Chapter 31 Endgame
endgame
Sariah
“More coffee?” Cian lifts the carafe at me in invitation.
I shake my head. “Nah. I’ve had plenty. I want to check on Rosie.”
The look on Cian’s face is not the playful, happy, sated one from earlier. We’re firmly in reality again.
The raid yesterday is all over the news. My name is too. That would be terrible, but adding my work ID photo to the news stories online and on TV is the straw that broke the overprotective camel’s back.
Cian paces and texts with his brother. Liam came and went already this morning. Apparently, the man doesn’t sleep because he was here last night when I had the awkward, miserable conversation with my too-young daughter about porn. We discussed the industry, how and why it makes so much money.
I made sure to mention the exploitation of young girls and boys and why she has to be smart and loud and always on guard. I also forced a conversation around the pictures on her app, not mentioning the cameras, but holding my phone and shaking it like I received them too.
I told her that there were things as a kid that I was exposed to that I didn’t want for her, and while she calls me overprotective, I take that as a badge of honor if the alternative is risking her.
I told Renée that me doing the right thing also meant I lost my job and that I put a target on my back with an industry and a group of people whose radar I never wanted to be near.
I also brought up that I’d be more overprotective because that target expands out and I’d inadvertently done what I never would’ve ever wanted, exposed her too.
“I don’t want to start over again.”
“Me either, Née. But that means you have to trust me. You have to trust that everything I do is for your safety and life and happiness. I know you’re almost fourteen and it sucks to not be free to do anything and everything you want. But either you trust me, or we have to make a new life.”
Liam jumped in, uninvited, I might add, and told us both that running wasn’t an option. It was an option for someone else, but we had a family that would protect us and to ‘get over it.’
I glared at him. He glared right back. His glare is way scarier.
He said little else from his perch in Cian’s living room as he worked a laptop and a cell phone like some chefs do knives. That is to say, with precision and ease.
I finally said goodnight after Renée did and got a nod in return. No one would describe him as loquacious.
“Thanks.” Cian’s head shifts up. “Does the name Freddie Gauthier mean anything to you?”
“Not at all.” I say before heading down the hall to the guest room where my daughter is doing homework. “Hey. Has RoRo ever mentioned someone named Freddie to you?”
“I’ve heard her say that name when she’s on the phone.”
“Anything else?”
She shrugs. People’s lives are in the balance and my teenager seems completely unbothered. At least my overprotective nature is working.
I sigh and shut the door, returning to the kitchen. Cian starts the dishwasher and turns, leaning a hip on the counter. “Anything?”
“She says she’s heard Rosie say the name on the phone. I wish I knew more.”
“Or wish we knew less.” He folds the towel and sets it near the sink before leaning on the island.
“Freddie Gauthier is an addict. He was an addict. I don’t know the verbiage.
He’s struggled with drugs and alcohol, though the best I can tell he’s clean now.
He’s a genius, but not the kind with an easy life.
Seems every chance for something to go wrong for him, it does. ”
“Like?”
“Like losing both of his parents in a tragic accident as a kid. Like barely finishing high school due to a terrible pot habit. Like dropping out of Juilliard.”
“How do you get into a school as prestigious as Juilliard and not do everything you can to finish there? It’s the ultimate door opener for a creative.”
“If creatives thought that way. Anyway, he’s come and gone from the center both inpatient and outpatient. Seems he’s tight with Rosie. Does that strike you as odd?”
“What’s odd is anybody who feels that way about her that she’s never told me about. Either out of love or out of fear.”
“Yeah.” He nods. “Exactly.”
“Why the interest?”
“Because he showed up at the hospital yesterday after I left. A guy you’ve never heard of, that she’s never discussed, is visiting after hours. Smells fishy.”
“I can run a search on him, but I’ll need you to spell that last name.”
“Liam’s on it already, but your searches are different and use different sources. It can’t hurt. I’m just cautious about us showing up at the hospital to find an unknown former or current addict. It’s too dicey. We need more info.”
I agree. “What’s the latest on Rosie, though? When can she go home?”
