She pushed onward. “Where did you look? And how? Tell us everything.”
We refilled our coffees and talked as the morning turned into the afternoon. I told them everything and learned a lot more about their home life than I had ever realized. I was surprised to find out how much I hadn’t seen, even working in their innermost sanctums for these past couple of years.
But unfortunately, there was only so much we could do. Without knowing where to look, the best we could decide on was to keep our eyes and ears open.
“I have something to admit,” I said finally when we were close to packing it up.
“What?” Lila looked immediately suspicious, and I knew she and I weren’t friends yet, even with her apology and openness today.
“I tried to record your mother,” I said. “I hid my phone in a planter outside her window to see what it would pick up. I never checked it, so I don’t know what it captured, if anything. I just wanted to let you guys know, so there are no more secrets.”
To my surprise, Lila laughed. “How did you manage to get a phone hidden outside her window? Especially with Janey being totally up your ass?”
“With Jude’s help,” I said.
His eyes widened. “How?”
I told them about my little adventure to hide the phone. By the end, Lila was shaking her head with what looked a lot like respect.
“You are something else,” she said. “I’m glad we’re on the same team. Now get your phone and let’s see if you got anything,” she said, clapping her hands.
I ran next door and grabbed it. Getting back to my seat, I scrolled through until I got to my recordings. It looks like it had managed to record for nine hours before dying. Much longer than I had expected. I hit ‘play.’
“Testing, this is December 20th, and I’m Brooklyn James.” That came through loud and clear, a good sign.
After that, the recording was totally silent. Not a single sound. My shoulders slumped as the minutes ticked by. Ten, twenty, thirty. Total silence except for the occasional bird. While we listened, I made us all plates of the cold food I’d brought up earlier, and we ate in silence.
Then, an hour and a half in, there was a scraping sound and a snick, like a lighter.
“I can’t believe you still smoke.” a man’s voice said, sounding far away but clear enough. The three of us exchanged excited glances.
“Who—” I started, but Lila shushed me.
We all recognized the voice that answered. “Shut up and join me. I know you like a good cigar.”
It was the congresswoman, sounding close and crystal clear. She must have been leaning out over the sill to smoke, putting her right above the phone.
“Can we speak freely here with the window open?” the man asked.
“That’s Mr. Abbot,” hissed Lila. “I’d know his voice anywhere.”
“Margeaux’s dad,” Jude supplied when I looked confused.
Their mother’s voice continued on. “Yes. The gardeners are all on leave until spring. And the James girl has been kept away from the yard since last year’s incident.”
The twins looked at me. They were talking about me for some reason.
“What’s going on with her now?” Mr. Abbot asked. “Margeaux says she’s been relatively quiet since she put her in her place.”
“Oh, she’s been handled. Don’t you worry.”
“If she’s anything like her parents, which recent evidence leads me to believe, then I will remain worried,” he said coolly.
My parents? They knew my parents? I leaned closer to the phone, desperate for more.
A distant knocking sound came through the phone. “Congresswoman, the governor is on the phone for you.”
There was a soft curse and a grinding sound as she snuffed the cigar, presumably in the plant. Classy. Then we heard the window scrape shut, and it was silent once more. We waited a few minutes more in silence, hoping to hear the call or for her to return to her cigar, but there was nothing. The minutes on the recording ticked silently by.
Finally, Lila broke the silence. “The James girl… that’s you, isn’t it?”
I nodded.
“So Margeaux and our mother were talking about your parents,” she said. “Did you know they knew each other?”
“I had no idea,” I said. “I don’t remember them mentioning her.”
“Can you ask them?” she asked. “Maybe they know something we don’t.”
I looked over at her. “I can’t ask them. They’re dead.”
“Oh.” She looked taken aback. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
I shrugged. “You had no way of knowing. Don’t worry.”
“Well, what did they do? Maybe we can figure out how their paths would have crossed with hers.”
“They were both public school teachers. Nothing fancy enough to really cross paths with a congresswoman.”
“How long ago did they die?” she pressed. “She wasn’t always a congresswoman, you know. They could have met before.”
“Ten years ago,” I said.
“Oh. She was elected before that.” Lila looked stumped. The recording ticked on.
Jude had been silent but looked up suddenly. “Ten years ago? They both died at the same time ten years ago?”
I nodded.
Jude furrowed his brow. “How?”
The question that was always a treat to answer, because all it did was create a series of follow-up questions that I had no idea how to answer. “A helicopter crash,” I said shortly.
Lila and Jude both paled. That was not the reaction I had expected. Usually people wanted to know what my parents had been doing in a helicopter and in Hampshire of all places. It wasn’t like our town was one that did many scenic sky tours. Plus, it had been January. No one did sky tours in one of the coldest months of the year. It would have been miserably cold inside.
“When…” Jude cleared his throat. “When exactly?”
I squeezed my eyebrows together. “January,” I said.
Lila let out a little sound I didn’t understand.
“What’s going on?” I asked, looking between the two of them. Lila looked like she might pass out, Jude looked like his thoughts were racing, and he was just doing his best to keep up.
