29. Margo
Chapter 29
Margo
C aleb glances at me. He ended up skipping school and coming to get me in Theo’s car. He said something about getting that chat over with, and my stomach swooped. I knew exactly what he meant.
So here we sit in the prison’s visitor parking lot, staring at the entrance.
It’s just as nerve-racking the second time.
“Do you think they told him what happened?” I ask.
He lifts one shoulder. “I don’t know.”
“He hasn’t called or anything.”
“I don’t?—”
“Know, yeah. Got it.”
He reaches over and laces his fingers with mine. “Nervous?”
“How’d you guess?”
“Because you’re not really breathing. And you’re snapping.” He smiles reassuringly, but it doesn’t do much to calm the buzzing in my veins.
I force myself to take a deep breath. “Right. Okay, let’s go.”
We walk into the prison shoulder to shoulder, and he visibly shudders once we pass through the gates. I take his hand and squeeze. It’s hard to believe Detective Masters wanted Caleb to end up somewhere like this.
The paperwork with the guard is faster this time, and after we hand over our IDs, we go to a corner of the room and sit.
“You’re not going to interrogate him, right?” My leg bounces.
“Interrogate him? No. I have some questions?—”
“Some nice questions, since he doesn’t have to tell us anything?—”
“Relax,” he says, putting his hand on my knee.
I stop jigging.
“I’ll be on my best behavior,” he promises. “We just need to find out about Tobias…”
“Imagine telling him his lawyer was a filthy rotten?—”
A buzzing sound cuts me off. Here we go , I tell myself.
We stand with the few other people in the waiting room. Mid-week, it isn’t busy. The woman I met at the first visit isn’t here. Not that I expected her to be, but it would’ve been nice to see a friendly face.
Caleb walks a step behind me, letting me lead. Down the hall, to the door a guard is holding open. We pick a bigger table in the back corner, as far from the others as we can manage.
This time, we don’t have to wait long for another buzz, and then, “Inmates entering.”
Dad appears in the doorway. His head swings around until he finds us, and then he frowns.
For an instant, I wonder if he’ll turn around and go back to his cell without seeing us. Without talking to me.
But that fear dissipates when he moves toward us.
I rise, stepping past Caleb, and throw my arms around my dad. Dad’s arms come around me tightly, crushing me into him. One hand cups the back of my head, and I’m ashamed that the action reminds me of Robert.
“My girl,” he whispers in my ear. “I’m so glad you’re okay. God, I’ve never felt so helpless in my life.”
So they did tell him .
We separate, and Dad regards Caleb.
Dad extends his hand, an odd look on his face.
And Caleb… he’s white as a ghost.
I squint at him, but he seems like he’s in a trance. Finally, he blinks and reaches out, clasping Dad’s hand. The two stare at each other for a moment, the handshake suspended between them.
Maybe this is how Dad would’ve reacted to all of my boyfriends, if we had managed to stay a family long enough for me to get there. Maybe I never would’ve had a boyfriend—just Caleb.
That thought warms my cheeks, and I quickly push it away. No use pondering what might’ve been.
“You taking care of my daughter, Caleb?”
Caleb winces. “I’m trying to now, Mr. Wolfe.”
Dad releases his hand and barks out a laugh. “‘Mr. Wolfe?’” he repeats. “Jesus. You never called me that.”
“Well, we never figured on being here, so…”
Okay, this is awkward. I motion to the table. “Can we sit?”
Around us, everyone else has settled down. We’re the only ones still standing, and the guards are eyeing us.
Dad dips his chin. Once we’ve settled around the table, he leans in. “Margo, a detective came to see me after you left. Said?—”
I take a deep breath. “We have some… explaining to do. In that regard.”
He motions for me to continue, and I tell him what happened. The quick version anyway: car accident, abduction, Caleb finding me and taking me to the hospital, his interrogation.
Dad is gripping the edge of the table by the end of it. His gaze goes to the scar on my forehead. “Is that…?”
“Glass from the accident, I think,” I say. “And I still get headaches from the concussion…”
Caleb grunts. “Same.”
Dad raises his eyebrows.
“Caleb’s uncle hit him in the back of the head for standing up to him,” I tell him. “I found him in a room… which actually brings us to our visit. We’ve been uncovering some strange things.”
He rubs at his face. He’s sporting a bit more scruff than I remember, and while the hair on top of his head is still dark, the beard is peppered with gray. “Say what you will about your father, he never fucking hit a child.”
I press my lips together.
“They don’t have any leads?” he asks through his hands.
“ They don’t,” Caleb answers.
Dad drops his arms and glares at him. “What the fuck does that mean?” His gaze goes to me. “Tell me you haven’t been pulling any cowboy shit.”