“I don’t know. And they won’t tell me because I’m not family.”
“She needs me.” My voice is rising.
“There’s no point in setting ourselves up.”
“I can’t go, and I can’t not go.”
“Angel—”
“This is not good for me.”
“Sariah—”
“Yeah, but—” I turn and look straight into the face of Renée.
Cian
“Née?”
“What’s wrong with RoRo?”
I scrub a hand down my face. “Come grab a seat, Renée.”
She looks between her mom and me.
“I won’t bite. I promise.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and warily walks to a stool at the island.
I stare at Sariah, but she looks overcome.
“Rosie was taken to the hospital yesterday. We think she had another seizure.”
The younger Ocotea sinks onto the seat, and her shoulders slump.
“Your mom and I went to her house when Liam came to get you at school. Sariah told me you know what she did with those predators and that you know she’s concerned for your safety. I’m concerned too. It’s why you’re both here.”
Sariah looks at me and I nod before she holds her daughter’s gaze. “We found her unconscious when we got there.”
Renée gasps and covers her mouth. Tears spill down her cheeks as Sariah pulls her into her arms and wraps her in a hug.
“I promised I wouldn’t lie to you when I can help it. So I’m telling you even if I wish I could shield you from the truth.”
“That’s where I was last night.” I cut in. “I went to the hospital to wait while she was there.” Not that that makes it any better.
“Is she going to be okay?”
“She was out of surgery and stable last night, but we haven’t heard yet this morning when she gets to go home,” I offer.
“And to answer your other question,” Sariah starts. “We don’t know. And I hate not knowing.”
“I want to go see her.”
“I do too. We’re trying to find out if it’s safe.”
“She’s by herself?”
“We don’t know,” Sariah says softly.
“Will it always be like this?” The soft whisper that leaves the normally bold teen damn near shreds me. “Hiding and scared? Or will I ever get to be normal?”
My answer is firm. “I’ll find a way for you to be safe. And for your mom to be safe. I want you to be free to make mistakes and not worry, but do them offline and off camera, okay? That shit lives forever.”
“Cian.” My name is a rebuke on Sariah’s tongue.
“What? It’s true. I want her to have a normal high school life. No running. No hiding. And then go to college. Be stupid”—I extend a hand, addressing Renée—“within reason, of course. But don’t do anything that prevents you from getting a job or that will haunt you, okay?”
“Seriously?” Her mother is ready to murder me.
“Seriously.” I reply to Sariah before focusing on her daughter. “I’ll make you a promise that you’ll be safe. You make me a promise that you won’t do shit you’ll regret long-term.”
Renée nods.
Sariah’s eyes narrow.
“I’m not overstepping.” I cut off her argument before it begins. “You and I are endgame. We’re together. That makes me a permanent fixture in Renée’s life. Her kids will be my grandkids. So I get a say.”
The two Ocotea beauties turn to face me, mouths agape, mirror images of each other, except for their coloring. But it’s Renée who smiles first and throws her fists in the air.
One down. One to go.
Sariah isn’t as easy.
“Is anything I said a lie?”
She sucks in a breath before releasing a sigh that carries the weight of the world. But she shakes her head and mutters to herself, “This is not how I expected anything in my life to go.”
“I’m in love with you, Angel. You know it.
You know I won’t let you risk yourself or Renée.
Let me get some answers from Liam. Do your search on Gauthier and let’s regroup.
” I turn to Renée. “I’d like your blessing to love your mom and be in your life.
You have all the time in the world you need to think on it. ”
Her face turns serious as she nods. Then she rounds the island, gives me a high five, and heads back down the hallway.
And I’m left with the firecracker’s mother, who looks pissed right the hell off. She turns on her heel, without another word, and heads down the hall to my bedroom.
“Eleanor?” My dog comes running and sits on the tile at my feet. “I stepped in it and don’t know what to do. Are you good with more people to love you?” Her tail swishes.
How come everything can’t be as easy as she is?
The silent treatment only lasted as long as it took to get the call that Rosie was ready to be discharged. The question was where she would go.
