Chapter Nineteen
DOC AND JULIETTE sat in his truck Tuesday morning across from the café in Boulder watching Ana, a thick-waisted woman with olive skin and dark shoulder-length hair. She had arrived at the café alone nearly twenty minutes ago, looking sharp in a black skirt and cream-colored blouse, and was seated outside at a table for two. Every passing minute felt like an hour, making the tense situation even more excruciating. Doc was used to staking out people and confronting assholes. He’d done it more times than he cared to count with the club. But while his gut was burning with a need for vengeance against Juliette’s father, his heart burned with worry for Juliette. She’d had a tough morning before she’d even left the house.
When she’d told Lucas where they were going, he’d wanted to go with them to confront his grandfather if he showed up. She’d told him maybe one day he could do that but that she needed to find out what really happened first. Doc knew that wasn’t an easy conversation for either of them. Now she was strung so tight, she held her breath every time someone walked into the café. He was concerned she might break if her father showed up to meet Ana.
He glanced at his blue-eyed beauty, so fucking thankful she’d come back into his life with Lucas, but his chest constricted at her pinched brows as she stared out the window, her hands curled tightly into fists. He should’ve insisted on coming alone.
He reached across the seat and pried open her fingers, interlacing them with his. “You don’t have to do this.”
She whipped her head to the side. “Yes, I do . I want answers.”
“I know you do.” He squeezed her hand. “But I can see how hard this is for you. We can leave, and I can get those answers for both of us another day.”
“I’m fine .”
He arched a brow.
“ Okay ,” she relented. “Maybe I’m not fine, but I need to do this. If my father shows up, I want to look them both in the eye and hold them accountable for what they’ve done.”
He kissed the back of her hand. “I admire your strength, darlin’. It’s not going to be easy.”
“It’ll be a heck of a lot easier than what they put me through.”
He hoped that was true.
When they returned their attention to Ana, the waitress was standing by her table. Ana looked at her watch and said something. The waitress nodded, and as she walked away, Ana grabbed her purse and fished around in it, pulling out her phone. She thumbed out a text and then set the phone on the table and took a sip of her drink. As she set down her glass, she picked up the phone and put it to her ear, a smile gracing her face as she spoke. Her smile faltered, her shoulders slumping.
“Uh-oh,” Juliette said.
Ana shielded her face from the other customers, looking toward the parking lot, and giving Doc and Juliette a front-row seat to what looked like a heated discussion. She ended the call and shoved her phone into her bag.
“Someone pissed her off,” Juliette said as Ana squared her shoulders and flagged down the waitress.
They watched her pay, and when she got up to leave, Doc said, “Looks like she got stood up.”
“Good. Then we can talk to her sooner.” Juliette reached for the door handle.
Doc grabbed her arm. “Not here. Since your father didn’t show up, we’re moving to plan B, remember?” Plan B entailed following Ana until they could speak with her alone. “If you confront her in public, you’re not going to get anything out of her. All it’ll do is alert your father to what we’re doing.”
She sank back against the seat with a sigh. “Okay. Let’s follow her.”
Doc kept his distance as they followed Ana’s car from the café to the bank, the gas station, a gift shop, and finally to her neighborhood. They parked down the street and waited for her to go inside.
“Want to go over our plan one more time?” Doc asked.
She shook her head. “It’ll make me more nervous. Are you one hundred percent sure that her brother was locked up when I wrote those letters?”
“Yes. According to the reports, he was serving a one-year sentence for possession of illegal drugs.”
Her eyes narrowed with determination. “Then I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
Doc stepped out of the truck and came around to help her out, but she was already on her feet. He took her hand, and they made their way down to the lavish brick Colonial.
“This looks like a smaller version of my father’s house,” she said with disdain as they ascended the porch steps. She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.
Ana opened the door, and her ready smile faltered, her dark eyes filling with disbelief. “Juliette.”
“Hello, Ana,” Juliette said with a hint of wistfulness.
Doc wasn’t surprised to hear her heart slipping out.
