Things with Sadie’s lawyer had gone smoothly. He was the same man who had handled her criminal case, as well as her civil case, and knew the situation well. He’d been appalled at what Sadie had been enduring, appalled at the idea that she’d settled a civil suit and they still wanted more money from her.
And that Sadie was going along with it.
She assured them both that the Pages, Dani’s parents, had never asked her for anything. They’d never even attempted to contact her. Ever.
Just Connor.
The thing about expensive lawyers like Sadie’s, like his, was that they had pull. If you got the right one, they had a lot of pull. Sadie’s lawyer had been able to take her cell phone recording and pictures of her injuries, and get a restraining order within a matter of hours.
She felt better, protected, which was good. But it was just a piece of paper. It would do nothing to keep Connor from her physically. They needed a better plan and that’s what Lincoln was working on.
Sadie had no idea what he was up to. They’d spent a tense weekend trying to recover from Friday’s incident, but he and Gordon were on their way back to the city, and he knew damn well she wouldn’t approve of what he was about to do.
The whole overstepping thing.
He left his car running and the air conditioning blasting for Gordon, before locking the doors and crossing the street. The house itself was unassuming, typical city suburbs, the houses on the street close enough to each other that all the kids would play, but far enough away that they had their own space. The landscaping was neatly trimmed; cheery flowers sat in pots on each of the steps as he made it to the front door.
He knocked and after a moment a woman answered the door, a curious smile on her face.
“Hi,” she said, greeting him and opening her screen door. “Can I help you?”
“Mrs. Page?” he asked, trying to ignore how pissed he knew Sadie would be if she found out about this.
“Yes.” She said it like it was a question.
“My name is Lincoln Greene.” He shook her hand. “You don’t know me but I have something that I need to talk with you about. It’s very important.”
Her face fell. “With me?” She leaned into the house and called for her husband. He was at her side within seconds.
Lincoln shook his hand, as well, being as cordial as he could. “I don’t mean to intrude. I don’t want to take up a lot of your time. But I have some concerns about your son that I wanted to talk with you about.”
“Connor,” Mrs. Page said. “Is he okay?”
“I’ve never met him,” Lincoln admitted. “I’m actually here on behalf of a friend that Connor is causing some trouble for.”
Mr. Page frowned, something that looked a lot like resignation crossing his face.
“Would you like to come in?” the man asked.
“Actually, I left my dog in the car so I’d like to stay where I can see him. He tends to eat things he’s not supposed to when I’m out of sight. In the best interest of the interior of my car, I should probably stay right here.”
They both smiled fondly as they looked across the street and saw Gordon, tongue lolling and a smile on his face, as he sat in the passenger seat of Lincoln’s car.
“I can only imagine how this is going to sound, but I hope you can hear me out. I’m a friend of Mercedes Charles.”
As he’d known they would, they both paled and took a step back from him.
“How dare you,” Mrs. Page said on a breath, outraged.
“Please.” Lincoln held up his hands. “I would have never come here if I didn’t think this was of the utmost importance.”
“You said this had to do with Connor,” Mr. Page said.
“I don’t know if you’re aware or not, but Connor has been blackmailing Sadie for years.”
“This is nonsense,” Mrs. Page said, outraged. “That girl has taken enough from us and now she’s going to accuse Connor of something like this?”
“Janet,” Mr. Page said soothingly. “Let the man speak.”
“Mercedes would be furious if she knew I was here. She’d never want me to bother you with this, which is why she’s been letting this go on for so long. But it’s gotten to a point that she’s not just being physically threatened anymore, but Connor’s gone so far as to put his hands on her, and I won’t let that happen.” While she still looked angry, Mr. Page was listening closely. “From what Sadie said, it started around the time he went to college. She helped with his tuition and his books because he said he didn’t want you to use the money from your settlement on him. So she went along with it.”
“Connor had a job,” she argued.
“We knew something was wrong,” Mr. Page reminded her. “We’ve been asking for years how he’s been getting by with so much when he works so little.”
“But he’d never do this.”
“I’ve never met him,” Lincoln repeated. “And I know your loyalty is to Connor. I understand that. I wanted to come to you and let you know that we had enough evidence to get a restraining order on him. My loyalty is to Sadie and you should know that if he steps foot on her property again, he’s going to jail. And if he puts his hands on her again, he’s going to regret it.”
“She nearly ruined us,” Janet exclaimed.
“She paid her price. She did her time.”
“My daughter—”
“Paid more,” Lincoln finished, interrupting her. “The only person who understands that more than you, is Sadie. She’s changed. She’s not the woman she used to be and more than that, she’s trying to build something to make the world a better place. Connor has been blackmailing her for tens of thousands of dollars every month.” He let that sink in, their eyes widening. “Every month he shows up and terrorizes her, and she just takes it. She does it out of guilt for what she did and the shame she lives with every single day. She might be willing to sit down and take it, but I’m not.”
“And what do you want from us?” Mr. Page asked.
