinner?”
The elevator doors opened, and she took his hand as they walked towards the exit.
“I don’t think I could eat.” She frowned up at him. “I’m too worked up.”
“Want to head back, change, and then go for a run?
” he offered.
“Now that sounds more like it. I have all this…”
“Pent-up anger?” he offered.
“What I really want to do is find a dojo and kick someone’s butt. Preferably someone bigger than I am.”
He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her as they walked out onto the street. “Remind me never to get you angry.” He kissed the top of her head. “And never forget that I am thoroughly intimidated and turned on by the way you can move.”
She turned into his arms and chuckled softly. “Most men are afraid. So far you’re the only one who hasn’t run in the opposite direction.”
He’d just stepped back from kissing her when he spotted the woman leaning against the brick building opposite the hospital. She’s dyed her bright blond hair to a rich jet black, which somehow made her stand out even more. She had a cigarette between her fingers, raised as if she were about to take a puff, when she froze. Instantly, he could tell that she knew that he’d spotted her.
“Call the police,” he shouted as he rushed across the street.
He was halfway there when he realized Bridgett had taken off. She’d been wearing jeans and tennis shoes under a long black raincoat.
“I’m faster. You call the cops,” Aubrey shouted at him as she darted past him and disappeared around the same corner Bridgett had fled around.
“Shit,” he said loudly as he pulled out his phone.
Aubrey was right, she was faster than he was, but he was bigger and… he cursed again. Hadn’t he just told her that she intimidated him with her self-defense skills. He knew she could take care of herself, but his fear for her safety kept him a few yards behind her. He was huffing and puffing while he spoke to the nine-one-one operator. He set a mental reminder to start jogging again.
“Aub, I’m behind you,” he called out when he gained some ground on her. “Cops are on the phone,” he shouted as people separated for them.
“Move!” Aubrey had shouted several times.
He couldn’t believe how fast Bridgett was. The taller woman’s legs seemed to eat up the pavement, and it was apparent to him now that she knew exactly where she was heading.
Since the snow had made ground slippery, most shops and restaurants had shut down their outside displays.
But when he turned the last corner and almost bumped into the back of Aubrey, he realized she’d led them to probably one of the only outdoor farmers market being held in the big city on that evening.
“Shit.” Aubrey glanced around. “Do you see her?”
“No,” he said after a moment of looking around. Since he was a deal taller than Aubrey, he could easily see over most of the people’s heads.
“There,” he said after spotting a dark head in a black raincoat.
They both rushed across the area, only to realize a few feet away that it wasn’t Bridgett, but a younger woman with two small children.
“You don’t think she’d double-back, do you?” Aubrey asked.
“It’s worth a look.” He took her hand, and they started walking briskly back the way they’d come.
“Are you okay?” she asked as they walked.
He realized he was still breathing heavy and tried to catch his breath. “I suppose I need to get back into my morning routine of jogging again.”
“You could always join one of my classes,” she suggested with a nudge.
“How did Bridgett outrun you?” he asked when the hospital was in sight.
“She has almost a full foot on me,” Aubrey replied.
He wasn’t surprised to see several officers outside her father’s room when they stepped out of the elevator. It was the same two officers that had been in the room with Detective Rhodes the evening before.
“Anything?” he asked the two men.
“No. We’ve checked on Mr. Smith, and he’s resting comfortably and alone,” the older officer answered. “Did anyone join in your chase?”
“No,” Aubrey answered as she peeked her head into her father’s room. “I’m going to…” She motioned inside.
He nodded and figured he’d stay outside with the officers to fill them in on how Bridgett had changed her appearance.
When Aubrey stepped outside again, he could tell instantly that she was tired. The chase had burned off all of her anger.
“We’re going to head back and get some rest,” he said, taking Aubrey’s hand.
“We’ve been assigned here for the night. We’ll take shifts sitting with him. From what it sounds like, the doctor is going to release him in the morning,” the officer supplied.
“Thanks,” Aubrey said with a sigh.
This time when they stepped into the elevator, she rested her head on his shoulder.
“Food first then rest?” he asked.
“Yes.” She nodded and held in a yawn. “Why do you think she was watching the hospital?” she asked him when they were in a taxi. Now as the skies grew darker, the snow was starting to fall again.
