Chapter 34
34
OWEN – ONE DAY LATER
Instantly awake, I’m dripping in a blast of freezing water at a temperature I can only imagine you endure in the Arctic.
“What the fuck?” I gasp for air like a fish out of water and wipe my water-covered face.
“Get up.” The voice of a man I can’t make out demands I move.
I blink several times, trying to focus on who is speaking.
A black figure stands before me.
Shit, am I dead? Is this the grim reaper coming to take me away?
Head pounding, mouth drier than sandpaper, I let out a groan.
“I said get up.” Death kicks me in the shin.
It can’t be death or I wouldn’t feel that, would I? Can you feel anything when you’re dead?
Because the hollow pain in my chest and damaged knuckles tell me otherwise: I am most definitely alive and still in the hell I can’t escape.
She’s gone .
My bleary eyes finally figure out who the man is standing in the living room of the home I no longer own.
“Knox?” I ask, confused why Lincoln’s father is here.
“Pull yourself together and meet me in the kitchen,” he says authoritatively, then leaves the living room.
“Shit.” I push myself up off the couch and stagger. My stomach flips. I feel sick and hot, although I’m shivering from the water I’m drenched in, assuming that’s what was in the black bucket now sitting empty on the floor.
I slide my phone off the coffee table and check my messages.
She’s missing.
Presumed dead.
On the brink of tears, I sway on my feet and rub my head, which feels as if it’s full of dust.
Having spent the last day self-medicating myself with liquor, drowning in my heartache, I realize no amount of whiskey could ever drink the ghost of her away.
She’s haunted every dream, every memory. My sorrow has now transformed into bone-deep despair.
Staggering into the kitchen, I find Knox.
His feet are crossed at the ankles, arms folded across his chest, leaning casually against the kitchen island.
“Hi,” I say sheepishly.
He holds back no punches, going for the jugular. “So, is this your new life plan, to drink yourself to death?”
“Seems like it,” I mutter, scrambling about the kitchen cabinets, trying to find a clean glass to fill with water.
I stay facing the sink but can feel his eyes burning through the back of my head as I down a glass full and heave as it hits my stomach, and then I vomit it all up.
I’m running on empty. My stomach aches and groans as it disagrees with my recent life choices .
Knox throws a dish towel at my head, and I use it to clean my mouth and nose.
Tentatively standing, I hold my stomach. “Did you come here to tell me I’m a worthless son of a bitch? Because if that’s the case, then get in line.” I hate how pathetic and broken I sound.
“Drop the act, Owen.”
Ouch, that stings. “It’s fucking true.”
Tutting, Knox waggles his finger at me. “Watch your tongue, son. You may still be drunk, suffering from grief, heartbreak, and losing all of this.” He points to the ceiling, gesturing to the roof over my head. “But that does not mean that you forget who you are with me, so rein it in and listen.” He takes a deep breath. “Lincoln and Jacob told me everything. Including that you made a deal and agreed to work for Richard.” He shakes his head in disapproval.
I’m so ashamed of every aspect of my life that my face flushes with heat.
“I’m so sorry about Jade, Owen, but they will find her.”
I stare at him, not believing a word he says.
“It’s all over the national news now that they have finally released a press statement and they have helicopters searching. It’s only a matter of hours. I have confidence.”
“Richard did this,” I say.
“If I find out he did, he will pay, Owen.” He’s a powerful man, true to his word, and I believe him.
“How much do you still owe him?” he asks.
“1.5 million.” Now I feel sick to my stomach for a different reason.
“Unlock your phone and give it to me.” His voice is demanding, so I fish it out of the pocket of the dress pants I’m still wearing from yesterday .
He frowns, navigating around the touch screen to find what he’s after. I hear a call ringing in the earpiece. He then taps the speaker phone icon and waits for the call to connect.
“Ah, Owen, so nice to hear from you.” Richard’s slimy voice drips down the phone.
Knox holds up his finger, telling me to keep quiet.