“Guys?” I asked when they didn’t answer.
“Just to be clear.” Lila’s voice was high-pitched, almost panicky. “Your parents both died in a helicopter crash in January ten years ago.”
I nodded.
“Would that have been January eighth?”
I stood quickly. “How did you know that?”
“Because that’s the day our father died,” Jude said. “In a helicopter crash.”
31
Jude
I watched Brooklyn’s face turn white at this revelation. How had we never known this about each other? How had we never placed these pieces together? We had stumbled onto something, but none of us could be sure what it was yet or what it might mean.
“Your dad died in a helicopter crash the same day as my parents?” Brooklyn stammered. “In Hampshire?”
“Yes.”
“What was he doing on the helicopter?” she asked.
“We don’t know,” I said, spreading my hands. “It’s always been a mystery. The why… and who the people were who died with him. We knew a couple his age had also died, but we had never met them. When the police investigated, they couldn’t find a connection between the three of them, aside from the fact that they were friends somehow. But our mother always said she didn’t know them, so how could they have only been friends with our father?”
“Wait here,” Lila said, disappearing into her room.
She came back a few minutes later with a creased photo. One I recognized. It was our father with the two strangers who had died with them. The three of them looked relaxed. They were sitting out by a grill, holding red Solo cups and paper plates laden with chips, burgers, and potato salad. This picture had been unearthed in the investigation, an
d one of the kinder cops had agreed to print us a copy to hold onto. It was one of our favorite pictures of our dad because of how happy he looked.
“But…” Brooklyn reached out a hand and gently touched the two faces in the picture. “These are my parents.”
“And that’s our father.” Lila pointed.
Like always, my heart bowed a bit the picture. Dad looked like such a dork in his belted khaki shorts showing off knobbly white knees and his man sandals. The two people he was with, now that I knew the connection, did share a likeness with their daughter. I peered more closely.
The woman was actually the spitting image of Brooklyn, except her hair wasn’t red; it was a chestnut brown. She was pretty, with a wide smile and kind eyes. Her dad’s hair was shaved so close to his head I hadn’t ever noticed the color, but looking at it now, I could see it was a rich, golden red. Just like Brooklyn’s.
“But, I’ve dusted and cleaned and reframed and organized your pictures a thousand times. I’ve never seen this one,” Brooklyn said.
“Mother didn’t like that we had this. She said it was morbid that we were focusing on the past because we wanted to know who these people were. Ed and Marissa James,” Lila said.
Brooklyn looked up, her eyes shining with tears. “You knew their names?”
“We tried to learn what we could about them, but we were so young. I think we only got as far as their names and address. 1347 Oak—”
“Ridge Court,” Brooklyn finished for her.
Lila pushed her fingers through her hair. “To think that their daughter was right here this whole time… in our rooms, our classes, and we never knew.” She snorted. “What idiots.”
Brooklyn reached across and grabbed Lila’s hand, a sight I never would have thought I would see. “Hush. You can’t blame yourself. If your mother hadn’t forced you to hide it away, we would have made the connection. And it’s not like we were friends. You never had any reason to know my last name.”
Lila squeezed her hand. “Thanks for saying that. It still doesn’t excuse it, though.”
I looked at the phone. The recording was still playing silence with hours to go. I grabbed my phone and pulled up the family schedule on our online drive. “Listen, I have a plan.”
The two looked up.
“Lila, you have that Daughters of the American Revolution luncheon today, right? You’re still planning on going?”
She nodded.
“Ask Mom if you can borrow a piece of jewelry from her safe for the event. See if you can get up there alone to get it, and poke around inside. Maybe there’s something we can use. Brooklyn, you need to set up a meeting for me. Get Janey, my mother, and her two assistants to agree to come to my room sometime today or tomorrow. Tell them it’s about your performance. Sorry, but if all goes well, you won’t be working here for long anyway, and if not… well, you won’t need to be around for that. When they’re all up here, you can go into her office and look around some. Maybe you can find something there that we can use.”
“But what are we looking for?” Lila asked.
“I have no idea,” I admitted. “I don’t know if what we discovered even matters. But if we can figure out how our parents knew each other, maybe that will lead us to something. Because here’s one last question for you to think about.”
I paused and looked between the two of them.
“Your parents and our father were all sitting together in that. But who the hell took the picture?”
32
Margeaux
It was a beautiful day, and I was going to spend it wedding planning. With only a few months left, it was time to get a few things buttoned down. I was on the phone with Congresswoman Carlisle’s assistant by seven.
“Did I wake you up?” I asked, wrinkling my nose.
She hurried to sound sharper. “No, of course not. I just wasn’t expecting you, that’s all.”
I rolled my eyes. Everybody was useless. “I need you here right away, Carolyn. We’re spending the day finalizing some plans for the wedding.”
“But Margeaux, today’s the luncheon. I was supposed to help set up—”
“Did the congresswoman tell you to be at my beck and call, or did she not?” I interrupted coldly.
