43. Chapter 43
Chapter 43
Roxie
The countdown to the call with my lawyer and the trustees is almost at zero, and anxiety courses through my body. I’m not sure what to expect. Are they going to be nice? Concerned? Maybe they’re annoyed that I’m popping into their life like this. Who knows, but I’m nervous as hell to find out.
Lennox brings me a cup of chamomile tea and sits in the chair next to me. “You ready for this?”
“Hell no,” I blurt out, but before I can explain, my computer rings with the video call.
Three faces pop up on my screen, all with zero inflection on their faces.
“Good morning, Roxie, how are you doing today?” My lawyer asks.
“I’m doing okay, thank you.” I can hear how stilted my voice is.
“This is Dave Fidler and Sarah Duncan. They are the two trustees of your trust.”
When I look over at them, tears instantly fill my eyes and theirs.
“It’s so wonderful to finally be talking to you. We’ve been searching for you on and off for a long time,” Sarah says.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t even know about any of this.” I sniffle .
“No need to apologize, Roxie,” Dave adds in with an understanding smile on his face.
“So, I’d like to go over the trust and what everything entails. I’d also like to talk about possible actions against Greg and Pam Moore. Once that’s done, I can get off the call and let you all talk and catch up,” Walter says.
“Perfect,” Sarah says as I sit frozen.
Lennox slides his hand onto my thigh, gently squeezing it in support. It helps loosen my shoulders and focus my attention on everything going on.
“Where do we start?” I ask.
“So, your trust was broken into payments, essentially. You were supposed to receive payouts at certain ages.” He looks down at his paperwork. “It should have been eighteen, twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five, then forty. It started with smaller payouts and got larger as you got older. A really smart way for your parents to set it up, honestly.”
“The six months before you were supposed to receive a payout, we spent time trying to find you but never had any real leads. Every time we got close, you disappeared again,” Sarah says.
I nod, crushing guilt washing over me. I know it’s what I felt like I needed to do to survive, but so much could have been resolved if I’d just stayed in one fucking place. Tears hinder my vision as Walter clears his throat.
“You just turned thirty-five, which means we’ll either need to adjust the payouts, which would be … complicated, or lump sum what you should have received. Just so we’re all on the same page, that would be four payouts in holding.” He looks up to make sure we all understand .
“Is there some way to put that into an account that continues to grow? I’ll admit I’m not knowledgeable about my options,” I say.
“We have the accountant who helped set all of this up, so we can talk to her about options. She would probably know how best to go about things,” Sarah answers.
“I agree. If anything needs to be looked at from a legal standpoint, I can work on that,” Walter says.
“Thank you,” the three of us say at the same time.
“Alright, now let’s discuss taking action against Pam and Greg Moore,” Walter says.
Lennox brushes his thumb along my thigh as I tense up. I know this is a good move, but I’m dreading it. Anything involving a lawyer is going to be time-intensive, and that’s not conducive to putting this all behind me.
“I’d like to do the most we possibly can, but I also understand if you don’t want to do that, Roxie,” Dave interjects.
“They need to pay—”
A clattering from the entryway draws my attention. Lennox jolts up, the chair scraping behind him as he stands.
“Sorry, we’re not expecting anyone, but it sounds like someone just showed up. Can you give us a second?” I tell everyone, but I’m already distracted.
“Get out!” Lennox’s booming voice has me up and running to the front door faster than I’ve moved in a long time. What I see shakes me to my core.
Pam is standing by the closed front door with a knife in her hand. Lennox is standing with his hands up, terror mixed with anger a heady mix on his face .
My thoughts immediately move to the knife, and I know I need to take charge. The memories in the cabin are still so heavy in his mind that I can’t let him backtrack, especially not with my drama.
Stepping in front of him, I shield him from the woman who was supposed to raise me. Instead, she made my life a living hell at every turn. Her words hurt worse than anything Greg did to me.
“Long time, no see,” I say as calmly as I can.
“You stupid bitch!” she yells. “You’ve ruined everything, and you keep ruining everything.” She holds up the knife. “Tell them to let Greg go.”
“Tell me what you’re after. You’ve hunted me down for years, and I have no clue why.” I shift away from Lennox, hoping to pull all the attention off him.
Her manic laugh sends goosebumps up my arms. “You can’t be that stupid.”
“Humor me,” I counter, moving infinitesimally closer.
“Money. The answer is always money!” she screams. “Now, let Greg go.” She takes a step toward Lennox, and I don’t think. I step into her, hooking my arm into the one with the knife in it and twisting it around. The knife instantly clatters to the ground before I step into her and push her top half off balance.
She falls to the ground hard as I press my knee into her side, hitting the tender part that will hopefully keep her down. She’s discombobulated enough that it allows me to pin her hands before she gains her bearings.
