Face Value (Next Generation 7)

by Cheryl Douglas

  She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “How can you say that? He protected me. Tucker saved my life.”

  “Did he have to go that far?” Derek picked up his silver pen and slid it through his fingers, fixating on the action instead of his niece’s reaction. “Couldn’t he have just restrained Rob and held him until we got there?”

  A sick feeling of dread came over Lauren. “Don’t tell me you’re going to punish him for the way he reacted when he found that beast on top of me.” When Derek didn’t respond, her heart started beating double time. “You can’t do that! It isn’t fair. You or my daddy would have reacted exactly the same way.”

  “True.” Derek looked up. “Because we love you. Do you think that’s how Tucker feels?”

  Lauren couldn’t speculate on Tucker’s feelings or what he was thinking. Until he told her himself, she wouldn’t set herself up for disappointment. “I don’t know. It’s pretty obvious he and I have some things to discuss.”

  “You know how your daddy feels about him, sugar. If you decide to get involved with him, it’s always gonna be tense between them, to say the least.”

  “I’m a grown woman, Uncle Derek. I can’t live my life to make my parents happy. I have to do what feels right to me.”

  “And bein’ with this guy feels right, huh?”

  She didn’t expect her family and friends to understand what she saw in Tucker. He only let his guard down and let her in when they were alone. “It does. I’ve had some time to think about what you told me, the pictures you showed me, and it just doesn’t seem like the Tucker I know.”

  “It could be you don’t know him as well as you think you do.”

  “You might be right, but I need to figure out what’s real and what’s not. I can’t let my well-meaning family do it for me.”

  Derek grinned as he stood up and ruffled her hair. “Point taken. All right, let me go and find out what’s keeping him.”

  Lauren checked her messages while she waited for her uncle to return. After a few minutes, Derek stood in the doorway.

  “What’s wrong?” She knew something was. He got the same look in his eye her father did when he had bad news.

  “Uh, they let Tucker go.”

  Lauren frowned. “Why didn’t he wait for me?”

  “He left in kind of a hurry.” Derek braced his hand on the doorway. “His mama just died, sugar.”

  ***

  Lauren rushed into the spa hoping Amanda was working. She’d tried Amanda’s cell and home numbers and received her voice mail. She spotted Amanda placing bottles of nail polish on a glass shelf. “Can I talk to you?”

  Amanda spun around, looking startled. “Jesus, girl, what’re you doing sneaking up on me like that? I didn’t even hear you come in. The damn buzzer over the door’s broken.” She rolled her eyes at their receptionist, bopping her head in time to the music playing on her iPod.

  “Can we talk in private?”

  Amanda looked wary. “Uh, sure. Come on in the back. I’m due for a lunch break anyhow.”

  Lauren followed her into the small back room, which was furnished with a round table, two chairs, and a kitchenette. “It’s about Tucker.”

  “I figured as much.” Amanda pulled out both chairs and claimed one. “I meant to call you this week, but things were kind of hectic around here.”

  “I heard Tucker’s mama died.”

  “Yeah, he called me. He was supposed to see the kids tomorrow and wanted to let me know he wouldn’t make it.”

  “The kids aren’t going to their grandmother’s funeral?” Lauren just assumed Tucker would take his kids to help him through it. Knowing he was facing the funeral alone didn’t sit well with her.

  “No, they really didn’t know her. Tucker didn’t have much of a relationship with her or his stepfather.”

  “Do you know why?” Lauren braced her hands on the back of the vacant chair.

  “Uh, I think he’d better be the one to tell you about that.”

  Lauren raked her hands through her hair. So much about the man remained a mystery. “There is something you can tell me about...” Lauren didn’t even know how to broach the subject. How did she ask a woman whether her former husband abused her?

  “The pictures.”

  Lauren’s head snapped up. “How did you know I’d seen them?”

  “Tucker told me.”

  The conversation was getting stranger by the minute. “He told you? Why?”

  Amanda looked her in the eye. “He wanted me to explain what happened. He didn’t think you’d believe him.”

  Lauren sank down when her legs trembled. The twisting in her stomach told her she would regret her rush to judgement. “Please, I need to know what happened.”

  Amanda sunk her teeth into her lower lip as she crossed her arms. “Tucker didn’t do that to me. Rex did.”

  “Who’s Rex?” Lauren could barely get the question out past the lump in her throat.

  “He’s the reason Tucker went to jail.” Amanda covered her mouth with one hand, her eyes brimming with tears. “He hurt me, but I never thought he’d want to hurt my daughter.”

  Closing her eyes, Lauren sucked in a deep breath. She’d been so wrong about Tucker. Could he ever forgive her for doubting him? “Why did the police think Tucker did that to you?”

  “I blamed him.” Her face crumpled, and she began to sob. “We were in a really bad place. I hated him, and I wanted to punish him for leaving me.”

  “Oh God,” Lauren cried, bending at the waist. Her stomach roiled, and she feared she just might lose her breakfast all over her Prada flats. “I can’t believe this.”

