And Bobby didn’t hold back on telling him what had been happening with him either. This was Royce they’d been through too much and he’d risked his life to save him and he wasn’t going to pretend it had been easy, it hadn’t, it had been hard as hell, so he told him about the visits. “Oh my god Bobby what did they do?” “They beat the living shit out of me. I was in the hospital for a week, my fingers were all busted up, my ribs, man I was in bad shape, it took a long time for me not to feel any pain man,” Bobby said. “Oh man I’m sorry to hear that Bobby, real sorry.” “Don’t, if I had to get the shit kicked out of me and you and Joy were safe Royce I’d do it again and again.”
Royce smiled but he was hurt and Bobby told him about Gibeau’s visit. “Then the visits stopped, but you kept me aware and I thank you Royce, those little messages let me know what I was here for, it kept me man,” he said and they wiped tears again. “So it’s over?” Bobby asked after they’d told each other everything. “That’s what I’m told, my father’s passing seemed to have ended everything. I hate to say I’m glad he’s gone because I don’t have any answers as to why, but I’m glad if that means this is over. Living in fear for your family is no way to live, even if you do it the best you can,” he said. “I know man,” and Bobby pat him on the shoulder.
“So what’s going on around here? Looks like you did wonderful without me so I don’t know if you want me back or not,” and Bobby looked hurt, “Royce I need you man, I’ve done the best I could in your absence,” and he didn’t want to say he sweated every decision. That he longed to bounce things off Royce and he needed him in so many ways, ways he didn’t know until he was gone, and seeing him walk through the door was the happiest moment in his life, “I need you, the firm needs you.”
“Well okay then,” his decision was made without hesitation he was coming back to Harrington-Rhodes. “Your office is still where you left it,” Bobby said, and he looked at him, “I couldn’t let anyone use it, I left it for you,” and they got up and walked next door, but it was at the end of the hall, the big office with the expansive views. Bobby had a big office too, but Royce’s had been bigger and better and that’s because Bobby always felt it was Royce who led the company. It was Royce who had the confidence that they could do this, it was Royce who met and shook hands with other heads of companies and acted as if it was no big deal as he smiled and worked deals, and had no problem saying what needed to be said. It was Royce’s way, his personality that gave them their reputation of being a company to work with, everybody liked him and wanted to do business with him. Royce made it look so easy, he’d run a meeting and get things done and everyone came out smiling, shaking hands and planning to meet at the golf course.
It was Royce the man he missed most these past ten years, meetings didn’t go as smoothly as they did when he was here. Bobby knew he was a behind the scenes and by the book kind of guy, he didn’t know how to smooth things over and say things in ways that came across the way he wanted, so he offended sometimes unintentionally, and because Royce had built up such a good reputation over the years he’d been riding on that and had been successful for Royce but he couldn’t wait until the day Royce came back, and he prayed for his safety and safe return almost every day.
Royce walked into his office and it looked like he’d just left yesterday and not ten years. It was clean and the only sign that no one had been there was his desk didn’t have the usual files and papers stacked on it. He saw the pictures of his wedding day and he picked one up, look at us, damn look at how beautiful she is.
When they were on the run they hadn’t taken a single wedding photo with them, only essentials. “How’s the house?” Bobby saw him looking at the picture. “Still standing and waiting,” Bobby had held on to that thought, that one day Royce would be back. “I’ll call Joy and let her know we’re moving back to Dallas,” and Bobby smiled big.
Jameson was in Dallas too. He went straight to his office Carl T. Jameson Investigations. Reggie had kept it running and he was there when he walked in. “Oh my god Jameson!” He said excited when he saw him, like Royce he didn’t want anyone to know he was coming back, it was just a precaution. Reggie didn’t know if he could hug him or not. Conrad had already come through, so he knew the case was over, and the only indication he’d given of Jameson’s return was, “He went with the Harrington’s, so I don’t know man, but he said come here and see where I can be of use,” and he’d kept the system Jameson had in place. He liked using the white boards and he’d long ago taken down the white board with Harrington written on it, but he’d kept the file on his desk and added to it, and it was a reminder that the case was still open and it was thick, thicker than any file they’d ever had.
Jameson smiled, “Well I see everything is in one piece,” and they shook hands, “Okay fill me in,” he said and that was that. Reggie jumped right in and went over each case and when he was done Jameson told him what he wanted done and what he was going to handle, and then he left and went to his ex-wife’s house.
Jameson knocked on the door. He had no hopes or illusions she’d want him or even want to see him, it had been years since he’d seen her and all he’d done was send little messages with his money, and even though he knew his son was long grown and gone he still sent her the same amount as if he was still obligated. He knocked and she opened the door, and despite what she thought she’d say when he came back and she knew he’d come back. Despite her wanting to give him a piece of her mind she looked at him, “Carl,” she wiped a tear and then she burst into sobs. He walked in and closed the door, “Don’t baby, don’t, don’t cry,” he took those words from Royce and he took her in his arms, “I’m here baby, I’m here,” he soothed, “Shhh, shhh, it's okay, I’m home now, I’m home.” He was kissing her now, kissing her face, her cheeks “Oh baby, don’t, don’t,” and she felt him getting closer to her lips and then he was there, “Oh,” she moaned as his lips touched hers. It had been so long and he was here and it felt like yesterday he left and all the years washed away in his kiss, in his embrace. Jameson held onto her and kissed her sweet lips. “Nik, oh Nik, oh baby I missed you,” she didn’t care it had been ten years, she didn’t care he was here now and she let him take her to her bedroom and ease the pain between her legs that only he could.