“Well, yes, but—”
“I am calling now, and you will make yourself available. Do what you have to do and then get over here or I’ll be calling the congresswoman myself to complain. I know you’re on the bottom of the ladder over there, so it wouldn’t take anything to have you fired. There are a million other girls like you ready to do the same work for less pay. Chop chop. Oh, and to you, it’s ‘Ms. Abbott,’” I said, clicking ‘end’ with a little sigh of happiness.
There was nothing like ordering around those who didn’t dare fight back. And if they did, sometimes that was even more fun, because you got to put them right back in their place. Daddy called it the food chain of life, and he always told me I was born at the tippy top.
Though sometimes, the back of his hand knocked me down a couple of pegs from time to time.
No use dwelling on what I’m about to get rid of.
I took my time showering and blowing out my hair, dressing in a white linen pantsuit and cork heels. When I came out of my dressing room, Carolyn was hovering nervously at the door, looking unsure of herself.
“Oh, you’re here,” I said, going to my desk to gather my files for planning.
“You said to come straight away, so I got here an hour ago,” she said.
I whipped around. “What is that supposed to mean, exactly?”
When she answered, her voice shook. “Nothing, nothing at all, Ms. Abbott. I just wanted you to know I came as quickly as I could.”
“Because that matters to me? That is something I simply had to know?” I narrowed my eyes at her, stifling a laugh at how faint she looked.
“No, I mean, yes, I—”
“If you cry right now, I’ll throw you out,” I said.
“I’m not—” She gulped.
“Let’s go downstairs and get started. Enough drama.” With my nose held high, I walked downstairs. “We’ll use the dining room table.”
My dad was standing in the front entryway as we came down the stairs. “Hi, beautiful,” he said, putting out his cheek for a kiss.
“Morning, Daddy.”
“And who’s this?” His eyes raked up and down Carolyn.
“Just one of Mrs. Carlisle’s assistants. One of the lowest ranking on the totem pole, actually. She’s here to help me wedding plan. Do you mind if we use the dining room today?”
“Not at all,” he said, eyes still on Carolyn. “I’m glad you’ll have some professional help, even if it is one of the lower assistants. How old are you?” he directed to her.
“Twenty-one,” she stammered in response.
“Ah, well, plenty of time to climb the ladder then,” he said kindly. “You know, after you finish with my daughter, why don’t you come by my office for a nightcap? Maybe I can offer some advice on how to impress the congresswoman. Besides, I think you’ll need a drink after the day you’re going to be having.” He laughed at himself.
“Oh, Daddy.” I swatted at him. “Come on, Carolyn, let’s get started.”
Before she followed me, I heard her say to him, “Thank you so much for the offer. I’ll be sure to come by. You’re so kind!” she gushed.
I rolled my eyes. What a child. She’d be in for the night of her life. The thought would’ve made me shiver if I hadn’t been so focused on my own escape plan.
Also known as, this wedding.
* * *
By noon, we had all of the basics ironed out. The flowers, the location, and my half of the guest list. I smiled. It was going to be a beautiful wedding. I would be counting down the days.
“Email the congresswoman all of the details and my guest list for her approval. I’m assuming she’ll be handling her side of the guest list since Jude would be more likely to tell me not to worry about anyon
e on his side except for his sister if left to his own devices.” I laughed merrily.
Carolyn smiled tremulously.
“Go take a lunch break but be back in half an hour and have that email sent, with me CC’d before you get back. We have to get going on caterers.”
She almost ran out of the room.
I sat back and paged through my plans happily. I was finally marrying Jude. After all these years, all those times he had treated me like nothing more than his sister’s friend, an annoyance. I would be the one walking down the aisle in a custom-made gown perfectly tailored to my body and looking at his dark eyes at the end of the aisle.
I had been in love with Jude for as long as I could remember. As a child, he’d been happy and loud and always running. After his father had died, he had retreated into himself, giving him even more appeal. He’d always been the best-looking guy at every school we had attended, but he hadn’t ever cared. He didn’t really seem to care about much of anything, to be honest, except for his sister. Which was why I had always been very careful to keep her close. Don’t get me wrong, she was my best friend, and there was a lot that I admired about Lila. But it would have been a lot easier to have a dumb best friend, one who was pretty but not nearly as pretty as me. Instead, I’d spent years vying for Jude’s attention at the side of a girl who was beautiful and the smartest in the class.
And, if I were perfectly honest with myself, it had never really worked.
What had worked was forcing him into it. Which, in part, was a shame, but he would get over it. He had done very well ever since I’d made it clear who was boss. He had turned me away the other night, but I would let it slide this time because of his injuries. I’d be back in a few days, though, and this time I wouldn’t let him say ‘no’ to me. I needed him. We needed each other, even if he couldn’t admit it. We were the perfect pair, our light and dark looks making the other pop, our plans perfectly aligned.
Our marriage, getting us out of the hellholes we lived in.
Yes, he would learn to love me. I was sure of it.
BITTER PRINCE | A DARK COLLEGE BULLY ROMANCE: HEIRS OF HAVOC Page 13