“It’s…” Ana’s gaze moved curiously between him and Juliette. “It’s so good to see you, honey.” She embraced Juliette. “I had no idea you were in town.”
Doc wondered if Ana felt Juliette bristle or if he and Juliette were so connected that he sensed what she was holding back. As Juliette stepped out of her embrace, he offered his hand, purposely using his given name to see Ana’s reaction. “Hi. I’m Seeley Whiskey.”
Ana blinked several times before shaking his hand with a sweaty palm. “ Seeley . It’s nice to meet you.”
He gave a curt nod.
“I was hoping we could come in and visit for a minute,” Juliette said.
That’s it, baby. Be kind before going in for the kill.
“Of course. Gosh, it’s been so long.” Ana led them into a plush living room with expensive furniture. On an end table and on the mantel over the fireplace were several framed photographs of Ana and a boy at various ages, assumably her son. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“No, thank you,” Juliette said. “We can’t stay long.”
Ana stood before a love seat and motioned to the other couch. “Please, sit down.”
Doc picked up one of the photographs as they sat down. “Is this your son?”
“Yes.” She folded her hands in her lap. “That’s my Rolando.”
“He’s a good-looking boy.” Doc put the picture back on the end table.
“Thank you. He’s my pride and joy. Juliette, how are you, sweetheart? You look beautiful. How is your Lucas? He must be fifteen or sixteen by now?”
“He’s fifteen, and he’s doing great. No thanks to my parents,” Juliette said with an edge to her voice.
Ana wrung her hands, shaking her head. “I felt horrible about the way your father treated you.”
“Did you?” Juliette asked pointedly.
“Yes, of course ,” Ana said imploringly. “That was such a difficult time, and you and I were so close. My heart broke for you. Don’t you remember?”
“Yes. I thought we were very close. That’s why I’m here, actually. Do you remember the letters you said you gave to your brother to give to Seeley?”
“Yes,” Ana said far too casually.
“I never got them,” Doc said, drawing her eyes to his. “But you already know that, don’t you?”
“I don’t understand.” Her gaze darted back to Juliette, and to her credit, she almost pulled off a confused expression. “You got his letter, Juliette. You know he got the letters and wrote back to you.”
“I got a letter that you said was from Seeley.”
“I didn’t write that letter.” Doc leaned forward, pinning a dark stare on Ana. “We know your brother never saw the letters, either. He was locked up when that went down. Now, how about you tell us the truth?”
“ Juliette ,” Ana pleaded. “As I said, I felt horrible about what your father did.”
“Not horrible enough to stop him,” Juliette snapped. “What did you do with my letters, Ana? Did you give them to my father?”
Ana looked down at her wringing hands. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“You always have a choice,” Doc gritted out. “Who wrote that letter to Juliette?”
With her eyes trained on her hands, she said, “I didn’t have a choice.”
“ You wrote the letter?” Juliette pushed to her feet, her hands fisting. Doc rose beside her. “How could you do that to me? I trusted you!”
Ana stood, her breathing hampered, her eyes darting between them. “You know how your father is.”
“Yes, but now I know how you really are, too.” Juliette’s voice escalated, tears welling in her eyes. “I didn’t want to believe that you’d deceive me. You ruined years of my life. You made me feel used and hateful toward Seeley. You encouraged me to marry a man I didn’t love. Why did you do it? Why did you trick me?”
Tears streaked Ana’s cheeks. “Your father said being with Seeley would ruin your life.”
“And you believed him? You saw me crying day and night, and you sat there pacifying me with lies, telling me you wished you could do something to help, while you were behind it all? You said you hated the way he treated me. You said he was despicable.”
“You don’t understand,” Ana said. “I had to say those things so you wouldn’t find out about us.” Her eyes widened, and she snapped her mouth closed, realizing her mistake.
“ Us , as in you and my father?”
“I’ve said too much already.” Ana backpedaled, fear rising in her eyes.
