“I don’t understand.” My confusion has definitely reached a new level. “What does your job have to do with my parents’ death?”
“I wouldn’t have connected the dots either, but Greg never could stand to let his mastermind go unnoticed. When Claire and I returned from the funeral, I had a meeting with Greg. We were going to go over some current cases, and I was going to talk with him again about us leaving. I was even more determined to simplify our lives after I lost John and Elisabeth, and almost you. But Greg cut our meeting short before I could get to it, excusing me so he could make some calls. Before I left the room, though, he told me how sorry he was about my brother’s death and that perhaps next time I would believe him when he tells me that no one leaves the firm until he says they can. He wanted to make sure I understood the extent of his powerful reach.”
“Are you saying Gregory Meyer had my parents killed just because you wanted to quit? How is that even possible? There was a torrential down pour that night! And we only went out because I begged my parents! A car hydroplaned into us! This doesn’t make any sense!” I’m sitting on the edge of my seat, trying to convince Luke that he’s wrong.
“It wasn’t just because I wanted to leave. It was because I challenged him. I threatened him and he retaliated.” Luke leans back in his chair, sad and defeated. “This is where Wes comes in. He knows more about how Greg made things happen than I’ll ever understand.” Luke nods to Wes as if finally giving permission to tell me the secret they’ve both been keeping.
“Were you involved in this?” I ask fearfully.
“No! And no one you know was. When Greg wanted something done he found experts to do it. You couldn’t have just a little bit of experience with something for Greg to use you. You needed to be the go-to person for it. So, when he needed a car accident, he went to a former stunt man he had on the payroll,” Wes explains. His tone is soft and forthcoming. “The guy was apparently facing some pretty serious blackmail charges from some Hollywood royalty and Greg got everything dropped. A stunt man is the kind of guy you want around when you need to make something look like an accident.”
“How do you arrange a car accident?” I ask.
“Do you remember when I told you that Greg doesn’t do anything himself because he doesn’t have the patience to sit his ass in a car for hours and watch someone?” Wes asks. I nod immediately remembering that as one of the first conversations Wes and I ever had. “Your house was bugged and your parents’ cars were tagged with GPS so Greg’s guys would know when and where you were going at all times. After the bugs and GPS were set, they guys just had to be patient. The storm that night was the perfect condition for a car accident, and when it was clear you were leaving your house, the guys moved. They knew where you were going and with the GPS knew exactly the route you’d take. Greg always had pictures taken in case he needed some leverage with an overconfident henchman.” Wes gives Luke a look, as Luke is the one who has referred to the men on Gregory Meyer’s secret payroll as henchmen.
“How do you know all this?” I ask Wes. If he wasn’t there, how could he possibly know all the details?
“We henchmen were a fraternity of sorts. We didn’t have anyone else to talk to. We were the only ones who knew what it was like to be controlled by Meyer that way. I had just been brought in and a few of the guys were showing me the ropes, giving me Gregory Meyer’s Ten Commandments. Well, one of the guys was giving me some 101 on how Greg likes things done. He started explaining the technical side to one of his last jobs…how he did the bugging and tagging and another guy drove the car.”
“I want to meet the driver,” I say blankly. “I have a right to face him.”
“You can’t, Layla,” Luke says.
“Why not? If neither he nor Meyer is going to pay for what they did, then he deserves a tongue lashing from me at the very least!”
“Because he’s dead. He was just the driver and was told what his mark was. The objective was to send a message about what Meyer was capable of. If that ended in his mark dying, fine. If not, the message would still be clear. When he realized you were in car, too, he freaked. The thought that he could have killed a child tormented him for weeks. He went to Meyer and told him about there being a kid in the car and asked to be released from his duties, but Meyer didn’t care.” Wes sighs. “They found him dead in his car, closed up in his garage with the engine running. He left a note laying it all out but there were too many cops on Meyer’s payroll for it to find its way into evidence.” Wes’s delivery features his usual cool and calm cadence. He knows how to communicate terrible information without letting the awful details deter him from his objective.
“How could you stand working for him after that? He killed my father…your brother,” I say to Luke. I’m trying not to cry as I think about the insanity of it all.
“I was scared, Layla. I had to stay. He had made his point, and his point was that I was not immune to his rules. I knew exactly what he was capable of. I don’t know what he would have done, who else he would have hurt, if I followed through with my threat to turn him into the ethics board,” Luke says, his face strained and his voice faltering as he relives the pain he went through.
“That’s why you changed your mind about having another baby. You were afraid of what he might do to them.” The pieces of this impossible puzzle are coming together and I can’t believe the picture that is being revealed.
“And why even five years later I convinced Claire that having you live with us would be too difficult for her. I hated that I had kept her from being a mother again. I felt like the more people there were in my life that I loved, the more targets there were in his twisted game. But…when I saw you standing there in the kitchen after the funeral, so afraid that you were about to be abandoned…I couldn’t deny you or Claire the opportunity to have the family you needed. It wouldn’t have been fair to either of you. That’s when I vowed to spend every second of my time at the firm collecting even more evidence to one day take Greg down.”
