28. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
I vy
I settle into the plush sofa in the media room. The soft foam molds around my hips and back like the perfect hug. Worlds better than the handpicked couch in my living room.
“The luxury,” I groan.
I’m glad no one is in here to hear me laud a sofa. And in one of the numerous media rooms no less. It’s no wonder getting a room on the resort costs an arm and a leg. For me at least. Everything is so opulent.
I set my laptop on my knees and flip it open. I’m glad that even amid the fear and worry that rushed through me that night, I grabbed the device. I’m certain Brody would refuse to lend me his. After declaring my intent to help set a trap to catch Luke, he’s been salty as an anchovy.
That’s his business. Mine is my work.
I put a call through to my colleague, Myrtle Rye. She’s the only one I can trust at the office. She’s been keeping me updated on everything that has been happening while I’ve been away. It doesn’t sound good for me.
“Talk to me, Myrtle,” I say as her face comes on.
“Hello to you too, Ivy.” Her voice is warm. “How is your day? Lovely. Really? Mine too.”
I exhale. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been on edge considering all that’s been happening.”
“I understand.” The lines on her forehead grow deeper as she leans in. “Are you eating and sleeping well?”
I think about two nights ago when I got thoroughly fucked and afterward rocked to sleep in strong arms. And then this morning when a platter with breakfast was supplied by my roommate who’s mad at me. “I can’t complain.” I really don’t want to talk about myself. I’ll only be fine when all of this blows over. “How are you?”
“Very good. Notice anything different?” She pats the base of her hair.
“Um… I don’t… The hair! The curls are new.”
“Calm down, sweetheart. It’s not a spot the difference game.”
“Sorry.” I wince. “It looks good. Suits you.”
Myrtle shakes her head, her eyes sad. “This whole ordeal has really done a number on you, huh?”
I press out a smile. “Let’s just say I’m discovering a strength I never knew I had.”
“Good.” She eyes me. “You’ll need it for what’s coming.”
I sigh. “Lay it on me.”
“Lenin is mad. Like big mad at you, hon. Word around the office is that he’s…”
“What?” I’m certain nothing she can say would be worse than someone trying to take my life.
“Okay, I’ll just say it. He’s trying to get you fired. He says it’s because you’re inconsistent. You’re missing work too much and you’re unable to keep up with your cases.”
The bastard . “He’s hated me long before this whole thing started. He’s just looking for an opportunity to fire me.”
“Well, that’s what he’s saying. I didn’t say anyone is buying it.”
Still, it takes very little to move the court of public opinion.
Myrtle must see this worry on my face because her features soften. “Don’t sweat it, Ivy. I promise you, we’re all on your side. I’ve shared your tasks around the office and we’re picking up the slack…” She pauses. “As best we can.”
“I know.” I cover my face and groan. “Thank you, really.” It must be a lot of work on them. Even when everyone is on ground, the workload is a lot. Especially when I’m handicapped by my circumstances.
“You’re welcome, hon. Now, let’s go over your cases.” Myrtle begins a slow breakdown of the ongoing cases I’m covering, talking about what they’ve been able to do.
I rub my forehead. “Myrtle. Please, hold on.”
She stops speaking. “Something wrong?”
“Not exactly. But I really want to hear about the Daryl Olwen case. I care about the rest, but this one takes precedence. You know I was supposed to meet with the judge today but I can’t since I’m kinda running for my life. Do you have any information on that?”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Myrtle grimaces. “I should have led with that. I know how you feel about that case.”
“Daryl was a monster to those kids. He should never be able to get them back after the torment he has put them through.”
Her face is grim as she nods. Over her long career, she must have seen so many terrible situations that sometimes, I feel she’s become unmoved by the hardship we encounter. Not even batting an eye when she sees some of the terrible home lives we have to pull kids from. “People be peopling,” she’d say with a drawl and a shrug of her shoulders. Like she’s built up a shield to keep her heart safe from being personally affected.
But after learning about what Daryl Olwen did to his wife and kids, the abuse he put them through, Myrtle’s usually stoic face crumbled. My heart broke for them too. The agency immediately removed the kids from his charge and gave them to a new guardian. Now, Daryl is back and demanding custody of the kids. For what? More abuse?
Not on my watch.
“I agree,” Myrtle says.
“But I can’t testify since I’m so far away. I don’t want Daryl to get those kids back, Myrtle. I’m afraid the next call won’t be to CPS but to the police.”
As the social worker who responded to the initial call from a concerned neighbor and saw the kids’ living situation first hand, my testimony is one that would ensure Daryl never gets those kids under his roof again.
“I know,” she says. “That’s why I went to see the judge on your behalf today.”
“You did.” Hope builds in my chest. “What did he say? Did you explain to him that I won’t be able to appear in court? Is he willing to move the date of the hearing?”
“No, he’s not.”
My shoulders fall and I exhale, running my hands through my hair. Can I convince Brody to accompany me back to Denver? He’d protest and rage, but if he hears about the children—
“We agreed to an even better arrangement.”
