Chapter 15 #2
I had a black dress because Dina had bought me one, and I was wearing it, standing in the living room watching people talk.
It was funny because none of them really knew Dina.
These had not been her people, and from all accounts she had never really dove into knowing them very well or trusting them at all.
There was always the other side of the lake…
that was what she had said to me. I had the smallest headache forming behind my eyes.
As for my guys, they were holding up really well.
Even Phoenix was chatting with people around him.
Sally was in the corner with Sam’s family.
She had come by to hug me and then whispered in my ear that she had figured things out.
So, that secret hadn’t lasted very long.
We needed to talk about it, but I was more comfortable not talking today. It had been my default response for years. Maybe it was my trauma response to death. I didn’t care right then. I sipped my water as Barrett eyed me from the corner.
The door opened and closed, more people entering our open house to visit with the Lents.
For all the years they hadn’t come down, they still had friends here.
I watched all of them. It felt like Dina whispered in my ear that I shouldn’t trust anyone.
It didn’t matter. I had thought maybe I would play detective, but the energy for that had fled with the kidnapping attempt and death.
I could barely get through reading and typing up the journals. My head itched, and I hoped that it was because my hair was growing.
It was Dr. Trevor and his family that came through the door.
I’d not met his children, but I recognized them from the photos in his office.
There was a man with him, too. It must be one of the other husbands.
The door opened and closed again, and a third man came in.
It was his co-husbands. Joint husbands? I smiled.
I would need to ask how they referred to themselves.
It was hard to stand at Dina’s funeral when I was currently reading how unhappy she was. It wasn’t just once that she had picked a fight. The guys were pretty unhappy with her right now.
Phoenix walked over, scratching the back of his neck. “I am… I’m not sure.”
Sam was in the corner. “Do you need to talk to Sam?”
He shook his head. “No, it’s not that kind of thing. I don’t know. Just off.”
I leaned against him. This was his Granny’s funeral. If he was feeling off then, it was probably to be expected. I imagined we were all feeling off. Rosalind had never looked paler than she did right then.
He squeezed my shoulder. “You’re quiet.”
“You know that sometimes I’m quiet. This isn’t about me. I promise. Don’t worry about me.”
He frowned. “I’m always going to worry about you if there is something to worry about.” He side-eyed me. “I miss her, too, but I don’t think that’s all that’s bothering you. Am I right?”
I stared at his handsome profile. “I love you so much. You know that, right?”
“She answers a question with a question. I do know it.” He touched my chin until I looked at him. “What is it, Red?”
“I don’t know.” That was the truth. I was just… off.
From his place in the corner, Dr. Trevor watched us for a second before he walked over. Standing so close, I could smell his cologne; it was dark, a little musky. He didn’t wear it in the office. “Are you two okay? For obvious reasons I want to check in.”
One of his two whatever we were calling them walked over and handed him a soda. He took it with a nod. “You two know my brother Kal, right?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think we’ve met.”
Phoenix grabbed his head, and all thoughts of Kal fled my mind. “What’s wrong?” I held onto his arm.
“I don’t know.” He bent over, grabbing onto his knees. Was he going to get sick?
He lifted his head, staring at Kal, breathing hard. We’d gotten a lot of attention. Everyone was around us now, including Eric who had a hand on his back. “Son?”
I’d never heard Eric call him son before. We were all a little bit off. It didn’t matter since we were here.
“I know you.” Phoenix stared at Kal.
The other man paled. “You don’t. Or you haven’t for years. I used to come to your house for summers before River died.”
‘No, I know you.” He stood up straight now. With my hand on him, I could feel his body vibrate.
Jeremy was to my left, his arms crossed over his chest. “Sounds like you don’t like him.”
“Phoenix?” It was Daniel who spoke. “What’s going on?”
With his gaze fixed on the ever paling man, Phoenix poked him in the shoulder. “You were there.”
The room fell silent. I didn’t think anyone could be confused about what he meant. I caught my breath. River was this man’s kid. Had he killed River and Walt? Tried to kill Phoenix?
“I… I…”
Phoenix shook his head. “Don’t deny it. I know you were.
Not just you. The other man too. The one who stunk like bourbon.
But you were there. Two others. You were in charge.
It was blurry because you kept us drugged.
” Phoenix was slightly taller than this man, but he was a teenager, and we were in a room full of adults.
Still, no one moved except Phoenix who stepped into this man’s space like he had every right to be there. “You were there.”
Kal’s chin began to wobble. “It was a terrible mistake.”
“What was? Taking us? Killing them? Trying to kill me? Doing something to me in the hospital—you were there too—so I wouldn’t talk. What was it that you did?” He was shouting now. “It was such a dark place where you kept us.”
Jeremy grabbed onto the man’s shirt. “You hurt my brother?”
“I…” When Kal spoke this time it was to his pale wife and brothers.
“It wasn’t supposed to go like that. No one was supposed to get hurt.
