Chapter Seventy-Nine
Chapter
Seventy-Nine
Stone
Beulah had withdrawn from me again. I had struggled with leaving her. I’d even considered calling Gerry and seeing if Beulah could take the week off so she could go with me to New York. I know Gerry would have let her, but Beulah wouldn’t have been happy about it. She’d be worried about leaving Gerry and I was trying to give her reason to smile. Not upset her.
What was waiting on me in New York wouldn’t bring her joy either. And all this shit I was dealing with wasn’t making me pleasant to be around. Things had been good until I’d gotten the call from Hilda. Beulah had been smiling and affectionate all week. We’d fucked over every inch of the apartment. When I was with her, inside her, the ever-present iron ball lodged in my chest was gone. Taking her with me, so I had her there keeping me sane, wasn’t fair to her and as much as I wanted to stay here with her, I couldn’t.
Staying wasn’t an option—I had to go. My first stop would be to check in on Wills since he hadn’t been available for phone calls all week. Then I was making a trip to my mother’s house. She needed to answer some questions for me. Starting with, who the fuck my father was. And, now that Hilda was no longer fighting for Wills, I had to meet with my attorneys to adjust our course of action.
When I landed at JFK Airport, I texted Beulah, but she hadn’t responded in over an hour. I arrived to check on Wills and debated whether to call her or check on Wills first. I decided she could be busy, and I would give her more time. If she hadn’t responded in a couple of hours, I would call.
When I reached the front door and rang the bell, I expected it to open within seconds, as it always did. My father’s staff was overly efficient, and if they weren’t, he fired them.
However, after a couple of minutes, I was still standing outside. I rang again and waited. Time ticked slowly, and no one came to the door. This wasn’t normal. It was so abnormal that I began to grow worried. I pulled my phone back out of my pocket and called the number to reach Wills’s nanny.
It rang and then went to a voicemail.
I called the main house line.
Again, I got voicemail.
As much as I didn’t want to, I called my father. This was his house, and no one was answering the door or phone, which was so out of character that there was no reasonable explanation. My worry was escalating to fear as my stomach knotted. Wills hadn’t been available all week. But at least I had spoken to the nanny.
This was complete silence.
My father’s voicemail was the last warning flag I needed. There was something off. This sudden lack of communication wasn’t just a coincidence. They weren’t all busy. This had been planned. Wills’s inability to talk to me all week was now suspicious and not bad timing.
I walked away from the house and dialed my father’s office. He may not be answering, but I knew that Richardson Enterprises would.
“Good Afternoon, Richardson Enterprises. How can I direct your call?” It was Margaret. She was thirty-seven, divorced, had three kids, and was sleeping with Harold from marketing. Harold was thirty years old and married, with no kids. I knew my father’s employees. I made it a point to know everything about them—something he never did and that I’d hoped would help me one day.
“Hello, Margaret. It’s Winston. How are you today?”
“Oh, hello, Winston. I’m doing great. Thank you,” the smile in her tone was always flirty. Even though she was fifteen years older than me and currently involved in an affair, she liked the attention from men.
“How did Bart’s tennis match go?” I asked, remembering she had mentioned that her oldest son Bart had a tennis tournament when I spoke with her last week while visiting the office.
“He was amazing. The kid is going to be a star!” she bragged.
“Sounds like it.” I wasn’t sure I believed her. With the way she was handling her personal life, that kid had more drama coming in his future. That would either send him off the tracks or make him want more drama. “Could you put me through to my father, please?”
She paused. “Oh, I would. But he’s in Europe. I assumed you knew.”
Europe? “No, he didn’t mention it. Where in Europe?”
I heard her shuffling around, and her voice sounded muffled as if she were covering something up. “Switzerland, I think. He’s taken Wills to get settled into the boarding school.”
He had Wills in Switzerland to enroll in a boarding school. He was eight years old. Who the fuck sent an eight-year-old to boarding school? “Are you sure?” I asked her, still thinking there had to be some miscommunication.
“Yes. I know,” she whispered. “I didn’t think it was even legal to send an eight-year-old off like that. But he did. I thought you knew. Wills’ mother knew. She sent over the signed paperwork.”
Hilda knew. She fucking knew and didn’t tell me.
Just when I thought she couldn’t be any more disgusting, she does this.
“Thank you.” I forced out the words before ending the call.
I wanted to hit something or throw the man I had believed was my father against a wall over and over. I wanted to make him beg for compassion. None of that would help Wills now. I had to take a deep breath and not think about how scared he had to be, not worry about his safety where he was. If I did, I would go crazy. Wills needed me to be smart and to move quickly.
I never imagined taking my time would lead to this. I was trying to be safe. Make sure when I went after custody of my son that, I had the power to win. But now it was time to move. To strike. To fucking get my son back in the United States.
Driving toward my lawyers’ firm, I called and let them know I was on my way and that
there was a development that would require immediate action. I’d tell them more when I arrived. While I was on the phone with my counsel, I thought about calling Beulah. Hearing her voice and talking to her about what had happened would help me focus. Now, more than anything, I wished I had brought her with me. I needed her.
The phone rang, and like all the numbers I had called trying to reach Wills, there was no answer. Slamming my phone down in the passenger seat, I focused on the road and went over all my options to get Wills back. Beulah would call soon. She was just busy. Gerry could be having a bad day. She was fine.
When she called, I would convince her to come here. Maybe that was what she had wanted to begin with, why she had gotten quiet and withdrawn. My not bringing her had hurt her feelings. I should have fucking thought about that. Once I had her with me, I could focus more on the situation instead of worrying about her. Wills was my son, and having Beulah a part of his life now was important for all three of us. Wills was going to need Beulah just as much as I did.
I glanced over at my phone feeling anxious and thought about calling Gerry now. No, I had to keep my focus on getting Wills back. If Beulah hadn’t called me by the time I was done at the law firm, then I would call Gerry. Beulah would be on a plane headed here by tonight.