My head comes up so quickly I get whiplash. She’s smiling so that means it’s good. “What did you agree on?”
“You can offer a video testimony on that day. You don’t have to be here physically.”
I sigh, a smile framing my lips. “Thank you so much, Myrtle. I knew I could count on you.”
“Did you, really?” She raises an eyebrow. “For a moment there you looked like you doubted me just a little bit.”
“Never,” I say.
“I was so convincing to the judge. Hell, he’d have agreed to provide a helicopter with state security to accompany you if I asked.”
“He would have.”
“You know me.” She pursed her lips. “I told you. I could’ve been a lawyer if...”
“If you didn’t dislike those snobbish jerks,” I join her to chorus. “Of course, Myrtle. They’ve got nothing on you.”
“You got that right.” She laughs at her own silliness. “Let’s get on with this, shall we?”
She resumes explaining the new developments in the cases I’m covering. I’ll never not be grateful for her. While nearly three decades of age and many years of work experience separate us, Myrtle has become my most trusted colleague.
It was she who took me under her wing the first day I showed up as a spirited but ill-equipped social worker and she’s never let me touch the ground since. I’d be in a shambles, even giving Lenin more ammunition to take me out, if I didn’t have Myrtle on my side teaching me how not to royally fuck up.
“So, that’s all of it,” she says. “Any questions?”
“No, thank you. You have no idea how grateful I am for this.”
“I do have an idea but you’ll have to tell it to me over lunch when you get back.”
I scoff a laugh. “Sure.”
Her eyes lift and she stares outside the frame of the video. When she looks back at me, a sneer curves her lips. “Lenin is snooping around the office again. I have to get back.”
“Tell him to go fuck himself, please.”
“It seems you’re tired of working with me, huh?” She winks. “Don’t worry. You’ll tell him yourself when you get back. Let’s see how that works out.”
I giggle. “I just might. Talk later, Myrtle.”
“Stay alive, hon.”
Her face disappears from the screen as the call ends.
I can breathe just a little easier now that my appearance in court has been taken care of. Onto other matters. I rub my forehead trying to ease the tightness there. Something’s always up.
Brody is not the only one mad at me for trying to trap Luke. When Iris heard, no doubt from Callum, that I was willing to be bait, she’d called and given me the scolding of my life. Hell, I thought I was the one with the sharp tongue but the lashing I received from Iris cut deep.
I pick my phone up and toy with the dial button. I want to tell her I’m sorry, I’m not changing my mind but I need her to not be angry with me. I want her support. But it’s only been a night since we spoke. Or she spoke, and I couldn’t get a word in because of how mad she was. Is this enough time for her to have cooled off?
I put myself in her place. If she was willing to be bait for Luke, who supposedly has murder on his mind, would I… I can’t even finish that thought. I’d bundle her up and hide her away until the threat passed.
Yep, it’d be a bad idea to call her right now.
A knock sounds at the door, pulling me from my thoughts. I raise my head as it opens. A face pokes in.
“Howdy.” Cliff raises a hand.
“Cliff!” I hop to my feet as a genuine rush of joy fills me. I haven’t seen him since I came onto the resort again and we didn’t get to say goodbye before I left the last time. I cross the room to stand before him, unsure what the etiquette is when you feel grateful to someone but you’re not close enough to hug them until they can’t breathe. “Hi! I’m sorry I couldn’t see you to thank you properly before we left.” Recalling the pricelist that made me contemplate my life just puts into perspective how generous his offer of the cabin was. “I’m so grateful for your help.”
“It’s no bother, Ivy.” He pats my shoulder.
I beam. That’s more than enough coming from the kind man.
He leads me back to the sofa and directs me to sit. “A little bird told me it’s not over. Someone is still after you.”
My shoulders sink. “Yes. Someone tried to kill me. The police have an idea that…” Am I willing to tell this man that my family is so messed up? He may already know. No biggie. “That it might be my father.”
His eyes dim. “That’s unfortunate, Ivy. I wish I could help in some way.”
“You helped plenty before.”
“That’s nothing. No one was using the cabin anyway.” His face cants to the side. “I also heard you plan to bait him.”
“You hear everything.” I give him a look. “Are you a secret member of HEY?”
He chuckles. “I’m unfortunately not spry, strong, or smart enough to be.” His face turns serious once more. “Should you be putting yourself in that kind of danger, Ivy?”
I think about it for a moment. “I need this to be over more than I’m scared of a few minutes of danger.”
“I know, but bait? Many things could go wrong.”
“Everything’s already wrong.” I exhale and run my hands down my face.
“Yeah, it is.”
My head shoots up at the voice that’s definitely not Cliff’s coming from the doorway. “What are you doing here, Brody?”
His eyes narrow. “It’s a media room. Open to everyone. Does it offend you that I’m here?”
I train my best scowl at him. “I don’t care. Do what you want.”
“I will. When you’re talking to everyone, but me, what choice do I have?” This man . “Hi, Cliff. I’m sorry I didn’t see you behind Ivy’s mammoth-sized arrogance.”
He’s daring me. And I’m not one to back down from a dare.