“Nothing,” Lincoln said simply. “I just wanted you to know what’s been going on, what Connor has been up to. If you see him, maybe you want to mention that you don’t approve of what he’s doing. Maybe you want to ask him exactly where he’s getting his money from. Maybe you can do something to stop this train that’s speeding down the tracks, about to derail.”
“You make him sound like a lunatic,” Janet said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Lincoln took out his phone and played them the recording Sadie had taken. The one where Connor threatened to rape and kill her if she tried to stop him. It was his trump card and he’d been hoping to not have to use it. It did its job, both of them shocked as their son’s words filtered through the speaker.
“Oh, my God,” Janet whispered. “What is he doing?”
“Drugs,” Mr. Page said with knowing nod. “Has to be.”
Lincoln took a step back, moving down a step and away from them. He’d done what he set out to do. He’d let the Pages know just what Connor was up to and the situation he’d put Sadie in.
With any luck, they’d be able to put a leash on him.
If not, Lincoln would do it himself.
❖
The week went by agonizingly slow. Sadie had taken precautions, first and foremost, having that security system installed. She was also very careful about going outside and watching her surroundings. She refused to be caught off guard by Connor again.
Lincoln had literally tried to hire armed guards and she’d drawn the line, though when she really thought back to that flash of fear she’d felt when Connor had lashed out, it might not have been too much. She could have used an armed guard or two that day.
Instead, she had a panic button that posed as a watch if anything went amiss.
She refused to let Connor derail her entire life.
Huck was back with her, having another day out in the summer sun, her own dogs sniffing around the yard and enjoying the day. She was also working with
a dog named Goose, who was smart as a whip and took commands like a champ. His owner had been in an accident, and while her insurance wouldn’t cover a full-blown service dog, the woman needed a hand. So, Sadie worked with Goose on tasks like picking things up off the floor and sitting for extended periods of time. It was a start at least.
Lincoln texted her every hour on the hour, checking in. She was thankful he’d settled into their weekend together, the routine helping soothe both of their frayed nerves. She’d been worried that the incident with Connor would ruin their time together, but they’d spent the weekend together and closer than ever, Sadie relishing the moments she could with him.
She indicated for Goose to follow her to the shed, staying close to her side as she put her things away for the evening. All the dogs came when she called them, letting them eat on the back porch as she supervised.
Aggie’s head popped up, her attention suddenly riveted in the direction of the front yard.
Sadie was not expecting company and it had been nearly a week since Connor’s last visit. She glanced at the panic button on her wrist, herding the dogs inside. If Connor was coming for her, she wasn’t going to let him hurt the dogs.
She inched along the side of the house, peeking around and seeing a car she didn’t recognize. There was a knock at her front door and she spared a quick look around the corner. It was a woman, older, with graying brown hair and a man that looked to be about the same age. That was as much as Sadie could see.
She looked at the driveway and didn’t see any sign that Connor was there.
“Can I help you?” Sadie stepped out from around the corner, only to freeze, the breath stuttering out of her lungs.
She’d never forget Mr. and Mrs. Page, not until the day she died and probably well beyond that. She remembered every word of Mrs. Page’s victim-impact statement from her court sentencing, where she described in detail what it felt like to lose her child.
What it felt like to have Mercedes take her child from this earth.
Sadie and Mrs. Page stared at each other, like ghosts from the past haunting each other. Her palms start to sweat; her heart raced as she fought the need to flee. Shame washed over her, never far from the surface, it bubbled up, rendering her speechless.
For Mrs. Page it was anger, her lips pursed tight as she glared at Sadie.
Dani’s father made his way down the steps and around to where she stood, and Sadie took an automatic step away from him—the mix of shame and residual fear of Connor leaving her off balance.
He stopped in his tracks, his face softening as he looked her over.
“What are you doing here?” Sadie managed to eke out, her words barely more than a whisper.
Mrs. Page didn’t leave the front steps, instead holding her ground there and looking down at Sadie from high above.
“We heard what Connor’s been doing out here,” Mr. Page said, his eyes flickering to the darkened bruises that still lingered on her neck. “About the money and the restraining order.”
Sadie had no idea how to respond so she just nodded, caught off guard.
Before he could speak again, Lola let out a menacing woof, her big face appearing in the window next to them. Before long, Aggie, Cocoa, and Goose joined her.
“Full house you have here,” Mr. Page commented, his smile almost fond as he looked at the canine faces watching them with rapt attention.
“There’s another one,” she said inanely. “He’s too short to see out the window.”
“If we could just have a moment of your time,” Mr. Page said politely, as if Sadie wasn’t the one personally responsible for his daughter being dead. She’d have given him anything he asked for, guilt clawing at her insides.
“Of course,” she murmured. “Would you like to sit on the patio out back?”
“Come on, Janet,” he said gently, holding a hand out to his wife. She hesitated for just a second before descending the stairs and following as Sadie led them to the backyard.
She held in a wince at the mess. The agility training equipment was everywhere, dog toys and dishes cluttered the patio.
“Sorry,” she murmured, trying to pick some of the things up. “They can learn a lot of things, but they’re not very good at picking up after themselves.”
