Chapter 29
I must have dozed off at some point, because I woke up to the driver’s voice through the lowered divider.
He let me know we approached Park Avenue, where he would drop me off at my Aunt Tricia’s home.
As the car slowed, preparing to stop at the curb, the door to the car swung open, and Jeremy jumped inside.
He shouted to the driver, “To my place. Don’t even stop here. ”
“Yes, Mr. Jeremy.” The divider closed as the car pulled back into traffic as the door swung shut.
I blinked, shocked beyond belief. “How?”
“Helicopter.” He threw his arms around me. “Are you okay?”
“Are you?” I shook in his grasp, still not sure I could believe he was real. “You were arrested.”
He shook his head. “No, Princess, I wasn’t.
They didn’t have anything on me. Dad’s partner handles criminal cases, and he was there when we arrived at the station.
No one got arrested. Everything is being dropped.
They let me go as soon as I walked through the door.
But, when we got back, you were already gone.
I couldn’t reach you, either. Then I found your phone smashed on the floor.
Mom is out of her mind, ranting and raving about curses.
” He sighed. “I finally got the story out of Maria about how she threw you out. Then? I ran.”
“Oh, Jeremy.” I closed my eyes, snuggling into his neck. “This is what happens to me eventually, anyway. You should have just let me go. I don’t get to stay anywhere. All those places where I talked about the storms? I’ve been in all of them. I get thrown away.”
“Not by us. My mother lost her mind when Phoenix got taken. They kept her drugged up for three weeks, even after he was back.” Jeremy pulled away, but only far enough to take my cheeks in his hands.
Then, he kissed and kissed and kissed me, drowning my ability to think until we reached his apartment building.
When he pulled back, I couldn’t breathe.
He said, “You’re living here with us. You aren’t going back there. ”
I didn’t know if the legalities could work out to be that simple. “Is that allowed? I mean … I just got thrown out of the Hamptons. Can’t they just throw me out of here?”
“They won’t even be here for three months. If they try to send you anywhere, I’ll leave with you. Remember what Phoenix said? That counts for all of us. If you go, we go.” He smiled. “Come inside. It’s been a crazy day, and you have to be starving.”
He had chased me from the Hamptons. The very idea of it shined inside me like a beacon. No one ever did anything like that for me. Is it possible? Could I really have found the Real Deal?
I lay on his lap hours later, reading Dune while eating pizza on the floor of the apartment when the other three guys rushed inside.
“Thank fuck, you’re okay.” Julian dropped to the ground and tugged me against him in a hug. “She has lost it.”
I breathed in his scent, so happy to be back in his arms. Then Barrett. I finished up with Phoenix as they all sank to the floor. “Jeremy said I could stay here,” I told them.
“You’d better.” Barrett kissed my cheeks. “We told you we hated the beach.”
“Really hate it,” Phoenix said then laughed.
The universe had tried to take them from me, but so far, they stuck around. What did that mean? I was terrified to try to figure it out.
“Baby?” Julian kissed my back. “Kit’s here and he wants to talk with us for a minute. Granny, too. He wants to talk to you, also. I know it’s ridiculously early, but take a minute and come out, okay?”
I rolled over to see six a.m. on the clock, and I blinked in surprise. Their father is here? Is he going to throw me out? Were they getting arrested again? Phoenix, who had his head against my back, lifted his head. “What?” he asked.
“I know.” Julian shook his head. “But we all have to get up.”
We’d stumbled to bed maybe three hours earlier. We dragged mattresses around into Barrett’s room, the biggest, so we could sleep in there together. Phoenix got to his feet. “How did he wake you?”
“I happened to be peeing when he banged on the door.” He shrugged. “Come on, let’s move.”
The pictures I drew of them hung all over the walls. They loved them. Phoenix insisted on taping them up. I wore only a t-shirt, so I tugged on shorts before I followed them out.
Kit and Dina waited in the living room.
He looked exhausted, his usual put together appearance ruffled and tousled.
“Boys. Alatheia.” He sank into a seat. “I know. It’s early. You can go back to bed soon. But Granny and I needed to talk to you, and it needs to be now.”
“I’ll make coffee.” Abruptly, she stopped.
“No, I’ll go get some coffee. Alatheia, I am so glad you’re okay.
I heard it was quite an exit. You are safe now.
You all are.” Dina breezed out of the room, closing the apartment door behind her.
She might not return with the coffee, since she said her piece.
But what did it mean?
The guys seemed as baffled as me.
“Sit.” Kit motioned and his sons all took spots on the couches. Barrett tugged me down next to him. I practically sat on his lap, but I couldn’t say I minded.
Kit rocked forward. “First of all, yesterday was terrible. As my mom said, Alatheia, your exit sounds awful. Stephen shouldn’t have left, but we all wanted to be there for you boys.
It was a mistake. We didn’t realize she’d reached that point of fragility.