“I’m not sure,” he said after he’d thought about it for a moment. “Maybe to see if the police were after her? I mean, it’s being kept out of the news.”
“Yeah, Dad’s lawyers are all over it. I doubt he’ll ever allow the full story to get out. Let alone any of the pictures taken of us last night. After all, he doesn’t want to look weak in the public eye.” She rolled her eyes.
“At some point,” he said when the taxi stopped, and he helped Aubrey out, “we’ll need to talk about your mom and everything.”
“Later.” She sighed and glanced around. “Where are we?”
“Hannah texted me a few great places to eat earlier. This was number one on her list.” He shrugged and glanced up at the Greek restaurant. “She says you like Greek food.”
“God”—Aubrey held her stomach—“I love it.” She rushed towards the door with him on her heels as more snow fell.
Chapter 21
By the following morning, Aubrey was ready to head home. She’d had enough of the city. Enough of the foul weather. She wanted, no needed, her friends and the warmth of Florida.
She’d gotten word from Dr. Williams that her father had already arrived safe and sound at home. So what was really keeping her there? Dr. Williams had informed her that he would be spending a few days checking in on her father personally and had even hired a full-time nurse to watch over him.
“He’s not back to his old self quite yet, but he’s getting there,” Dr. Williams told her over the phone.
“Thank you,” she said, glancing out over the wet city. The snow had melted again, leaving everything black and slick. She shivered at the thought of heading outside into the mess.
“He mentioned that the two of you had a misunderstanding,” Dr. Williams said.
“Mis…” She held in the chuckle and thought about what her father had basically confessed to them. Shaking her head, she replied. “He’s taking Bridgett’s side. He actually accused me of poisoning him.”
“Aubrey, you can’t take that to heart. He was still under the effects of the alprazolam. It wasn’t completely out of his system until late last night after you’d left.”
Her eyes narrowed as she stiffened. “He has never taken my side on anything, even before he was drugged,” she reminded the doctor.
He was silent for a moment, then added, “I remember when you first came to live with Harold. He was so excited to finally have a child. You would’ve thought that he’d won the lottery.”
“Did you know my mother?” she interrupted his memories.
“Well, not really. I’d met her on several occasions. I’m the one who did the paternity tests on you. Naturally, she demanded to be present during the entire process.”
“From what you noticed, was my mother doing drugs?” she asked, leaning her head against the cold window glass.
“No, no,” he answered. “I said so when I was summoned to court.”
She jolted upright. “You testified?”
“When your father sued for full cus
tody, naturally, I was called in to weigh in on the test results and the health of your father. It wasn’t easy for a man in his late fifties to take on a child. He’d accused your mother and torn down her lifestyle. He even had a bunch of her past coworkers on the stand saying she had done drugs and left you alone at times.”
Her temper grew. Not once could she remember being left alone until Harold had gained full custody of her.
“And you saw her again in court?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said softly. “The day before…she died.”
“Did she appear suicidal then?” she asked.
“No,” he said firmly. “She was angry. Like you were yesterday evening when I walked into your father’s room. I’ve seen that look in your eyes often enough over the years to know it was anger, not sadness.”
Aubrey closed her eyes and tried to remember anything about that day she and her mother had returned home from court. But, as with most of her memories of Nora, they were faded or mixed together.
“Can you get your hands on my mother’s autopsy reports?” she asked, feeling her stomach roll at the thought of reading through them herself. But she had to know and, at this point, trusted Dr. Williams completely. He’d never done anything unkind to her, and even though he’d been her father’s best friend and physician over the years, she knew he was a just man.
“Aubrey,” Dr. Williams started, but then stopped and grew quiet. “I’ll see what I can come up with.”
“Thanks,” she said before hanging up.
Strong arms wrapped around her, and she leaned back against Aiden’s chest while they watched the rain soak the pavement outside.
“I want to go home.” She sighed. “But I don’t think I can until this is finished. If you want—” she started, but Aiden quickly turned her around and wrapped his arms around her.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said into her hair.
“Your work,” she started.
“Just like you, I have employees that can easily fill in for me,” he answered with a sigh. “Besides, I brought my laptop. I’m working on a few things here. I don’t always have to swing a hammer to get work done.”