“How many dogs do you have?”
What an absolutely absurd situation, Sadie marveled.
“Three of my own,” she told him, glancing up to meet Mrs. Page’s eyes and looking away quickly. “Two are here for training today.”
She invited them to sit at the patio table to the sounds of her dogs crying inside the house.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
“No, thank you,” he said. “We’d like to talk to you about our son, Connor.”
Sadie couldn’t help it, she blanched, her hand automatically soothing the marks on her neck.
“You had a restraining order issued against him,” Mrs. Page said, the first words she’d spoken since they’d arrived.
The dogs cried some more.
“We don’t mind dogs, if you’d like to let them out,” Mr. Page invited.
They’d gotten to the point where they were so desperate to get out of the house that they were crying like babies. She could have scolded them—they knew better, but she didn’t want to scold them for being curious about newcomers. Especially where she was so closely on the lookout for Connor.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
Mr. Page nodded and she went to the door, opening it and speaking to each of the dogs as they came out. “Lola, Huck, pen.” The two slunk off, happy to be together and outside. “Goose, fetch.” She threw a ball and let him go retrieve it. Aggie was already heeling at her side, Cocoa hurrying outside to cozy up to Mrs. Page, looking up at her with happy doe eyes. The woman ran a hand over Cocoa’s head and the dog was in heaven, her head leaning in to rest on Mrs. Page’s arm.
Sadie was shocked to see her crack a smile. Leave it to Cocoa.
Sadie sat back down, Aggie mimicking her, sitting when she did. Otherwise, she stayed as still as a statue, watching the proceedings.
“Interesting bunch,” Mr. Page said.
“They’re all rescues,” she told him quietly. “Lola, my big one, was the mother at a puppy mill. Aggie here was abandoned as a puppy and found in the restroom at a gas station in a trash can.” She motioned to Cocoa. “She was left for dead in a junkyard, starving and covered in mange.”
Mrs. Page looked down at Cocoa, her eyes watery. She didn’t say anything, just laid a soft hand on the dog’s head and held her stare. Cocoa smiled and lapped at her cheek.
Goose trotted up and dumped the ball at Mr. Page’s feet.
“I’ll warn you, if you throw it, he’s relentless. He’ll expect you to keep throwing it,” she told him.
The man didn’t hesitate. He tossed the ball, smiling as he watched Goose run off after it.
“That one isn’t mine. His owner is disabled and needs the dog to learn a few useful skills, so I took him on to train some. The little one over there is getting some bathroom training.”
They all looked at Huck who was rolling in the mud in a patch of sunlight, Lola supervising.
“You train dogs,” Mr. Page concluded.
Sadie shrugged. “I try. Just like the dogs, I’m a work in progress.”
Goose came back and the ball got thrown again.
“Back to Connor,” he said. “We recently learned that he’s been in contact with you, quite a bit. That he’s been bothering you for money.”
She wondered if that was part of the police report, information that they’d used to get the restraining order.
Sadie didn’t know how to answer. She didn’t want to downplay the way things with Connor had escalated but she didn’t want to make him out like a burden. She’d already taken one child from them; she didn’t want to be the one responsible for taking the other one, as well.
“He came to me asking for help a few years back. He didn’t want
to take anything away from the money you use for your charity.”
“And you helped him?”
Sadie nodded. “I did.”
“We’ve always had money set aside for Connor’s education and given him everything he needs. You didn’t have to do that,” Mrs. Page argued.
“I wanted to. At first.” She sucked in a breath and found her backbone. “I know that whatever price I’ve paid for what I did wasn’t enough, could never be enough. So, I didn’t mind. If it took a burden, even financially, off you, I was willing to do it. Then instead of once a semester, he started calling every few months, then every other month, then every month. Now, he wants to come every week.”
“Because you threatened to cut him off,” Mr. Page noted.
She couldn’t utter the words to them, explaining that she’d paid the price for her crime. They would not come out of her mouth.
“You should have never given him anything, Mercedes,” he said. “We’ve tried to put the money we received from the civil suit to good use, creating a foundation in Dani’s name and raising more money, giving out scholarships. That money was never because we needed money for ourselves. It was never meant for Connor.”
Sadie knew about their charity. She’d donated through an anonymous LLC to the foundation herself.
He threw Goose’s ball again. Cocoa still watched Mrs. Page with adoration.
“How much have you paid him in total, Mercedes?”
“Sadie,” she corrected automatically. “I go by Sadie now.”
“Sadie.”
“Somewhere in the four hundreds,” she admitted.
“Four hundred thousand dollars?” Mrs. Page sat up, hand to her chest, her face aghast.
“Roughly,” Sadie confirmed. “He’s changed though. This last year, the last few months especially, he’s…he’s…”
“We think he’s using drugs,” Mr. Page informed her. “We’ve also noticed a decline in his behavior. Then your friend came and told us what he’s been doing out here. The threats. The violence.”
His words stuck in her ear.
No Love Left Behind (Boston Billionaire's Club Book 1) Page 16