  “Rex swore it would never happen again. He was drunk and...” She shook her head. “I was such a fool. When I heard the things he said to my baby, the things he wanted to do to her...” She pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her feet on the edge of her seat. “I couldn’t believe I’d been so stupid. And that mistake cost Tucker eighteen months of his life. It should have been Rex behind bars, not him.”

  Lauren was furious with Amanda, but she tried to maintain her composure. She needed to hear the rest of the story. “Why didn’t you tell the police the truth?”

  “I was scared. I thought I might lose my kids. I couldn’t let that happen.”

  So Tucker assumed the role of villain and did the time without telling anyone about Amanda’s boyfriend’s role? It didn’t make sense. Why would he sacrifice himself for a man he despised? “Why didn’t Tucker tell the whole story in court?”

  Amanda looked ashamed. “I pleaded with him not to. I told him our kids needed at least one of their parents. I thought if the truth came out, they might be taken away. Tucker had still beaten Rex badly. The odds of him walking away without serving time were slim. He knew that. He wanted to know our kids would be safe with me.”

  Lauren wanted to question how Amanda’s home was a safe place for two innocent children, given Amanda’s questionable taste in men, but there would be plenty of time to tell Amanda her behavior was abhorrent later. Right then, she was more concerned about Tucker.

  “You always told me how much you hated him. Why? What did he ever do to make you hate him so much?”

  “He stopped loving me,” she whispered. “When we got married, he promised he’d always be there for me. He lied.”

  Lauren sighed. The situation was too complex for her to wrap her brain around. “I need to find Tucker. Do you know where he is?”

  “Yeah. Give me your phone. I’ll give you the address.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Tucker sat in his truck, staring at the tiny three bedroom house he’d grown up in. It was even more dilapidated than he remembered, but the real horror was inside. The house held unspeakable secrets.

  Cars lined the small driveway, so at least he wouldn’t have to be alone with his stepfather, Sam. He feared what might happen if they were alone. Sam had been the object of his twisted revenge fantasies for more years than he could count. Acc
ording to the therapist he’d talked to in jail, Sam was the source of his inner rage.

  As a child, Tucker had been helpless to stop the man’s rampages, but now Sam was the helpless one. Old and feeble, without a prayer of protecting himself if Tucker ever unleashed his temper on him.

  His mother was gone. Tucker wanted to feel something, but he couldn’t. Barbara hadn’t been a real mother to him since his father died and she slipped into depression. Marrying Sam meant she had someone to share the burden, but Sam wasn’t interested in parenting someone else’s children. According to him, Tucker and his sister were a nuisance.

  Tucker lost count of the number of times his stepfather told him he wished he’d never been born. Tucker used to wish that as well. But he got stronger, thanks to his uncle, and when Tucker became a teenager, Sam was afraid to challenge him. Sam wandered around the house muttering to himself, but the manic outbursts stopped when Tucker told him he’d better sleep with one eye open.

  How did someone steel themselves to face the horrors of their childhood while pretending to grieve a mother they hadn’t loved or respected in years? Tucker was still contemplating that question when his passenger’s door opened and Lauren slid in. He’d never been happier to see a familiar face.

  “Hi there,” she said, as though meeting under those circumstances was normal. When Tucker couldn’t find his voice, she asked, “Why did you leave the police station without telling me what happened?”

  “I don’t know.” He’d been in shock when he got the call, and he was trying to process his feelings. At first he mistook his pain for remorse, but when he’d had more time to ponder it, he realized he was simply grieving the relationship he and Barbara had never had.

  Lauren slid her hand across the gearshift, reaching for his bandaged hand. “You shouldn’t drive with one hand.”

  He smiled. He’d been driving with one hand since he was old enough to get his learner’s permit. “If you say so.” Having her there was a nice diversion. He could escape his thoughts for a while. “How did you know where to find me?”

  “Amanda told me.”

  Tucker watched a dark blue sedan pull up to the curb. An elderly couple got out. The lady wiped her nose with a tissue, leaning into her husband for support. At least some people were genuinely sorry his mother wasn’t gracing the earth anymore.

  He’d just received news of his mother’s passing a few hours ago. Judging by the friends and neighbours who’d arrived to offer his step-father support, her son was one of the last people Sam had notified.

  “She told me about the pictures, Tucker.”

  “I’m glad you know.” He hated feeling as though Lauren thought he was capable of hurting Amanda, but he couldn’t blame her. In her position, he would have felt the same way. Smart girls like Lauren didn’t risk their future happiness on men like Tucker Brooks.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I don’t know how I could have thought-”

  “Don’t blame yourself. You had every reason to suspect I’d do something like that. My temper precedes me.”

  “Why are you so angry?”

  That was the million dollar question. People had been asking that for years. But did he have the courage to tell Lauren the truth? “When I’m angry, I feel in control... like no one can hurt me. Anger insulates me, protects me.”

  Lauren shifted in her seat to face him. “Protects you from what?”

  “Getting hurt. Physically, emotionally...” He’d learned a long time ago pain had so many different types and levels. Too many.

  “Did you get hurt physically as a kid? Is that why you don’t have a relationship with your family?”