Maybe the whole episode with your uncle triggered some things?
Maybe it was the date?” He met Phoenix’s gaze.
“I’m sorry I forgot. If I’m honest, I try not to think about it.
That’s not okay, either. I’ll get to my point, boys, your Mom’s not okay.
She fell apart and she needs help. In order to help her, we are going to Louisiana.
It’s the only place safe for her to be herself.
There is a doctor there, one we can trust.” He sighed.
“Why did she fall apart like that?” Julian asked. “I get that no one wants to see their kids arrested, but I wasn’t even a little bit worried.”
“Well, I’m not thrilled to hear that. You should have been a little bit worried.” He held up his hand. “But that’s neither here nor there. Although, Phoenix, if you get in trouble for that kind of thing again, you’re getting sent off somewhere. I’m not kidding.”
His youngest laughed, a hard unamused sound.
“Sure. I get it. You love sending me away. They actually strike people, and that’s fine, but I get accused of doing something I didn’t do, and I’m out.
Sure. Makes sense. Got it. My strikes are done.
I’m out if it happens again. Keep going .
..” He waved his hand in a circle, as if it could go on and on into infinity.
Kit shook his head. “I think we all know you’re not entirely innocent, Phoenix.
Everyone is pretending we don’t see it, because we …
do that. But don’t talk to me like I’m an idiot.
” I kind of wanted to strike him. Hard. My fist clenched, though I knew I wouldn’t.
I wasn’t violent. But I wanted to slap him.
Why not offer his son something useful, like, I don’t know—a hug? I took a deep breath, but he continued.
“Your mother is the second oldest of nine children.” He crossed his hands in front of him.
“No …” Jeremy shook his head. “Are you drunk? She is the oldest of eight .”
Kit laughed. “I wish I was drunk. No, she’s the second oldest of nine. Her older sister was murdered when she was ten. We never told you about it. There are many, many things you don’t know, but I think it’s a mistake.”
“What?” Barrett shouted.
“Your mother had a sister one year older than her who was murdered. They never caught the killer. They don’t even really know what happened to her.
When you were taken, Phoenix, it was like a repeat for your mother.
No one knew what happened. And I’ve always wondered—in fact, all of us have—if it is somehow related to her family.
That’s why we never went back to the lake.
We just stayed away and tried to stay away from them.
We installed cameras. All of it, you know. ”
Julian put his hand on Phoenix’s arm. “Why would our mother’s family—who we barely know—kidnap Phoenix and kill those other kids? ”
Kit shrugged, as if the answer wasn’t easy.
“They’re bad people. I don’t know how much you remember about the lakes, but there are two parts.
Your mother’s family used to be very respectable, but they changed over a generation.
Your mama lived in hell. She ran away to avoid being forced to marry old, lecherous men.
She appeared on our doorstep—I’m not even sure to this day how she managed it.
Anyway, she has been through a lot. I thought you should know.
She’s not okay, but we’re going to try to fix that.
At the very least, we hope to manage things with her. ”
I stared at Phoenix, trying to interpret his expression. He couldn’t be okay with the bombshell, but I couldn’t get a read.
“Also,” Kit said as he rose, brushing his hands down his pant legs. “Put the news on. Now.”
Barrett hit a button on his phone and the flat screen television blinked to life. In about a second, the all day news station played on the screen. Ted’s face flashed in front of the camera followed by a video of him being arrested.
I gasped. “What is happening?
“Today, police arrested sex offender Thaddeus Blackthorn, known to his friends as Ted. He has apparently been living in Chicago, but he faces five accusations of rape and has an active warrant out for his arrest. Police were tipped off to his location anonymously.”
I couldn’t believe it. “How?”
“Things can be covered up, but they can also be uncovered. I think Amelia will stay away from you lest she face embarrassment publicly.” Kit smiled.
“There are consequences to hurting people we care about, and it’s evident they care about you.
When she’s better … I hope you’ll give my Rose another try. ”
He turned then headed for the door. “Boys, Granny will be here all summer, if you need her. The rest of us will return from Louisiana on September first, as usual. The cottage will remain closed for now. I know we haven’t been perfect, but we love you.”
Dina breezed in the door carrying coffee, and her son briefly kissed her cheek before he left. “Alatheia, help me in the kitchen.”
I obeyed quickly as she placed coffees in a row.
“I thought it was important for you to hear all of that. I want you to stop reading my journals until September. Promise me, you deserve the fun. The next bit isn’t fun.
I just want you to remember, even here in New York, they are always watching.
” She kissed my cheek. “Take care of my boys. They’ll need it. ”
I nodded. I would never deny Dina anything. I loved her, unreservedly. Even though I never could have believed it would happen, I loved her grandsons, too. All of them.
But that didn’t mean I knew what was going to happen to any of us.
I only knew—for the first time in my life—I would fight to find out.
Thank you so much for reading!