Sariah and Renée’s home had its vulnerabilities, namely the fact the news media would want an interview with the wonder woman who took down a sex predator ring. Everyone in the neighborhood—hell, everyone in the metro area—who might be curious could drive by.
Liam’s security was incredible, but it wouldn’t repel gawkers or those who refuse to honor property lines.
My house just went from one plus the perfect dog, to three plus the perfect dog, including a teenager. Adding a third-generation Ocotea woman isn’t ideal, but I don’t know that we have another choice.
My life is changing faster than I can keep up. I have to say, though, morning sex makes it easier to deal with.
I lift my knuckles to my bedroom door before thinking better of it and letting myself in. Walking on eggshells in my own home isn’t an option.
Sariah looks up from her computer and holds my eyes. Hers are a mix of emotions… anger, exhaustion, resolve, overwhelm.
“Getting a lot done?”
She shrugs. “Running searches on Gauthier brings up exactly what we already know. Sad childhood. He and his sister were raised by their maternal grandmother after being orphaned as kids. He seems to be a fish out of water no matter which pond. No criminal history, aside from the drugs.”
“That is criminal enough.”
“Maybe. But it’s not like most of us didn’t drink or try pot or whatever. He got caught. And don’t get me started on my daughter and her phone. That addiction is all kinds of real. It’s just socially acceptable. Actually, it’s socially expected.”
I leave the door and sit on the bed next to her. “I didn’t think that would be your outlook on it.” At all.
“Rosie has a tender heart, but she’s not easily taken advantage of. Her husband was a trucker, so she’s comfortable being alone. She’s always been more streetwise than she looks.”
“She looks like Amy Poehler, but shorter.”
“Don’t let that fool you. She’s a spitfire.”
“Apparently, it’s an Ocotea trait. And?” I hope she hears the compliment in my words.
“And I don’t think that this Freddie guy would get one over on her. So, either he’s scary smart and cunning to the point of cruel, or he’s a decent guy. Not that Rosie couldn’t be taken advantage of, but she’s not the kind to fall victim, unless the ruse was elaborate and laid forever ago.”
“Interesting take. Let’s work from that place. I know Liam will come at it from a different perspective, but he doesn’t know her like you do.”
“You overstepped,” she says to her computer monitor.
“How, Angel?”
“Renée. She’s… It’s always been the two of us.”
“It has.” I set a hand on top of hers closest to me.
“And this is all new.”
“It is.”
“And you’ve got to get that I’m the parent, and she’s my responsibility.”
“All right.”
Her head whips up and her brows pinch together. “Why are you being so agreeable?”
“Nothing you said is untrue. It’s not the whole picture, but it’s also not untrue.”
Her eyes narrow.
“It has always been the two of you. Adding me in doesn’t diminish who you are to each other or your relationship.
I won’t poke my nose into your mother-daughter dynamic duo.
But I’m here now. You’re mine, which makes Renée mine too.
She doesn’t know me like you do, so we’ll give that time.
But I want her to know that I’m not temporary.
I need to establish that early on. She has another support system, another person to encourage her, protect her, another set of eyes to make sure she doesn’t try to get away with something. ”
“You told her to do stupid shit and not get caught.”
“I told her to not screw up her life. Stupid shit happens either way.” I extend a hand to her computer. “I’d rather her not have a digital footprint of that stupidity.”
She huffs. “Don’t twist it.”
I lean down, capturing her gaze from the computer screen. “We talked about this, Angel. You and me. We are an us. You have help and support. I don’t expect I’ll be perfect at it the first time out of the gate. But let me be there for you both.”
“Ugh.” She slams her eyes shut.
“Are you… Are you mad at me for helping?” There’s humor in my voice as I return to sitting, and I know it’s going to bite me in the ass, but I can’t help it.
“Maybe.”
“Then you’re going to be downright pissed at what’s next.”
Her head whips to mine, and her eyes narrow to slits.
“I think Rosie should come here to recuperate. What do you think?”
Her mouth pops open, before she shuts it and scrunches her brow. She just stares at me and then, without a word, she faceplants into my chest.