Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
I couldn’t believe what I had just read. I now understood why Jackson had hidden this journal. Holy fuck. Matt’s father had murdered Ted in cold blood. I felt sick to my stomach. Horrified. Even worse was the realization that I had read this journal without Jackson’s permission and the considerable magnitude of that fact overwhelmed me. He must never find out that I had read this.
My heart nearly broke over the idea of a 15-year-old Jackson, crying over Ted’s death. Ted’s tyrannical physical abuse over Jackson was inexcusable, but he had also managed to somehow form a bond with him at the same time. It staggered me that Ted had attended every single one of Jackson’s baseball games and made sure that he was sober for all of them. It appeared that Ted had been the only adult in Jackson’s life who had attempted to parent him.
I tried to remember everything that Matt had told me about his father, Harry Jarvais. He spoke so highly of him. The stern yet loving police officer who seemed so reserved in his feelings, however, showed his love in odd ways towards Matt. At the same time, he allowed his other son to be at the hands of not one but two abusers, and he stood back and did nothing to stop it. For a fierce moment, I was glad that he was dead. If he was alive, there's no way I'd be able to forgive him.
Don’t even get me started on wicked Irene who was as evil and cold-hearted as they came. The things she said to Jackson, the way she spoke to him. Her heartless, callous abuse towards Jackson had been difficult to read. She was as bad as Ted, if not worse in her psychological warfare against such a young boy.
Dear God. It explained so much about Jackson. His only defense against her bullying had been to have absolutely no reaction at all. The only way he could endure her reign of terror was just to pretend it wasn’t happening. Now as an adult, when Jackson faced intense situations, he had the stunning ability to turn off all his emotions and not react on any level, leaving in his wake an indifferent and impassive soldier, ready to take action. Now I understood why. He had years of practice.
I lay on the bed and thought about everything. Jackson acted like he didn’t care about ending things with Harper, but perhaps he cared deeply. At this point, I had even less understanding of what he was feeling. My only hope now was that he would find it in his heart to fall in love with Alien. That he'd be able to give and receive this child’s love. That would almost be enough for me. I could love him. And if he loved our child, I figured that we could somehow make this work.
I got a chair and pulled down the stairs to the attic. I put the journal back in the attic in the hiding place that I had found it and prayed that Jackson never found out that I had betrayed him and his trust. I needed to tuck that away and forget that I ever saw it.
I took a hot shower and then let Chloe out in the backyard. When I called her, she didn’t seem to want to come in. She was eating something. Annoyed, I marched onto the cool grass in my bare feet and yanked her back into the house by the collar.
I woke up to the sound of puking. Chloe lay on the bathroom floor panting. There was blue vomit beside her. She lifted her head weakly and wagged her tail with two weak thumps.
“Oh shit,” I panicked. I drove like a complete maniac to Newport to the animal hospital. The vet immediately rushed Chloe to an examination room.
“Do you know what she ate?”
“She was eating something in the backyard before we went to bed. I didn’t pay attention.”
He started an IV line for Chloe. “Based on the fact that her puke was blue, I’m almost certain it's rat poison.”
I sat by Chloe while the vet continuously monitored her. The only person I wanted to talk to was Jackson. I had no idea if he would get my text but I sent one.
Me: Chloe and I are at the vet. She woke up vomiting. The vet said she has been poisoned.
Five minutes later, my phone rang.
“Emily. What’s going on?”
I could hear a rumbling in the background. He sounded like he was on a plane.
I explained to him that Chloe had eaten rat poison.
“What?” his voice sounded incredulous.
“Someone did this deliberately. This meat was in the middle of our backyard. Chicken laced with poison. Someone wanted to hurt Chloe.”
“Who'd want to do that?”
“I don’t know, a dog hater?”
“Are you sure it wasn’t dragged into our yard by some other animal?”
I had never seen another animal in our yard before. “I don’t know. ”
“Just don’t jump to any conclusions, okay?”
“Okay.”
A long pause. “Emily, I’m so sorry. I wish I were there, and I wish I could talk more, but I have to go. Let me know how Chloe is, okay?”
“Okay.”
It was a long night, but by morning, Chloe was standing up on the examination bed and stretching.
“It looks like she is going to be fine,” the vet said, “Keep her close to home and when she goes outside, be sure to keep a close eye on her.”
“Do you think this was accidental?”
“I want to tell you, yes, but the truth is, I have seen all sort of sick things that people do to animals. Maybe someone left out the chicken for some rats and was careless about it, and maybe another animal dragged it into your yard, I don’t know. But you need to be vigilant in watching her. Never let your dog eat anything from outside. When she goes out to your backyard, be sure to go out there with her.”
“Okay.”
Chloe moved pretty slow. We got home, and she went straight upstairs to go to sleep. I cleaned up the vomit, careful to use rubber gloves. Then I had a shower. I was so exhausted. I was just about to lie down when my phone rang. It was my realtor in New York.
“Hey, Jean.”
“Hi, Emily.”
“How’s it going?”
“Well, I was wondering if you changed your mind about selling the loft?”
“No, why?”
“Well, I went there yesterday afternoon to do a viewing, and the locks on the loft were changed. We couldn’t get in. ”
I went completely still. “Excuse me?”
“I even double checked my keys, and the key wouldn’t even go into the lock. We could hear music playing inside. I wasn’t sure if you changed your mind…”
“Wait,” I stopped her. “You heard people inside?”
“Yes.”
“Coming from the loft? My loft.”
“Yes.”
I stood still for a long moment. “I’ll get back to you okay?”
“Thanks, Emily. I knew this was just a big misunderstanding.”
I hung up. Who was living in my loft? I had heard about squatters who took up residence in an empty property, but I could not believe that anyone would do that to my place.
I looked at Chloe who was lying at the foot of the bed looking more than just a bit pathetic. I called my lawyer who told me that we needed to investigate but if we wanted to do an eviction I needed to be present. My lawyer also told me that if the people in my loft had been there more than 30 days, we had a more significant problem on our hands, as they might be able to claim squatter rights.
“What does that mean?”
“It means, if they are there longer than 30 days, without protest from you, they legally have the right to stay there without your consent. And by law, we'll be unable to evict them.”
“Is that a joke?”
“I would advise you get down to New York as soon as possible.”