54. Reed #2
I look around the apartment, like the answers might be hiding somewhere between the walls, and then I straighten so quickly my bruised ribs protest. My dad is dead, Eloise is missing, and my mom and Freddie are due home this afternoon. I need to get to them, before anyone else does.
“I need to call them.” I jump to my feet so I can move to grab my phone, but before I can even unlock it, Caden speaks.
“I already took care of it,” he tells me firmly, and my stare snaps to his, Wilder’s eyes widening even further than before.
“What?”
“Your mom and your brother, they're safe, don’t worry.”
My grip tightens around the phone, unsure whether I should even believe him, considering what he did. “What do you mean they're safe?”
“I sent a security detail to collect them a couple of hours ago.” He says it with the same calm tone he'd used to ask about caramel for his coffee, and I can’t help but frown.
“The press will be all over your father's house by now.” He nods toward the television mounted on the wall.
“By lunchtime they'll know he's dead, and the press vultures will be circling for photographs and statements.” He shrugs.
“I figured your mother and brother didn't need to deal with that.”
My chest loosens just enough to breathe again, while still trying to comprehend how he killed my father, yet had enough thought to make sure the rest of my family were safe. “They’re together?” I ask shakily, and he nods. “Where?”
Wilder is staring at him intently, as if waiting for the answers to my questions as much as I am. “Safe house. I thought it was best they stay off grid for a few days, since things will only get crazier when everything else comes out.” He waves a hand vaguely, and I frown.
"Everything else?"
Caden takes another sip of his coffee and grimaces.
“Fucking vanilla,” he mutters, placing the cup on the counter before giving me his attention again.
“I ruined his reputation too.” He says it exactly the same way someone else might announce they'd watered plants for you, and all I can do is stare at him in panic. “Nothing about this,” he gestures to me, or more so my injuries. “Some things are just for you to deal with, but his other crimes, even cold in the ground, I won’t let him get away with them.”
My stomach twists, not sure where I even go from here, what I can even say, but Caden continues before I can try. “I made sure your mother, Freddie, and you, will have enough money to live on though, don’t worry, I'm not a monster.”
Wilder scoffs. “Only you could say that with a straight face." From his tone I can tell he is pissed off and trying to hide it.
“I am remarkably self-aware,” Caden shrugs, taking another sip of his coffee, before groaning again and dumping it down the sink.
I look between the two of them and have no words. At Wilder, who has barely taken his eyes off me since I came home yesterday, and at Caden, who somehow saved me from a life of misery, yet seems more concerned about my lack of caramel.
“Can you take me to them?” I whisper, bringing both their attention back to me, and Caden nods.
“Sure, go and get dressed and we’ll head right over there.”
All I can do is nod mindlessly, forcing myself to move back to my room, so I can get ready and try to collect my thoughts. I’m not surprised in the slightest that Wilder trails after me. He shuts the door behind us and leans against it.
“Blue, are you okay?” he asks, and I hate how desperate his tone sounds as I slump down onto my bed.
“Honestly? I have no idea.”
There are a thousand things rushing through my mind right now, and I feel like I can’t think straight.
As if he can sense my inner turmoil, Wilder crosses the room and drops to his knees before me.
“I know this is a lot to take in, trust me,” he sighs, his hands coming to rest gently on my thighs, and his touch grounds me more than anything else.
I meet his stare as another thought creeps back in. “Your brother is dead, isn’t he?” I ask, remembering all the tension I have sensed between them anytime they are together, and Wilder exhales again.
“Yeah, baby, he’s dead.”
Pain pulses in my chest, the kind I should have felt at the news of my father, except it’s not for Wilder’s brother, it’s for him.
It’s for the months I’ve watched him struggle without anyone noticing, without knowing why, and now all of it makes sense.
He lost his brother, and he has been lying to everyone he cares about, and I’m probably the first to work out the truth.
“Did he hurt you?” I find myself asking, thinking I know Caden enough by now that it’s a warranted question, but Wilder shakes his head slowly.
“No, that’s not why he did it.” I open my mouth to say something else, but Wilder beats me to it, gently reaching up to cup my face.
“I know this is a lot, Blue, and I know you’re going to need some time to take care of things, but right now, you should be with your mom and your brother.
” I nod shakily, leaning into his touch, knowing he is more than right.
“Now get dressed. I’m gonna go talk to Cade, okay?
” Again I nod, missing him the second he pushes away from me, but knowing I have to let him go.
I wait until he leaves before I break down, and then I do what I’ve been doing for the past ten years. I pick myself up, clean my wounds, and get ready to face the world. Except this time, it’s a world without my father in it.