Chapter 26
twenty-six
. . .
Jensen
“I was hopingI could see Ms. Brynn Webster.”
The woman on the opposite side of the desk looks at me like I’ve got a third eye in the center of my forehead.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“I don’t.” The idea of flashing my badge crosses my mind. “Could you call her, buzz her, whatever you need to do, please?”
“I’m sorry sir, but Ms. Webster is fully booked up today and is currently in a meeting across town.”
I push back from the desk, glancing toward the elevator contemplating making a dash for them. I’m figuring at this point Brynn has probably given everyone in this place that stands between her and I a picture. Don’t allow this guy through, no matter what.
“What are the chances of you squeezing me in there somewhere? Need five minutes.” All she does is stare at me. “It’s important.”
“It always is.” Yep, I’ve been blacklisted.
“What’s going on here?” I spin around to find Gerald Webster standing a few feet away. He’s looking between me and the lady at the desk.
“This gentleman was hoping to get a meeting with Brynnlee today.” The second she says the words his brows furrow.
“Is that so?” Fuck, first Sebastian and now her father. I’m making friends everywhere I go.
“I’m Detective Jen?—”
“I know who you are,” he interrupts. “I’m thinking if my daughter wanted to talk to you, she’d be reaching out.”
“Listen.” I take a step toward him. “I’m not going to stand here and pretend that I didn’t screw up.” I don’t like to air my dirty laundry and I know we have an audience. It’s bad enough that I’m about to have this conversation with Brynn’s father. It”s her I need to say these things to, but in order to gain that chance, I’m going to have to give a little.
“Is there somewhere we could go to talk?”
“I don’t know what it is you and I have to talk about.” Stubbornness obviously runs within the Webster bloodline.
“I hurt your daughter without meaning to. It was never my intention and the position I’m in now, I have no one else to blame but myself. But the idea of me standing here in the middle of the lobby where anyone that walks in gets a front row seat to my humiliation is something I’d like to avoid if at all possible.”
Mr. Webster doesn’t say anything, only watches me for a few seconds before he turns and walks across the lobby to a solid door. Twisting the knob, he pushes it open and looks over at me. “You have five minutes. Less if I feel you are wasting my time.”
The man is a hard man. But I would be too if I had a daughter and was face to face with a man that hurt her.
With a calming breath I move in his direction and stop inside of the small empty room. Only a single desk and chair are there.
When I hear the door click behind me and turn to face him I find that he is watching me with his arms crossed over his chest.
“I was married for less than three months when I found out that my wife had been unfaithful.” His brows furrow, but he remains exactly as he was, his face still hard. “I should have left then, but she blamed me and my job. Said that she felt abandoned and things happened. Everyone told me that I shouldn’t forgive her, and now looking back I wish more than anything I would have listened.”
Mr. Webster leans back against the wall and I remember the short window I have to make my plea.
“Work got crazy with a case, a family murder suicide. I was pulled in and then it was one after another, keeping me at the office for days at a time, leaving little left for home life. That can be hard on any marriage.”
“Still not an excuse for anyone to run out on their husband.” It was the first time he’d spoken since we entered the room.
“I came home to find a man leaving, offering my wife a kiss before he walked down the steps toward his truck. A truck that my neighbor later informed me had been there all night long and many occasions before.”
His scowl softens.
“That was more than a year and a half ago. I tried to get her to move out, considering the place had been one I’d bought with money that was left to me when my father passed. She wouldn’t go so after six months of hell, I packed my bags, left behind everything I’d worked for and found a shitty stale apartment. I filed for divorce and for the last year I’ve been fighting to get it finalized.”
“And?”
“She is contesting it, she’s used every excuse as to why, from things not being split fair, to wanting to reconcile and go to counseling.”
“What do you want?”
“I want it to all be over,” I confess. “I never should have married Chrissy in the first place. We aren’t good together, she’s vicious and I’m more than sure she married me for security and not for love. But losing isn’t in her nature and a divorce in her mind means she’s lost even though she’s the one that has some man living in my house with her.”
Gerald shakes his head.
“I know not telling Brynn from the start was wrong but Chrissy has managed to screw up the last several years of my life and I didn’t want her anywhere near Brynn. She’s like a tick, she finds something, she digs in and refuses to let go. The last thing I ever wanted was for her to see Brynn as a new target. And sir, that”s what she will do because in her warped mind she see’s Brynn as a threat.”
“I have no doubt that my daughter can handle her own.”
“I don’t doubt that either, but the thing is she shouldn’t have to. This is my mess, my hell and I never wanted to bring that into Brynn’s life. I should have told her about Chrissy, but things were so new and I didn’t want to ruin it.”
“Well, that backfired for you, didn’t it.” Her father chuckles, which surprises me. “I’m not going to help you get to her, but I also won’t stand in your way. It shouldn’t be easy, you made this mess. You should have to work a little to clean it up.”
With that he turns and walks out of the room leaving me there to stare after him. He reminds me a lot of my own father and I admire him a little more for that.