Royce put himself to work. He had Bobby go over everything that was going on and he sat at his desk and went back to it. Ms. Severs his secretary had retired and moved to Vegas Bobby told him. He hardly knew anyone in the office, a few senior executives were still there and they were happy and exuberant as they shook his hand and welcomed him back, others had been promoted since he’d last been here but he was glad to be back. That night he stayed at Bobby’s. Sarah insisted on cooking for him and the fellas came over, Chris, Eric and Collin, and they must have cried a thousand tears and he told them a little of what happened, not as detailed as he’d been with Bobby but enough, and they cried and let him know that they’d missed and worried about him.
And finally he called his mother, he’d been worried about calling her. He had no idea what she knew or didn’t know, if she was in on it or not, but he decided the only way to find out was to call, but he called Jameson first. “Jameson, I’m about to call my mother, let me know if you hear anything afterwards. I’m not sure man.” “Will do Mr. Harrington,” and he could hear the smile on Jameson’s face. He’d called him with his new cell phone number practically before he’d gotten out the store good, and now he dialed the number to the ranch. The number they’d had since he could remember and the butler answered.
“I’d like to speak to Allison Harrington please.” “May I ask who’s calling sir?” “Just tell her it’s a very dear friend,” and he could hear his mother, “What? Who would be calling me?” “Hello, this is Allison Harrington.” “Mother,” and she broke down, “Royce, Royce darling is that you?” “Yes mother it’s me.” “Oh my Royce! How could you do that, how could you run off like that without telling us where you were? How could you
do that Royce?” “It’s a long story mother, but I felt for the safety of my family and did what was right at the time,” and over the line he could hear his mother crying, “Are you home darling? Are you safe now?” “Yes mother, I’m home and I am safe.” “Well I need to see you, I haven’t seen you in so long, come home, come home Royce, can you come home?” “Yes mother I can do that.”
“Oh Royce I have news, it’s not good you’ve been gone so long I will share it with you when you get here, it’s not news I want to share over the phone.” “If it’s about father passing I’m aware of that, I spoke with Bobby.” “Oh Royce darling, yes your father is gone and I know he wouldn’t have wanted to miss this day,” she cried and Royce was thinking, no, he wanted it the other way around, he wanted this day to be about the death of my family. “When can you come home?” “Well I’m in Dallas now I can fly up tomorrow and see you.” “Oh that will be wonderful, just wonderful, everyone will be so happy to see you!” And he could hear the excitement, “Tommy is here, Karen is here with us, and oh Alice Ann, well it might be too much for her to get here from North Carolina on such short notice, but I’ll call Dillon, he’s out at Tech. He’s staying and doing an internship this summer then he’s going for his masters in the fall. Says he wants to major in Clinical Psychology, imagine that,” his mother was going on and on.
“That’s wonderful mother I can’t wait to see all of you,” his mother paused, “And I need to tell you this so you won’t be surprised but Tammy is here with us. She just got out a couple of months ago and she had nowhere else to go and Karen begged me to take her in, and she is the children’s mother after all,” Royce hadn’t thought about Tammy and he was glad to know she’d spent the full ten years in prison since he felt he’d spent the last ten years locked up too so to speak.
“Okay mother thanks for letting me know,” and Royce didn’t know how he felt about that or if he understood but he did tell Bobby when he got off the phone though, “Tammy is out of prison and staying with my mother,” and Bobby was shocked. “Well I made sure she stayed in there I tell you that,” he said angrily. Bobby felt all this was because of Tammy a woman he should have never been with in the first place. She never deserved Royce in his opinion and then he told Royce what he’d done.
“When I found out about her parole hearing I flew to Gatesville man and made sure she stayed locked up.” Back then Bobby was so mad at her and still was for causing this, for causing Royce to have to run and hide and he was scared for him, so scared and he blamed Tammy and he told the parole board that. “Her actions and what she started has caused Royce Harrington and his family to fear for their lives and they had to flee for their safety as they are uncertain who or what will be coming after them and they believe another threat is imminent. She caused them to give up their life, their livelihood, and she should remain in prison for the maximum of her sentence,” he said angrily, and he saw Karen and Dillon. Karen was crying and they were the only ones who’d shown up asking for their mother to be released.
Tammy had been miserable in prison and had regretted from the moment the doors clanged behind her what she’d done, but mostly that she’d been caught. She wished with everything in her that her plan had worked and Joy and her evil spawn were no more, and then if it came out then so be it, but to be in prison for planning burned her to her core and her only solace was her children. She called every chance she got until Walker Sr. found out and put a stop to that and put his foot down, “You will call them once a week or I will shut down all communication! We can’t have you calling whenever you feel like it upsetting the children!” He’d told her furious, “Wednesday between four and six! That’s it!” And he’d held her to that, she tried to break that a few times but the butler who was the only one who answered the phone wouldn’t accept her charges unless it was Wednesday between four and six.
