CHAPTER 27 DANNY
“Danny, hi, this is Chloe Ross. My cousin said you were looking into my services?”
“Hi Chloe, yes. I’ve got a, um…situation I need some help with,” I say, glancing over at my mom. We just got back to my sister’s house, and she’s brewing us some coffee.
“Tell me a little about what’s going on and what you’re looking for me to do.”
“My father is blackmailing me. He has a video from a camera he planted in my bedroom that has a very private conversation and other things on it that I wouldn’t want to get out. I’d like to know if you can find anything on him that would allow me to get him to stop making threats.”
“I assume you’ve ruled out turning him in to the police?” she asks.
“Correct. He’d have to turn over the tape, and there’s some damning evidence on there I can’t have getting out to anyone.”
“Right. How much has he already taken from you?” she asks.
“A hundred grand plus the first hit to my reputation.” I glance over as my mom’s eyes widen at the dollar amount.
“I normally charge two-fifty an hour, but since you play with my cousin, it’ll be two hundred. I’m estimating at least ten to twelve hours on this minimum. Will that be a problem?” she asks.
“I’ll give you ten grand regardless of how many hours it takes as long as you find something.”
“Oh, I’ll find something. I’ll shoot over a contract and a questionnaire for you to complete, and as soon as I get that back from you along with the deposit, I’ll get started.”
“I’ll have it to you today.”
“Excellent. I look forward to working with you. Oh, and Danny?” she adds, almost as an afterthought.
“Yeah?”
“Go Heat,” she says warmly. “Congrats on an amazing season.”
“Thanks, Chloe.”
I cut the call, and a text comes through from her a few minutes later.
I answer the questions immediately, giving her all the information I have on my father so she can get started, and my mom watches me carefully as she sips her coffee.
Once I’ve sent her the contract back along with a ten percent deposit via Venmo, I glance up at my mom. “What?” I ask.
“Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?” she asks.
“I’m sure.” I nod resolutely. “How else am I supposed to battle this?”
“It’s just…the last time you found something out about your father, the fallout was pretty bad. I don’t want to see you go through that again.” She nods pointedly at me.
“It’s different this time,” I say. I tap my finger on the table.
“How so?”
I clear my throat as I look up at her. “When I was seven, I caught my hero doing something terrible. The worst thing that’ll happen this time is I’ll catch the scum of the Earth doing something scummy.”
She presses her lips together and reaches across the table to squeeze my hand. “I hope you find what you need, then.”
“Me too.”
I still haven’t heard from Alexis, and I haven’t heard from Chloe by the end of the day, either.
I’m not entirely sure if she got right to work on things or not, and I’m not sure what Alexis is up to, either. Luckily the boys are here to distract me, and my hotel room goes unused another night since nobody’s meeting me there.
What a waste of money.
Leo wakes me up by breathing in my face again, and the boys head to school shortly after that. I find a new text from Alexis when I finally look at my phone. It was sent in the middle of the night.
Carrie: Can’t sleep without you. I’m sorry I’ve been quiet. My dad just got out of the hospital, and I’ve been his personal nurse. On top of the wedding plans between filming, I haven’t been able to get away. I miss you. Are you still in California?
I text her back even though she sent that one over five hours ago.
Me: Yes. I’m still at my sister’s place, and I still have that hotel in Long Beach. Any chance you can meet me there?
Her response comes a couple of hours later, and this time, I’m blessed with a phone call.
“Hey,” I answer.
“God, it feels good to hear your voice. Hi,” she says.
“Hi. Are you okay?”
“Better now,” she admits. “I’m so, so sorry. Things have just been bananas here. I’m on set right now, and this was literally the only moment I had free.”
“Thanks for using it up on me.”
“No one I’d rather use it up on.”
“Same. Can you make it out to Long Beach?” I ask.
“I don’t think I can make it work. Is there any chance you can swing by the set? I can have Gregory sneak you into my trailer, and we can…” She clears her throat. “Talk.”
I laugh. “Talk. Right.” I can practically see her blushing right now.
She giggles. “I love your laugh, and I love how you can make me laugh even when the world feels like it's crashing down on me.”
“Hey, baby. We’ll figure things out, okay? I promise.”
“I’m holding you to that,” she says. “Shit, I have to go, but I’ll text you the address and what time to be here, okay?”
“I can’t wait to see you,” I admit.
“Same. Love you.”
“I love you too,” I say, but I think she has already hung up before hearing my words.
True to her word, a text comes through shortly after with the address and a time of five o’clock. I let my mom know I’ll be heading to my hotel tonight, and she gives me a hug and tells me to take care of myself.
I tell her I will, but the truth is that I don’t need to since I’ve got Alexis to take care of me.
It’s a little over an hour to LA without traffic, but with traffic, it’ll take close to two hours. So I hop in the car at three just to make sure I’m not late, and it’s as I’m navigating toward the set that my phone rings, and I see it’s Chloe calling.
“Hello?” I answer.
“It’s Chloe Ross. I’m calling with an update.”
“What did you find?” I ask.
“I found a lot of things, but I think you’re going to want to sit down for this.”
“Well, I’m driving, so I am sitting,” I say.
“You’re sure?” she asks.
“Hit me with it.”
“Your father is dying,” she says.
“He’s…he’s what?” I ask, sure I heard her correctly, but I'm not sure why it doesn’t hit me harder than it does. I should be upset about that, right? He’s my father. He gave me life.
Except he abandoned me when I was seven, and he’s been as good as dead to me since.
He only shows up when he wants something, and this time it’s money.
The whole buying Olivia a graduation present was obviously a lie.
He’s setting his family up because he’s about to kick the bucket, and he’s using my money to do it.
“He has stage four lung cancer,” she says, and her voice sounds far away for a beat. “He’s got nothing left to lose, Danny. The doctors have given him less than a year.”
“Oh.” He was a smoker my entire childhood, and I remember him and my mother getting into fights about that when I was a kid. She wanted him to stop, and he didn’t want to. I suppose there were other things he should have stopped that he also didn’t bother with.
“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you that. I hope it’s something that is useful to you,” she says.
“No, no. Don’t be sorry. It explains a lot. If he’s got nothing left to lose, he might as well go out with a bang, right?” I say.
“I guess so. Want me to keep digging?” she asks.
“No, I think that’s all I’ll need. Thanks, Chloe. I’ll send the rest of the payment by the close of business today.”
“You don’t have to. I didn’t have to dig very hard to find this.”
“You probably just saved me thousands of dollars, so it’s the least I can do. Thanks again.” I cut the call, not sure what else to say, and I sit with this news as I continue driving on toward Alexis.