I shift. “Well…”
“We have.” Caleb pats my leg under the table. “And we found something which led us here.”
Dad’s eyebrow goes up. “I’m almost tempted to walk away, just because you put my daughter in danger?—”
“Caleb saved me, Dad.” I reach out, taking his hand. “He found me.”
Dad touches the bracelet on my wrist. “I didn’t recognize this the last time you were here, but this is the one you made, isn’t it? One for each…”
Caleb shows him the bracelet on his own wrist.
“Inevitable,” Dad murmurs.
“You think so?” Caleb slides his sleeve back down.
I check Caleb’s expression. He’s thoughtful, and not… not as judgmental as I would’ve expected.
“What happened between you and my dad?” he asks.
And there goes that ‘not as judgmental’ thought .
“Norah told us that you used to be friends,” I blurt out.
Dad’s eyes widen, then he chuckles. “So, you’ve been playing detective?”
I shrug. “Had to figure out the truth somehow.”
“Okay, Margo,” he says. “Ben, Josh Black, Phil Mardzen, and I were best friends in high school.”
“Wait,” Caleb interrupts. “You were best friends with Coach Mardzen ?”
Dad smiles. “Is he coaching now?”
Caleb crosses his arms over his chest.
After a second, Dad shakes his head. “I moved away to go to college in Massachusetts, which is where I met your mother. When we moved back to Rose Hill, I was… significantly different. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one. Ben and Josh had split from Phil just after graduation. He wasn’t even in Rose Hill when I moved back. Ben and Lydia were dating, and things were pretty serious. Norah and Josh had gotten together, too. Everyone was shocked when I brought Amber home, newly engaged.”
I tilt my head to the side. “What about you being disowned?”
A laugh bursts out of Dad’s mouth. “Yes, that’s true. My mother was not happy with my pick of a wife.” He sobers quickly. “She died a few months after our wedding. I only found out about it after I was put in here.”
I sober, too. “I would’ve liked to have met her.”
He smiles sadly. “The last letter I sent her that she would’ve received was the one in which I told her Amber was pregnant with you. I sent more after that, pictures and stories, but… The letters were never returned to me, so I assumed she read them.”
“How was my parents’ relationship?” Caleb asks.
Dad levels him with a look. “The adult perspective?”
“They argued a lot,” Caleb says, attention fastened to the table, “late at night, when they thought I couldn’t hear them.”
“They had some trouble,” Dad allowed. “Obviously, Margo’s mother didn’t help the situation any.”
“You say it with such ease,” Caleb says, finally raising his head. He leans forward. “You say that your wife was cheating on you like it doesn’t even bother you, when in reality, you’re in here for murder .”
“Let it out, son.” Dad motions for Caleb to give him more.
“How do you live with it? I found Dad in his room—” Caleb sucks in a ragged breath. “When I look at you, all I can see is my father’s blood.”
My heart hurts for Caleb. That he was the one to find his father dead. That he’s had to live with it all this time, alone . His family warped his perception. My dad was the closest thing to a saving grace for us when we lived on Caleb’s family property. And his uncle and mother made sure those memories were forever tainted.
“We were friends,” Dad continues. “I never laid a hand on him, and I certainly didn’t kill him.”
It’s about as serious of an admission as… well, as admitting to murder. He’s already in prison. He doesn’t have anything to lose.
Caleb stares at the ceiling, blinking rapidly.
I hate that he’s so bothered by this.
“Dad, when did you first meet Tobias?”
“After I was arrested. Amber had just…” He shakes his head.
“Mom had just what ?”
“We received a suspiciously large deposit in our shared bank account, so the police froze it. I had nothing after I was arrested. I met Hutchins after they read me the charges and I asked for a lawyer.”
“You hadn’t seen him… at the house?”
Dad squints at me. “What are you saying?”
“We’re definitely not accusing Lydia of paying him off, convincing you to get a shitty plea deal, right ?” I lift my chin. “And we’d never insinuate that the person who hit me and Robert—and then abducted me—borrowed the vehicle from Tobias.”
Dad closes his eyes. “You cannot talk about this.”
“Why not?”
“Margo,” he warns.
“Five minutes,” the guard by the door calls.
Breath hisses past my teeth. “You can’t tell us to drop this. I have a stalker, and every fucking piece of it is connected.”
“The Ashers—” Dad stops and glances at Caleb.
Caleb’s jaw muscle jumps, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Ben lost his wife the minute he invited mine into his bedroom,” Dad murmurs. “And everything that resulted from it is on his shoulders.”
Caleb locks up next to me. “Mom knew?”
Dad gives Caleb an odd look. “Have you forgotten? She knew… everything.”
Well, then .