Wes and Luke wait silently while I absorb everything. This is not what I was expecting, not that I knew what to expect. I’ve heard about, witnessed, and personally experienced the wrath of Gregory Meyer, but the lengths that man would go to prove a point or send a message is now frighteningly clear.
I consider everything that Will and I have been through over the past three years and see how lucky we really are. After Will raised his voice at his father that night at dinner, and then my refusal to back down at his House Call, I could have easily had an accident and never been seen again.
The accident.
“Oh my God,” I whisper, realization spreading across my face.
“What is it?” Luke asks, taking me by the shoulders in concern.
“Didn’t Meyer’s response to Will’s interest in me always seem extreme? I mean he had no idea where things would go with us. We could have dated a few months and then fizzled out. But right from the beginning he was adamant that I stay away from Will,” I say.
“Everything Greg did was to the extreme. What are you getting at?” Luke says.
“Don’t you get it? I existed in Will’s world because of Gregory Meyer.” Wes and Luke look as confused as two people can.
“If Meyer hadn’t gone after my parents to prove a point to you, I would never have ended up in Davidson. It’s because of him that my parents died, I went to live with Gram and Gramps, and ended up here with you.”
I sit on the couch and put my face in my hands. My body begins to shake and Luke is at my side in an attempt to console me. I can’t hold back any longer and before I know it I’m laughing uncontrollably. It’s that crazy kind of laugh that one does when the choices are either to laugh or to cry hysterically.
“Layla?” Luke pulls me up so I’m sitting against the back of the couch and he can see the weird spectacle I’m making. “What…what are you doing?”
“Don’t you see?” I say in between laughs. “He did this to himself! All of it! Every
thing he’s had to fix has been because he broke it!” I’m trying to stop laughing but it’s difficult. “Had he not shoved Holly and Marcus’ mother to the curb the way he did, there may not have been a Holly to deal with, and if he hadn’t been so cruel to them I doubt she would have shot him on the steps of the courthouse! If he had let Eliana take Will back to Hickory with her, I would never have met Will.
“His culpability was so much deeper than him doing what he had to do to get what he wanted. Everything that threatened his blueprint for success for Will was brought about by his own hand. That’s why he was so intent on getting rid of me, of Holly. Will once told me that he used to date girls his father didn’t approve of. His father never made any of them disappear. When I met Meyer, he had no idea how serious Will and I were, or would become, but he had to cut off the potential relationship because he knew the only reason I was here was because of him, and he couldn’t risk me being cut from the same cloth as my activist parents or ethical uncle.”
“I’m so sorry, Layla,” Luke says, shaking his head.
“Why are you sorry?” I ask, calming down and focusing on Luke’s evident pain.
“I should never have pressed him. If I hadn’t pushed things, he would have never gone after John and Elisabeth.” I can see the weight of our world resting on Luke’s shoulders.
“You could have never known he would do what he did. It’s not your fault, Dad!” I throw my arms around Luke and hold him tight like the night in Ashville he made sure I knew my parents’ death was not my fault. Now it’s my turn.
“I knew what he was capable of…I just never thought I’d be on the receiving end,” Luke says through soft sobs.
“Dad…”
“Would you have still come to live with us if you knew all this from the beginning?” he asks, wiping the tears that have escaped his eyes.
I think for a moment, not sure how to answer this loaded question. “I don’t know if I would or not. It all sounds so farfetched that I don’t think I would have believed you if you told me. What I do know is that I’m not the same person I was three years ago, and I wouldn’t be this girl if you and Claire hadn’t become my parents.” I sit on the couch, still reeling from what Luke and Wes have explained, and the realizations I’ve come to. “Claire doesn’t know any of this?”
“No, and I don’t want her to, so please don’t say anything to her,” Luke pleads.
“I won’t say anything, but I think you should tell her. She needs to know why you changed your mind about having another baby,” I tell him. For almost eight years Claire has lived under the assumption that Luke couldn’t stand to have some kind of replacement child. If she knew that he changed his mind in order to protect her, the pain she’s lived with might just go away.
“I can’t, Layla. I don’t think I could look her in the eyes and tell her I lied to her about the thing that meant the most to her in this world.” Luke hangs his head, the weight of all he’s carried for so long shifting along his shoulders.
“She’ll understand if you tell her it was to protect her, to protect your potential baby. It won’t be easy for you to say, or her to hear, but she needs to know. Believe me…I know. The day I found out about my father and the explosion, the hardest part was having been lied to. And today…you kept the real cause of my parents’ death from me to protect me. I don’t like being lied to, but now that I know and understand, I actually feel pretty loved.”
“I’ll…I’ll think about it. But I’m not making any promises.”
“Well,” Wes begins. “It’s over now, and despite his efforts to the otherwise, Gregory Meyer made us all stronger. Because of him, there is nothing we can’t handle. So our next move is to get Will and Eliana ready for the press conference.”
“Yes, of course,” Luke says, collecting himself. “The press conference is in two days. Layla are you planning on being there?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I’m perplexed. Why would my attendance even be a question?