Juliette’s eyes narrowed. “You deceived me to save your relationship with my father? Your affair ? Are you still sleeping with him?”
“You don’t understand,” Ana said harshly. “We love each other.”
Juliette scoffed. “Are you kidding me? After everything he’s done? That man doesn’t know what love is, and you’re as bad as he is. How could you do this to my mother?”
“Your mother is not a good person,” Ana snapped.
“Neither are you ,” Doc bit out. “Did you know I went by the house to try to talk to her father and change his mind after he took her off the ranch?”
Ana nodded, her face contorting as more tears fell.
“You knew?” Juliette bit out. “You heard me begging my father, day after day, for five minutes with Seeley, for one phone call. Did you know my father had his henchmen beat Seeley up?”
“ Yes ,” Ana croaked. “I’m sorry.”
“You make me sick.” Juliette turned away.
Doc touched Juliette’s hand reassuringly as he shot off questions at Ana. “Did he threaten to fire you if you didn’t help him?”
“No,” Ana said just above a whisper. “But he would have ended our relationship, and he said you were bad for her. I loved Juliette. I didn’t want her life to be ruined.”
“He lied ,” Doc gritted out. “And because of what you did, I missed out on being there for Juliette when she was pregnant and when she had our son. I missed out on fifteen years— fifteen years —with the woman I love and our son because you wrote that letter.” He stepped closer. “I’m going to take him down and put him behind bars, and you’re going down with him.”
“But I didn’t do anything illegal,” Ana pleaded.
“You sure as hell did.” Doc held her stare, making sure she heard every word he spoke. “You committed fraud, Ana. You falsely represented a material fact with the intent to deceive Juliette, and you cost her years of emotional stress.” He was reaching with the extent of the law, but he could tell by her fearful stare and trembling hands that she was buying it. “Your actions made her keep our son from me , and now that the truth has been exposed, our son has to deal with the psychological pain of what you have done. You and her bastard of a father will both be held accountable.”
The blood drained from her face. “I can’t go to jail. Rolando needs me.”
“Maybe you should’ve thought of that before you tricked a sixteen-year-old girl into changing her entire life based on a lie.”
“ Please. I’m sorry!” Ana begged. “Please don’t do this to me.”
Doc sensed she was the key to taking down Juliette’s father. He pushed harder, needing to break her. “How many times did you hear Juliette say those very words to her parents?”
Ana’s breathing hitched, tears flooding her cheeks.
“You deserve everything you’re going to get,” Doc warned, and exactly as he’d anticipated, she lost it.
Sobbing, she clasped her hands together beneath her chin. “ Please . I’ll do anything. I can help you take him down. I know things.”
“Well, then, maybe you and I can strike a deal.” He glanced at Juliette, who was fuming a few feet away, and hoped she’d read his silent message to go along with his fishing expedition. “What do you think, Juliette?”
“I think she hurt me more than I can ever forgive her for.” She turned a cold stare on Ana. “And I think she knows everything that goes on in that house.”
“I do! Please ,” Ana said. “I’ll tell you everything I know. Just don’t send me away from Rolando. Your father has a safe where he keeps the documents he doesn’t want people to find. It’s in Juliette’s old bedroom, under the floorboards beneath the bed.”
“In my room ?” Juliette asked with disgust.
“Yes. He said it was the only place people wouldn’t look,” Ana explained.
“What does he keep in it?” Doc asked.
“I don’t know.” Ana looked between them, shaking her head. “He gives me documents and notebooks, and I put them in the safe. I never look at them. I never have. I don’t want to know what’s in there. But if you tell him I told you, he’ll do something bad to me. He’s done really bad things to people. I’ve overheard him talking about it with Mr. Chambers.”
Bingo. “Tell me about those things,” Doc demanded.
Ana lifted her chin, her damp eyes holding his stare. “Not unless you promise not to tell him who you got the information from and not to come after me.”
“I promise I won’t.” But I can’t speak for the Feds or Juliette.
She looked pleadingly at Juliette.