“Not Owen, Knox Black.”
There’s a pause before Richard speaks. “Ah, Knox, how nice to hear from you. How is that beautiful wife and ever-growing brood of children keeping?”
“Fuck off, Dick. I’m not here to make small talk. Send me your bank account details.” I almost laugh at Knox’s confidence and the nickname he used.
“Why?” His voice goes higher, as if he’s genuinely taken aback.
“To pay off Henry’s debt. Not that Owen should pay it. It’s not his debt to pay. You’re a bully. Now just give me the fucking details and I’ll pay it.”
I put my hand up, telling him to stop, but he ignores me.
“And if I don’t?” Richard plays with Knox. “That debt is not yours to pay.”
“That boy is like a son to me. And may I fucking remind you who you are talking to? My father gave you the money to start Sanderson Shipping. So fuck off with the theatrics. Text Owen the bank details and it will be paid within an hour. And I want a letter of confirmation outlining the total debt paid. He’s not coming to work for you, and if I ever hear of you harassing another member of my family again, I will have the cops all over that shipping yard of yours faster than you can say boo . Now, whatever you have done with Jade, either release her or let the cops know where she is. Right. Fucking. Now. It’s been good doing business with you.” Before Richard can respond, Knox ends the call and hands the phone back to me. “You’re a great stepfather. A great partner. And you deserve happiness. So sober up, clean yourself up, get your shit together, then drive to get your girl. That call is coming. They are going to find her. I know they will.”
“She’s been missing for almost two days,” I say, my voice defeated.
“Then get on your knees and pray to the Greek god Elpis; the god of hope.” He gives me a gentle smile. “That’s all we have left. Hope.”
I suck in a breath.
He adds, “Gather your belongings. I will have my people from the hotel come down with a moving truck to take your furniture to Jacob’s. You have nice furniture. Don’t let Richard take everything, Owen. And if there is anything from the house”—he points at my family home up through the trees—“drop me a text over the next couple of days and let me know.”
“I want nothing. And we ended up trashing most of the house looking for Dad’s money.”
A low laugh rumbles in his chest. “Lincoln told me what you guys had been up to, but I suppose it will give Richard and Gideon’s monkeys something to do. From what I’ve heard, they are experts at cleans ups.” He shakes his head. “I wish you’d told me sooner. I would have made sure you got to keep your trust fund and paid the ten million for you.”
“It was my responsibility.”
“Keep telling yourself that, son, but it wasn’t. With your parents no longer around, you’re my responsibility now, Owen. You call me anytime, day or night. No matter what.” He reaches for me and pulls me into his arms, wrapping me in his gigantic frame with warmth I never received from my own father.
I struggle to hold it together when he says, “You’re family, Owen. When you need me, I’ll be there. Always.” He slaps me on the back, twice, then, pushing me out of our embrace, he grabs my biceps. “Shower, sort your shit out, and go up to the house and take photos of anything you want to keep. Certificates and anything else that’s important.”
I can get rid of all the photos.
As if reading my mind, Knox says, “If you have no photos, how will your new family know your heritage or what your folks looked like? It’s important. Stick them away in a box, but don’t live with any regrets.” He throws me a knowing wink. “And send me your bank details as well as Richard’s. Lincoln told me you had to postpone your start date for your new job, but I will not have you struggling.”
“I will pay back every penny,” I promise.
He gently smiles. “You’re ten times the man your father was, Owen. Don’t let his wrongdoings hold you back from the life you deserve.”
I can’t move forward without her.
A dinging text alert sings through my phone.
“That will be The Dick,” Knox says, making me want to chuckle, but I’m unsure how I do that because I feel nothing but pain and despair.
Knox makes a note of the details. “He won’t bother you anymore. You have my word.” I figure Knox has information on Richard to keep him away, making me admire Knox even more than I did before.
I walk him to the front door and thank him again and just as he’s about to jump into his sports car, another text comes through, making my eyes bug out.
“They found her. She’s alive.” I read the text out loud.