Since no one would bring them to see her Tammy wouldn’t see her children for three years and for her it was three long tortuous years of once a week calling and no visits. Karen was fourteen when she was sent to prison and it would take her getting her driver’s license and a car to end that drought and they finally came to visit her.
And after five years Tammy was ready, more than ready to come home. She’d survived the best she could in prison; she’d pretended she liked being in a woman’s bed with her fingers between her legs and her tongue deep inside her; she’d pretended she would kick the shit out of anyone who crossed her when she was scared shitless. She’d flirted and let a couple of guards know they could have her if it meant she could win favors and get a little bit of freedom, but none of them took the bait. After five years she was tired of pretending she wanted to go home and it was Karen and Dillon who tried to free her, but it was Bobby who stopped it.
The parole board looked hard at Tammy after his statement and the head of the board asked, “Were you aware Mr. Harrington and his family had fled fearing for their safety?” “Yes, but it had nothing to do with me, I didn’t do anything,” but she knew Royce was gone. Karen had told her, “Daddy’s gone mom and no one knows where. Grandma is really upset about it too,” and she remembered at the time thinking, run, run, you should run, if I’m locked up in prison you shouldn’t be happy either. Run and take that bitch and your mixed spawn with you. She wasn’t sorry Royce had to run and with that the parole board denied her parole, also believing she had something to do with it.
The next day instead of flying Royce decided to drive. Amarillo was only a few hours from Dallas and he wanted to think, be alone, and be free for a change, just go with no worries, no fears so he said goodbye to Bobby, “I’ll get back as soon I can okay.” He wanted to roar up the freeway so he rented a red Mustang GT with a stick shift and sped up highway 75 towards Oklahoma.
He drove with his music blasting. The car came with satellite radio and he loved it. He found so many stations with music that he loved and hadn’t heard in a long time that he made little drum beats on the steering wheel as he drove. He was carefree but he also thought long and hard as he was zooming down the highway and by the time he reached Amarillo city limits he felt a knot in his stomach and he knew he didn’t want to see Tammy. He hated her with everything in him, and his mother he didn’t know what she knew or didn’t but she didn’t seem to care about what happened to him if she thought welcoming Tammy was okay. She clearly just didn’t get it. Tammy was in jail for trying to have his wife and children murdered, that should be reason enough for her not to want anything to do with her. He was her son, her flesh and blood and he felt she was being either naïve or cavalier about the whole thing either way he wasn’t sure if he was ready to face someone who didn’t understand or who wasn’t ready to understand.
His thoughts turned to Joy, if only I’d taken her to see them, maybe they wouldn’t have been so attached to Tammy. Joy was ten times the better person than Tammy. Tammy had proven herself to be a heartless bitch in his opinion, but he’d been afraid to take Joy to meet his family, afraid his father would say something to hurt her, and he just couldn’t do it. He’d seen how they treated Tammy at first and the best thing then was to stay away and it took time and children for them to accept her, but he didn’t do that with Joy and he felt the knot, and that’s why my father could do such a thing, he didn’t know her. He didn’t know how beautiful and wonderful she is, and as he neared the turn off towards the ranch he saw the sign, “Junction 207,” and he thought of Karen.
He didn’t know how she’d turned out and he wondered if she was alright mentally, and if she was anything like before and still defending her mother and he thought that was most likely since his mother said, “Karen begged me to take her in,” then he didn’t want to see her either. Dillon he wouldn’t mind seeing, but Dillon was a follower and he’d never sided with him in this, so there was no reason to believe it would be different this time, and as he neared Junction 207 he swerved off and kept going. He wasn’t ready to face them yet he knew that, he decided instead to go see his father, an
d just like that the knot eased.
Royce drove to St. Agnes of Assisi Memorial Cemetery. It was a large beautiful cemetery and the Harrington’s had a large mausoleum where Harrington’s had been buried for generations and there was still room for more. He could be buried there if he chose but he didn’t think he would, he wanted to be near Joy wherever that final resting place would be.
He called his mother, “Mother I don’t know what you understand about what I’ve been through and why but I’m not sure if you’re ready to understand if you think I can be in the same room with Tammy. I can’t see you all right now mother. There’s a lot that needs to be discussed and some things you need to be aware of and I’m not sure if you’re ready to hear them. I’m sorry mother but I can’t come now,” and his mother was shocked, “Royce, everyone wants to see you, you must come!” “Why must I come mother? Did you hear what I said, do you know what I’ve been through? Do you want to know and hear what I have to say mother and Tammy is a direct link to that. I cannot come there and pretend everything is alright with me, come to some lunch and act like it’s one big happy family when it’s not. There are some serious issues involved here that need to be discussed. I’m sorry mother I will call you another time,” and he knew he’d made the right decision and felt lighter.
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