“I won’t, either, if you tell us everything you know. Then I never want to see you again.” Juliette’s icy tone cut through the air like a knife.
JULIETTE WAS SHAKING when they finally headed back to the truck. Ana had confirmed their worst suspicions and then some. Not only did she say she’d overheard conversations revolving around bribery and extortion, but she’d also heard the esteemed governor talking about having people taken care of before his last election. Seeley had pushed her to elaborate, but she said she didn’t know and feared the worst.
So did they, which was only one of the reasons why, as Seeley helped Juliette into the truck, it took all of her strength to hold her shit together. His jaw was clenched tight, his every muscle rigid, like he was ready to hunt her father down and tear him apart.
She didn’t blame him. The full scope of her father’s evil manipulations cut so deep, she could hardly process them. Coupled with the realization that Ana, the woman she’d trusted with all of her secrets, had set the wheels in motion to ruin her life, had hurt, anger, and shock stacking up inside her.
She tried to hold it all in, mentally preparing herself for Seeley to let his rage out, to hiss a threat toward her father or Ana or both of them. After the restraint he’d shown with Ana, he was due a release. But when he turned those angry eyes on her, they softened, and he didn’t yell or curse. He gathered her in his arms, holding her tight, and said, “Let it out, darlin’. I’ve got you,” chipping away at her armor.
She felt like a boiling pot ready to blow. Struggling to remain in control, she choked out, “ I’m fine .”
“You’re strong, darlin’,” he said softly, holding her tighter. “But you just heard horrible things about your father and the awful truth about the one person you thought you could trust. You’re not okay.”
Her restraint snapped, rage pouring out. “I’m just so freaking angry! Did you see her? She didn’t even feel bad about lying to me.” She pushed out of his arms, swiping at her tears. “She spewed empty words, trying to save herself. And my father? I always knew he was corrupt, but he’s a monster . I can’t even feel sorry for my fucking mother. She knows everything that goes on in that house, the same way Ana does. I’m sure she knows about their affair and all the awful things my father has done. But she enjoys her lavish lifestyle too much to do a damn thing about it. She turns a blind eye to all of it, the way she did to me.”
“I’m sorry, darlin’.” He pulled her back into his arms.
“How could my awful parents have created me? They’re heartless.” She buried her face in his neck.
He held her for a long moment before drawing back, framing her face in his big, warm hands, and set his loving eyes on her. “They brought you into this world, and you got only the best parts of them. Your father is smart, and your mother is beautiful. But you have Hazel’s heart, darlin’, and it’s too pure to be soiled by the likes of them.”
She gathered up those sentiments and tucked them away. “How do you always know what to say to make me feel better?”
“It’s called honesty.” He kissed her softly, wiping her tears with his thumbs. “I’m proud of you, baby. You said your piece, and you didn’t hold back.”
“Lotta good it did me. I don’t even know where we go from here.”
“Home, so Lucas doesn’t worry about you.”
She deadpanned. “You know what I mean.”
“There’s nothing I want more than to go after your father with everything I have and make the bastard pay. But I’m not willing to put you and Lucas in his line of fire.”
“What more can he possibly do to us?”
“How can you ask that after what he’s done to us and everything Ana told us?” he said heatedly. “Your father sold you out to protect his ego, and he’s got a hell of a lot more at stake with the new information we have.”
“ Ugh. You’re right. He’s a total self-centered asshole, and I wouldn’t put anything past him. The best thing I ever did was get him out of our lives. I don’t want to put Lucas in his sights, either. I just hate him so much, I can taste it. I want to go after him like Harley Quinn or Beth Dutton and show him he didn’t break me.”
“Baby, we’re going to get vengeance. I promise you that. I want him to suffer for what he’s done to us. I want to strip away his last shred of dignity, and let the world see him for the worthless piece of shit he is, but we need to be smart about it so he can’t tie anything back to you.”
She rubbed her hands together. “So, we are going after him?”
“Damn right we are, and he’ll never see us coming.”