No one. I took the kids. River wasn’t afraid because obviously it was me.
Made it easier. They just came with me. Then I returned to the party.
Yes, they were drugged. And everything would have been fine if they hadn’t fucked it up.
They overdosed the kids. It was supposed to be so easy.
I don’t know what happened. He didn’t need to do anything to them at all.
They were sedated. That was it. An easy sleep.
But he messed with the dose. And Phoenix got away.
There was a struggle. You wouldn’t let them dose you again. You ran. And yes…”
“Why would you do this?” His wife shouted now. Dr. Trevor took two steps back like he couldn’t be near his brother. His other brother had his arms in front of him like he was trying to warn off the world. “You killed our baby.”
I couldn’t breathe just imagining this, but Phoenix looked strong. “You’re right. I got away. I ran for help, but I couldn’t find home because I was so confused. The one who smelled like bourbon, he hit me in the face. I was drugged and scared. I ran. And ran.”
“Why?” she shouted again.
“Because the Lents spoil everything. All of our development here? The things we dreamed about? The hotels? They’ve taken all that land.
They own it and they do nothing with it.
They live up there in their fancy New York life, and we are stuck here, and they won’t even let us develop our own land.
” He was shouting now. “And her family hates them. Hates them because they blame them for all kinds of shit. I just wanted them to feel threatened. To shut down so they would stop what they were doing and concentrate on home. That’s what I wanted.
I took the kids so it would seem like it wasn’t us.
Since River got taken too it was supposed to be obvious it wasn’t us.
” He was shouting at Phoenix now. “I hate being a doctor. I hate it. You never remembered. Just a little scopolamine.”
He shook his head. “Maybe it was the drugs, but you told me that if I said anything, then you would kill my family like you killed the kids and I just… forgot.”
Well, he hadn’t really. He’d repressed it. That had to be worse. I threw my arms around him just as Kit pushed Jeremy aside and struck Kal right in the face. Hard. The other man went down and the room erupted. Crying and screaming.
Phoenix backed up, and I held onto him. He turned and ran from the room, puking over the side of the balcony when we got outside. My guys were around us. Everyone was talking, but I couldn’t hear any of them.
Their mother came outside. She carried a shot gun. “Phoenix. I am going to kill your uncles. My brothers won’t get away with this.”
As though she hadn’t said she was about to commit murder, Rosalind stormed from the house. “Your fathers will kill him if his own brothers and wife don’t. This will all be done by the end of day.”
How could she look so calm?
“Mom,” Barrett practically choked. “Even here there are laws. You can’t kill them. I want to, too. What if they kill you?”
She shook her head. “They won’t.”
Stephen tore through the door, staring at us before his wife. “Go to the house. Your house. Now. Lock yourselves in.”
Rosalind turned left, heading for the garage, and Stephen—who had once told me that he was the calm one—chased after her but apparently not to stop her as much as to help her. Or join her. My heart raced.
“No.” Phoenix shook his head. “I want to see them. Like I saw him. I want to see them. I need to see them. Barrett?”
His older brother nodded. “Come on.”
We had agreed when the time came we would help him, and even Julian seemed on board.
These people had destroyed Phoenix’s life.
Broken him, as Jules had said to me once.
He would never be who he should have been.
I loved who he was now but that wasn’t the point.
He’d been vulnerable, and friends and family had betrayed him.
Something shattered inside. We piled into the Jeep, Barrett keeping up behind his mother’s car. They wouldn’t get to stop us.
It turned out they didn’t try. I was finally on the other side of the lake. The houses were smaller, as Dina had described them, some of them looking like they were going to fall down any second. But the one we stopped at—it was upright. Old but standing just fine.
A man sat on the porch drinking a beer in a chair. When Rosalind jumped out of the car, he leapt up.
“Roz?” he shouted.
She cocked her shot gun right at him. “Where is he, Daryl?”
He paled. “What are you doing with that?”
We were all out of the car next to Stephen in a second. He looked at Phoenix. “Was he there?”
Once again I watched a grown man pale. “I wasn’t.” He held up his hands. “I never want trouble. Just to be left alone. You live your life up there. It is none of my business.”
Phoenix shook his head. “I don’t know him.”
“Where. Is. He?” Rosalind shouted. “I won’t ask again. He hurt my son. His kin. I deserve this and you know it. All these years forgetting I grew up here too. I know and remember the same lessons you learned. Where is he?”
He cleared his throat. “He ran with Miles when they fucked up the kidnapping. He’s gone as far as I know.”
Phoenix took a deep breath. “Fuck.”
“Language,” his mother said; it almost seemed more like a reflex, and she didn’t turn to look at him. “You tell him if you hear from him that his days are numbered. I’m not scared of you anymore. Any of you. I was scared too long. But maybe I finally found Dina’s backbone. They’re dead.”
I couldn’t help but think Dina would love this. She believed in revenge, and it turned out, so did I.