  He could have endured physical pain, if that’s all there was. But he had to come to terms with the emotional pain of knowing he could have helped his sister and didn’t. “That man is not my family. He’s the enemy.”

  “You’re talking about your stepfather?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What about your mother? Was she the enemy too?”

  For years, Tucker had tried to figure out how he felt about his mother. Most days it ran the gamut from pity to disgust, but there was an underlying anger and frustration he couldn’t quash. “No, she wasn’t my enemy, but she wasn’t my protector either.” As a parent, Tucker knew that his most important job was to make his kids feel safe and loved.

  “And you resent her for that?” Lauren’s questions were softly spoken but loaded with ammunition, and she watched him carefully for a reaction.

  “Yeah, I do.” He tipped his head back against the seat. “I don’t remember much about my old man, just what she told me, but I can’t help but feel growing up with him would have been better than growing up in that hell hole.”

  “What made it so terrible?”

  That was the moment of truth. Did he have the guts to share his nightmare and hope she wouldn’t brand him a coward? “He sexually abused my sister.”

  Lauren sucked in a sharp breath as she set her hand on his thigh. “And you?”

  “He knocked me around a lot, but my sister always got the worst of it. She was older. According to him, she should have known better than to challenge him.” Just repeating Sam’s claims prompted Tucker to curl his good hand into a fist.

  “Are you still in touch with your sister?”

  Tucker swallowed the golf ball-sized lump in his throat. “She went missing when I was a kid.”

  “Oh, God. No.”

  “I know he killed her.” Tucker braved a glance at Lauren and saw a tear slide down her cheek. God help him, he loved that woman.

  “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

  He didn’t know if he could, but he wanted to try. “I heard it all through the wall. I heard her cry. I heard his warnings. I told my mother, I begged her to leave him, to get help, but she told me I didn’t know what I was talking about. After a while, I started to believe her. I thought maybe I was the crazy one. Maybe I was having nightmares, imagining what I thought I heard.”

  “Oh, Tucker, I can’t even imagine what that must have been like for you.”

  It was hell on earth, but after a while, he convinced himself it was normal. Believing that other kids were coping with the same challenges was the only thing that kept him sane.

  “Did you ever tell your uncle about it?”

  “He was away at school. He didn’t come back until I was twelve, and by that time, I just tried to block it out of my mind. If I thought about what happened to my sister, what she must have gone through before she died, I couldn’t handle it.” Scalding tears slid down his cheeks. The first tears he’d shed since he found out his sister wasn’t coming home. The irony wasn’t lost on him. On the day he should be grieving for his mother, he was finally able to grieve for his sister.

  “Oh, honey.” Lauren reached out to pull him into her arms. When she couldn’t get close enough, she climbed over the gearshift and settled herself in his lap. Lauren set the seat back as far as it would go and just held him. “Nothing that happened in that house was your fault. You were just a kid.”

  “I could have told someone.” That’s the part that hurt the most, knowing he could have saved his sister’s life if he’d found the courage to speak up sooner.

  She ran her hands over his damp cheeks before running her fingers through his hair and tipping his face up to meet hers. Dropping a gentle kiss on his lips, she said, “You don’t belong here, Tucker.”

  He suspected she was right. There was no telling how he might react if he saw his stepfather again, and given his recent brush with the law, he couldn’t take that chance. “All right, let’s just go home.”

  “Before we do, can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure.” There were no more secrets left between them, except one, and he would have to share that before he allowed their relationship to go any further.

  “Did they ever find your sister’s body?”

  Tucker winced. He still had nightmares about what
that bastard had done with her body. “No.”

  “That doesn’t mean you can’t build a place to honor her memory.” She kissed him. “I think it might help if you had a place to go and talk to her.”

  “You mean some headstone at a cemetery?” Tucker didn’t see how that would help, but Lauren suggested it, so he would listen.

  “Yes. You could have her photograph, her favorite item or saying etched onto the stone, the fact that she was a beloved sister who’s missed. It’s a way of honoring her life.”

  “You might be right. I’ll think about it.”

  “I could ask my uncle Derek to look into the case. I don’t know if there’s a statute of limitations preventing your stepfather from being prosecuted. He must be getting on in years. Maybe he would consider owning up to what he did so you could lay her body to rest.”

  It spoke volumes that Lauren cared enough to even suggest that. “I love you.”

  Her eyes widened on a sharp intake of breath. “You don’t have to-”

  “I mean it.” He framed her face with his hands. “I swore I’d never say that to another woman. Given how things went down with Amanda, I thought I couldn’t trust another woman, but you proved me wrong, baby.”

  Another tear slid down her cheek, and she clamped her teeth down on her lip when it trembled. “I’m so sorry I thought the worst when I saw those pictures. I didn’t want to believe you were capable of something like that, but with those images staring me in the face... I thought I’d be a fool to ignore it.”

  “You would have been.” He caught her tear with the thumb of his bandaged hand and smiled. “You were smart to be cautious, Lauren. Don’t ever apologize for trying to protect yourself.”

  “But I realize now that I don’t need protection from you. You would never hurt me.”

  He thought of the secret that stood between them. “Not intentionally.”

  She frowned. “What does that mean?”