“Will wasn’t sure if he wanted you there or not. Only because the press can be, well, the press. He’s just trying to protect you,” Luke explains preemptively before I get frustrated at the thought of being left out of something again.
“I know, but I’m going to be there to support Will,” I tell him. “He thinks he has to do everything on his own in some show of Braveheartesque manliness. We’re a team and I’m not letting him walk out there into a hungry den of media lions to be eaten alive.”
Luke sighs, clearly not wanting me to go either. But, by now they all know better than to fight me on this. “Ok. Then let’s get your statement to the press ready.”
Chapter 10
We worked on my statement to the press for hours last night. Will and Luke are going to do everything they can to keep me from having to speak, but thought it best to have something prepared anyway. It’s a general statement about how I didn’t know that Will was faking his death, and that my move to Tallahassee to go to Florida State had been predetermined before I even moved to Davidson and met Will. While I’m glad to be prepared, I hope to God I don’t have to say a word.
“Hey babe,” Will says as he finds me in the loft in my big green chair. I’ve missed this spot and could cozy up here all day. I won’t stay here all day, though, because Will and I are going to take a slow, deliberate walk down the flagstone path out to the lake. I’m more excited than I can bear and am so glad Will finally finished working on his statement so we can go.
“Hey! I thought you’d never finish! How is it? Are you feeling good about it?” I ask.
“As good as one can feel about a statement designed to confess to having lied to an entire community about my death. But…I can’t worry about it too much. I know that what Mom and I did was for the best for us, and my future with you.” Will kisses the top of my head and takes my hand, pulling me from my comfy spot.
“I’m proud of you, Will. I know this isn’t going to be easy, but you’re handling it so well.”
“Like I said before, I’m not as concerned about me as I am you and Mom. Regardless of the truths about my father that have come to light, there are some real jerks out there that are going to try and twist things for a good story. I’m hoping it won’t come to it, but if it does, just stick with your statement. Don’t go rogue on me, ok?”
“Me? Go rogue? I have no idea what you’re talking about!” I giggle and take Will’s hand as we move to the stairs.
“You know,” Will begins, stopping us at the railing and eying the oversized couch. “Since I live here now, I’m thinking we could probably arrange a prom-night-revisit. What do you think?”
“That would be awesome,” I say, remembering the beautiful, non-sex filled night we spent together after prom. It was a dream come true to spend the night in Will’s arms, waking up with him beside me. I stop myself before I continue to the memories because it wasn’t long after that night that the nightmare of Will’s disappearance began.
“C’mon. The lake is waiting for us.” Will smiles and all the craziness that awaits us in the days to come seems to fade away. I want to relish these moments when our lives seem normal because I don’t know how long it will take for the dust to settle and our lives become our own again.
We’re about to walk through the French doors in the kitchen that will take us to the dock when Wes comes charging in.
“We have a problem. You two need to come here,” he demands. He doesn’t even wait for a response, but turns with an expectation that we’ll follow him. Which we do.
“What’s going on?” I ask as we enter Luke and Claire’s bedroom. The TV is on and everyone is huddled around it like they’re watching aliens invade. I hear a woman’s voice, full of emotion, and she’s talking about Holly.
“My daughter acted bravely in the face of a tyrant. Gregory Meyer was a cruel and abusive man, and when it was clear that he was manipulating the jury, she just couldn’t stand the thought that he might go free…” the southern voice declares.
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“Who is this?” I ask.
“That’s Holly’s mother, Marlene Harris,” Luke replies.
“Harris?” I question.
“Yeah, she went back to her maiden name after Meyer divorced her and never changed it when she married Reynolds,” Luke answers.
“Wait. She’s Holly’s mother?” Will says, stunned. “This isn’t good.”
“Are you saying you dated a girl and never knew who her parents were?” For someone as old school and chivalrous as Will, this strikes me as odd.
“Her mom was never there when I picked her up. I only met her dad,” Will says, still staring at the TV.
“Ok…so I still don’t get why this is a problem. It sounds like everything she’s saying is true,” I say, listening to the woman’s soft sobs as she recounts the abuse and manipulation Gregory Meyer was known for among his wives.
“Because she’s completely unreliable,” Claire says. I see a look of frustration on her face, which is strange. Claire doesn’t get frustrated. She finds solutions.
“Yes. She spent years, off and on, after their divorce spreading rumors and making false accusations about Gregory, the firm, its clients and me. None of it was true and Gregory almost sued her for libel and defamation of character. Someone at the firm was able to persuade him that doing so would just add fuel to her fire. So, he made a convincing statement to the press and she was laughed out of town. For her to come forward now is going to make it hard for our statements to be credible,” Eliana explains.
“I specifically told her to wait. Geez!” Luke gruffs as he runs his hands through his hair. “We’re going to have to go down there now. Wes, call Steven and tell him we’re coming. I’ll have to do some damage control and get Will to make his statement now. Are you ok with that?” he asks Will in the midst of his directions.
Safe Harbor (The Lake Trilogy, Book 3) Page 8