Her Story
Travis
She was right. If she would have showed up at Creed’s Lake, I would have shut her out. She had no right to come searching for me after all these years. Her story was insane, but I could see truth in it. But it also didn’t matter. She got what she wanted and also some things she didn’t want. Like memories and bottled up feelings. That doesn’t mean I could invite her into my life.
“We had lunch before you left for Indiana, Wrenly. I planted a little seed of knowledge in you when I said I wanted to find Travis.” Mom said.
“You still haven’t answered how you know about my work, who I do it for and everything you said earlier.” I needed to know, for the sake of Creed’s Lake.
“I’m not unfamiliar with private contractors, Travis. There is a group I was approached by concerning Bobby’s case. I signed a non-disclosure, and they told me how it works, typically by working outside the law. Of course that is pretty much all I can say about them. Well, that and I couldn’t pay their price. I would have cut off my right arm for their help, but I simply couldn’t come up with that kind of money. They said they would find him, but I would never know the details of how they found him.”
I growled under my breath. Deacon Alexander’s group, competition of ours. They liked missing kids cases but never adjusted their prices for the middle class. People sold their livelihoods, their homes and everything they had to pay the price of their contracts.
Suddenly it hit me. “That’s why you did all this? You learned about me and lured me home to help you find Bobby.”
Her eyes jerked up to meet mine in a panic. “No! Not at all! I swear to you, that’s not it at all. It didn’t cross my mind because of what Cal Pennington told me. He never once mentioned investigations or missing children. He said you recover missing people from foreign countries. That you took military contracts. He also said I could get you killed if you were ever identified by some very bad people. The only reason I know you have knowledge of Bobby’s death is because of what you said. You weren’t making a guess, you were making a statement.”
I looked down at my hands, then leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees as I looked at the floor. Some people say Magnus and I have the gift of empathy, but sometimes it’s a curse. I’m sitting in front of a woman, never mind that she gave birth to me, she’s a woman that has searched for her baby for thirty years. I have the answers she needs to find some sort of closure or peace finally. I’m not sure it’ll give her closure. Is that even possible for a mother who lost a child? I’ve been told what kind of woman she was before I came along. I’ve heard the stories of her kindness and how much she loved us. Hell, her kindness saved my life and hers. She showed kindness to the boy that took Bobby, and she has no idea.
“Please, Travis.” Mom begged.
Wrenly put her hand on my arm. “Maybe go drink a beer, call Creed, just take a breather.”
I nodded as I looked at the floor. “Yeah, how much time do you think we have before your family comes home?”
“I’ll shoot them a text right now so you can have all the time you need. It’s still early, maybe they can catch a movie.”
I looked at Wrenly as I went to stand. “Thank you.” I left the room and grabbed a beer. How dare that woman come to me and ask for anything? This wasn’t just some selfish secret I was keeping. It could destroy Creed’s life and my own. We could go to prison or face the death penalty. There are protections put into place, but not for this. There was no contract, no orders given, and it wasn’t self-defense. It was murder, hell it was three murders.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Creed as I walked outside.
“It’s not bath time yet, she hasn’t had dinner and she’s drawing a picture for Weston. I think he might have a broken leg in it though. Could be a threat, not sure. So, it’s early, what’s up?” Creed asked.
“We have a big problem.” I warned him.
“No, Melissa has a big problem. Drakos proposed and he’s her problem now.” He chuckled. “Felicity’s girls are already planning the celebration, I mean bridal shower.”
“Listen Creed, I don’t have much time.” I told him everything that happened today. I went more in depth about Brock and practically recited the entire conversation with my mother. I didn’t leave anything out. Not even my huge fuck up by blurting out that Bobby was in the ocean.
“Jesus Irons, you’re not going to tell her anything are you?”
I paced on the back porch. “What if it were Addie and I knew what happened to her but wouldn’t tell you? She is a horrible mother, but she’s still a mother.”
“We could lose everything Irons. That includes my kids.” He warned me.
“She knows he is dead. We can either trust her or she will go to the authorities or even someone more powerful to get the answers out of us. Don’t doubt her, she has dedicated her life to get these answers, and she has very powerful friends.”
“She’s married to the fucking detective on the case!” He reminded me. “How will she explain her new lack of interest to him?”
Good point.
“Fine, I’ll figure it out.” I had no idea how to get that woman out of Clint’s house.
“Good, and don’t do anything without contacting me first.”
I ended the call then grabbed three beers and took them with me to the family room. I handed a beer to Wrenly.
“Thank you.” She accepted it.
I tried to hand one to mom, but she shook her head. “No thank you.”
“Suit yourself.” I took a seat on the sofa and set the extra beer on the end table.
“Did you have time to make your decision?” Mom asked.
“There’s nothing to tell you. I know this hurts to hear but I don’t have the information you are seeking. My organization is just now dipping into private investigations. We don’t work like Deacon Alexander. That’s right, I know which organization you were speaking of because he’s the only ambulance chaser, or Amber Alert chaser if you will, that preys upon the vulnerabilities of desperate parents. We don’t work that way, and we don’t chase down cases. Our contracts are presented to us by the very people that have the power to protect us. Not all of my business is contract work. We are not the organization you need for Bobby’s case.” Surely Wrenly knew I was lying through my teeth.
My mother sat back and studied me. Not in a negative way, but something else. She eventually leaned forward. “I know you have to protect yourself and your business partners. I also know you have the information I’ve desperately searched for all these years. You’re under no obligation to tell me anything. I’m also intelligent enough to know you’re between a rock and a hard place. You want to tell me, but you don’t trust me. That’s understandable with your step father being who he is, but you can trust me. I’m not the woman you believe I am, Travis. There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, your step father, your Uncle Tony.” She paused and looked at Wrenly. “Or Clint. Things Heather doesn’t even know.” She looked back to me. “I have a meeting in the morning, a lunch date, and another meeting in the afternoon. Your sister gets home from school at three thirty. Allow me to get her settled then you can meet me at this address.” She pulled a slip of paper and a pen from her purse and wrote it down before handing it to me. “Your step father is not your enemy. I’m prepared to show you all my cards in exchange for anything you have on Bobby's disappearance, then I hope we can find some common ground as mother and son.” She dabbed her eyes with a tissue then threw it in her purse before she stood. “I will meet you at that address at five thirty, join me and learn just what kind of woman I am, but do not breathe a word of this to anyone, not even Clint. He doesn’t care much for me because of my treatment of you, but we do have common interests. If he needs to be consulted, I’ll do that myself.”