Chapter 20 Linc #2
There was one last envelope. I lifted out the manila pouch, noting the thickness of the contents and the initials in the corner.
MT
I opened the envelope, my eyes widening at the contents. Pictures of Martha Tremont. Personal pictures. Some of her. Some of them. Intimate. Graphic. All taken, I was certain, without her knowledge. All kept, I knew, to blackmail her.
I shut my eyes, feeling ill. I pushed away the ones of her and studied my father’s expression. Even in passion, he was cold. Removed. He stared at Martha as if he’d just as soon strangle her as have sex with her. She was simply another tool in his destructive arsenal.
That woman, who, to this day, fought for my father’s honor, harbored feelings for him, was as duped by him as the rest of the town.
He was, indeed, a complete bastard.
I stared down at the pictures. At the files on the desk. The USB drives. I could only imagine what they all contained. The power they once held over the people of this town—probably other places as well.
Movement caught my eye, and I looked up. Sunny was in the doorway, her face pale. I stood, rounding the desk. “Sunny?”
She rushed forward, flinging herself into my arms. I held her close. “Hey, baby, shh,” I soothed. “Whatever it is, it’s okay. I’m here.”
“I’m sorry. I was upset,” she sobbed.
“I know,” I assured her. “And I know it’s my fault, Sunny.
I never wanted to bring hardship back into your life.
” I ran my thumbs under her eyes, wiping away the tears and I gazed sadly at her.
“But I have. People with scores to settle with my father will take them out on anyone related to him. Me—and of course, you, since you’ll be associated with me.
” I pressed my forehead to hers. “I hate that.”
“Is that why you remain anonymous with all the improvements? Why you refuse to take credit?”
“Yes. If some people found out it was Franklin Thomas’s son making the changes, roadblocks would be thrown up. People would wonder about my end game. It’s better to remain nameless.”
She sighed.
“How goes it at the bakery?”
“We made a list, and we’re going to start early tomorrow morning. We’ll check off one thing at a time. Michael is challenging the findings on the dry cleaners.”
“Good. Are you still angry with me?”
Sunny wiped her face. “No, I know you wanted to help, but you have to let me handle it. I can’t allow you to step into my business, Linc. I have to draw the line.”
I sighed—we were never going to agree on this.
Sunny tilted her head. “What are those pictures on the desk?”
“Nothing,” I said, cursing inwardly. I moved to hide them, but Sunny caught my arm. She stared at the photos.
“Where did you get these?” She gasped, horrified.
“My father had them in the box. Along with a bunch of other things he kept on various people.”
“Why?”
I shrugged. “To blackmail or use against them, I presume.”
She looked around. “Is there a shredder?”
“No.”
She indicated the fireplace. “You need to burn them.”
I took the photos from her hand. “I’ll handle them.”
Her voice changed, becoming fraught with worry. “Linc, what are you thinking?”
“Leave it, Sunny.”
“No!” she gasped. “You can’t, Linc!”
“If she knows I won’t bend to her, she’ll back off.”
She held up a picture. “And by using these, Linc, you’ll become exactly what you keep saying you don’t want to be. You’ll become your father.”
“I’m not my father. I would do this to protect you.”
“Protect me, by threatening another person.”
“I would never really do anything with the pictures, Sunny. She just has to think I would. The health violations go away, Michael’s business is safe, and no one gets hurt.”
She shook her head. “Your soul gets hurt. The way I feel about you will change, Linc. Don’t you see that?
You use these today, then something else in a few weeks.
Then you’ll start hiding secrets and manipulating everyone to get what you want.
Sound familiar?” She paced the room, facing me with her fists closed.
“Maybe that was how your father started. There must have been some good in him at some point. Your mother loved him enough to marry him. But she couldn’t save him from himself—from his quest for power—and she lost him. ”
“This isn’t for power,” I insisted.
“Really. I think you need to think long and hard about that, Linc. Be honest with yourself. Because you’re not being honest with me right now.”
“I can’t sit by and let you suffer because of me.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “If you do this, you lose me, Linc. Forever. Don’t you get it? I would rather have you than the bakery. My Linc. The boy I loved. Who loved me back. But not the man bent on revenge and holding the power. That’s not the Linc I know.
“That man is your father. For the first time ever, I’m seeing Lincoln Thomas in front of me.
And the loss of the man I thought you were is going to wreck me for the rest of my life.
You’re forgetting the one common factor here—Mrs. Tremont is a person.
A fellow human being. You don’t know her story.
You are threatening to hurt a person. Think about it. Think hard.”
Her parting words hit me in the chest, rendering me mute.
She shut the door behind her, the silence screaming in ferociousness.