My knowledge of physical therapy combined with my strength kicked in, and I didn’t second-guess protecting Lennox from the knife. The fact he was even put in that position pangs in my heart .
He rushes over with what looks like shoelaces and starts tying the hands I’m holding together. Once he’s done, we sit her up and get her standing before walking her to the dining room table.
“Arlo’s on his way. I sent him a text as soon as I could, so he shouldn’t be more than a couple of minutes out,” Lennox says, all business, but I see the hollowness in his eyes. He was scared, and now he’s pissed. It’s something we can’t deal with right now, but we will later.
I sit down in my chair, blowing out a steady breath before I’m startled by multiple voices talking.
“Oh my God, are you okay?”
“Is everyone safe?”
“Is that Pam?”
I look up at my computer and see three concerned faces staring back at me. I forgot we were still on the call.
“Umm, yeah, we’re fine. Pam broke in. We’re waiting for the sheriff. If possible, can we continue this later?” My words are staccato and unfeeling, but I can’t think about what happened. If I do, I’ll break down, and I’m not breaking down in front of that woman.
“Of course, of course. I have an open schedule today if you’re able to do it later. If not, I can coordinate with everyone for another day,” Walter interjects immediately. I’m grateful for the help.
“We’re both free, so just let us know. And please keep us updated on the situation. We’ll email you our numbers.” Motherly concern is written all over Sarah’s face.
“Thank you, guys,” I whisper, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. Lennox presses his hand on the lid of my laptop, closing it and effectively hanging up on everyone. At the same time, Arlo comes storming through the front door. Pam has been quiet this whole time, outside of the rage on her face.
“This better be the last fucking thing that rolls through this town,” he grumbles before stopping at the dining room table. “Pamela Moore, you’re under arrest…” He says the whole spiel, but I can’t focus on him. Lennox is pacing, wringing his hands together.
I stand up, my legs a little shaky but still strong enough to carry me to him. Stopping him as he turns, I put my hands on his shoulders. “Are you okay?” I whisper so only he can hear me.
He looks over at Arlo, who is currently handcuffing Pam and getting ready to lead her out of the house.
Arlo looks up at us. “Come by the station when you’re ready.” Then he leaves with Pam.
Returning my focus to Lennox, I repeat my question, “Are you okay?”
“Yes. No. I’m not really sure. I should be okay,” he says robotically.
“There are no should-be’s, okay? You feel how you feel, and that’s okay.”
He looks down at me, eyes full of dread. “I thought I was progressing, getting over everything that happened. And then I saw her knife, and I froze. Flashes of Tennison cutting me had me paralyzed, and I couldn’t protect you.” His voice cracks at the end as his eyes fill with tears.
It’s my last straw, and I break. Wrapping my arms around him, I cry into his chest. I let out the panic, the shock at seeing Pam actually break into the cabin, and the sadness at how much this is affecting Lennox.
I’m not sure how long we hold each other, but once the tears stop flowing and our minds clear, we pull back .
“I’m sorry I didn’t protect you. I failed.” The doubt in his tone makes me angry. Not at him but at fucking Pam for bringing up all this uncertainty in him.
“First, don’t apologize for her actions. Second, I’m not a damsel in distress. I know you feel like it’s your responsibility to protect Ivy and me, but I’ve been doing it for a long time, love. Third, you have never failed and will never fail with me, okay? Please believe that.” Intertwining our fingers, I make sure he hears me.
He rolls his neck, unclasping a hand to swipe his face, and sighs. “That knife freaked me the fuck out.”
“Understandably.”
“I thought therapy was helping.”
“It is helping, Lennox. No one expected you to come face to face with an attacker with a knife again. No one can plan for that, and no one expects you to react favorably.”
He nods, really taking in my words before connecting our hands again. “How are you ?” He squeezes my hands.
Sighing, I try to articulate things. “I don’t think I’m feeling it yet. I’m really freaked out, honestly. And I’m wondering how the fuck she broke in, but I know there’s more that’ll hit me later. I don’t feel like this is over yet, not until we go to the station. And I’m worried about you,” I tell him honestly.
“I know. I’m sorry.” He leans down, pressing his forehead to mine, wiping the last of the tears away with one of his hands.
“Tonight might be rough,” I tell him.
“I’m counting on it.” He sighs .
“But we’ll be together. Work through it all together and come out the other side stronger.” Breathing in his essence, I let his natural woodsy sent fill my lungs and soothe the remaining panic.
“Always strong together, Boss Lady.” He gives me a weak smile.
In this moment, I’ll know we’ll be okay. I know we’ll conquer all our fears and all of our struggles because we have each other. No matter the obstacle, our family will overcome it all.
“Let’s go down to the station and finish this.” I’m ready for this drama with Greg and Pam to finally be put behind me.