41. There You Go
41
THERE YOU GO
T wo days later, while Laurel was at work, Easton was in her kitchen getting a drink when he noticed a movement on the back deck of Abe’s house.
He got up and looked closer and realized the screen door was moving.
Must be Abe didn’t latch it all the way and if it wasn’t pushed closed the wind would grab it and slam it back into the house.
He picked his phone up and sent a text to Abe to bust his ass that he was fixing yet another thing in the house and then went over.
He was walking up the back porch stairs when he noticed the backdoor opened slightly too. No way his cousin would leave and not lock the house, let alone shut the doors.
His phone rang in his hand and he noticed it was Abe so he went behind the garage and answered.
“I shut the door all the way,” Abe said when he answered. “I always do. Otherwise it slams against the house and chips the damn siding. I got sick of replacing it.”
“You locked your back door, right?” he said quietly.
“Yes,” Abe said. “Always. What kind of question is that?”
“I was walking up the back stairs and noticed the door is open a crack.”
“Fuck,” Abe said. “Someone must be in the house.”
“I’ll check it out,” he said.
“Call the police,” Abe said. “Or I’m doing it right now. Don’t go in. Stay where you are.”
Easton wanted to go in and protect the home he’d grown up in, but the last thing he needed to do was put himself in danger.
He waited where he was to see if someone came out. He didn’t hear anything going on in the house.
After a few minutes, he couldn’t wait another minute and started to climb the stairs again. He nudged the back door open. There was a baseball bat right in the mudroom by the door and he picked it up, then moved into the kitchen.
He heard a noise in the front of the house close to the office he’d worked in and made his way there.
There was mumbling and some cursing and then a creaking noise as if someone was removing a nail somewhere.
He turned the corner and saw a man on the floor with the throw rug folded back. The guy was trying to open what looked to be something cut into the floor. He’d never seen that before. There were always rugs over the wood floors.
He had a flashback of the guy in front of him. Even the side profile.
“Dad?”
His father lifted his head. “Easton. What are you doing here?”
“What the hell are you doing breaking into Abe’s house?”
“I didn’t break into anything,” his father said. “I have a key.”
“What?” he asked. “No way Abe would give you a key. Nor would Uncle Kurt.”
“I used to live here,” his father said. “When you were a kid I’d stay here when your mother kicked me out. I had a key.”
He couldn’t believe his uncle never changed the locks. “I don’t buy it.”
“Fine,” his father said, shifting back. Age hadn’t been kind to the man who was balding and had loose clothing on as if he’d lost weight recently. “I had one made years ago when I was visiting you. I need money. Your uncle always left cash hidden here. I saw him do it once.”
“And you think Abe does it?” he asked. He was positive Abe would have told him if that was the case. His cousin had a safe hidden inside in a nook in the bedroom closet.
“I do,” his father said. “I’ll get out of here and no one will know.”
“You think I’m going to let you break into Abe’s house and steal from him? Not likely.”
His father stood up. He was just a shell of a man that he remembered. He couldn’t even remember the last time he saw, let alone talked to his father.
“Your mother is ill. We need the money.”
“I’ve never believed anything you’ve said before and I’m not going to do it now.”
Easton didn’t even know if his mother was alive. It was more likely they both needed another fix and that was why they were sick.
“Okay,” his father said. “I’ll leave. Let me go.”
“No,” he said.
“Easton,” he heard yelled. “Where are you?”
“In your office, Abe.”
His cousin came running and then stopped in the doorway. “Uncle Justin? What are you doing here? What the hell?” Abe’s eyes landed on the floor.
“He thinks there is money in your floor,” Easton said. “And he’s come to steal it. As if he thinks I’m letting him leave now.”
Abe laughed. “There’s no money in there. My father used to do that. Or so my mother told me and she made him stop. You broke into my house for that?”
“Just let me go,” his father said. “No one needs to know.”
“Too late,” Abe said when he heard a car door. “That’s the police. I called them.”
Abe moved to the front door and opened it. Easton turned his head and saw Luke Remington coming in the door. He remembered him from Ivy’s wedding.
“Abe Cooke?” Luke asked. “You reported a break-in?”
“Yes,” Abe said.
Luke turned to him. “Easton, right?”
“That’s me,” he said.
His cousin asked, “How do you want to handle this?”
“What’s going on?” Luke asked.
“Can I speak to you in the other room?” Easton asked Luke. “Abe stay here.”
He handed the bat over but knew his father wasn’t going anywhere and took a seat. He looked as if he could barely walk down the back porch stairs without falling let alone take off down the street running.
“Did someone break into the house?” Luke asked.
“Yeah. My father. I was next door at Laurel’s house. I noticed the back door was open and came over to close it and called Abe. He told me he shut it and then I saw the other door open. He called you and came over.”
“You didn’t think to wait until we got here?” Luke asked.
“Sorry,” he said. “This is my childhood home. Wouldn’t you do the same?”
“No,” Luke said.
“He said he has a key,” he said. “Nothing is broken so he probably did but admitted he stole it and made a copy for himself years ago. I know my uncle wouldn’t have given it to him. He’s looking for money.”
“Does Abe want to press charges or are you going to handle this on your own?” Luke asked. “I know you’re an attorney, but this is Abe’s house.”
He sighed. “I know. My father hasn’t been in my life in over twenty years. He’s an addict. I don’t know the right thing to do. I want to say lock him up, but it’s Abe’s decision. I also know he will defer to me.”
“I’ll keep an eye on your father if you want to talk this out with Abe.”
“Thanks,” he said. “It’s a tricky situation. I don’t know the right thing to do. Or the moral thing to do that I could live with.”
Twenty years ago, even two years ago, he wouldn’t give two shits what happened to his father and would have said to take him away.
But now he had a woman in his life that he loved and he worried she’d judge him for whatever decision he made.
“What do you want to do?” Abe asked.
“It’s your call,” he told his cousin. “It’s your house.”
“And your father.”
“Why does life have to be so complicated?” he asked. “My first reaction is to take him away. But he doesn’t have shit. He’s going to sit in a cell and might get cleaned up, but that is money and resources that the police don’t have time for and nothing will change in my father’s life.”
“Do you think you can change anything at this point?” Abe asked. “Is that what you’re thinking?”
“I don’t know what to think. I don’t know that putting him in a cell is the answer, but I don’t want him coming back here.”
“I don’t think he will. Why not talk to him and find out what is going on?”
“I don’t want Luke sitting around. But then if Luke leaves what are we doing with my father? I’m not driving him anywhere. I didn’t even want him to hear that I was next door with Laurel.”
“Good point,” Abe said. “This is your choice. I’ll send Luke back here.”
Luke returned. “Did you decide?”
“I don’t want to hold you up,” he said. “But I’d like to talk to him. I just don’t know what to do with him. I don’t know where he lives or how he got here.”
“I can take him somewhere, no worries,” Luke said. “It might put the fear into him anyway. Give me his name and I’m going to run a background on him. He might have an outstanding warrant and it’s out of your hands. I gave you this courtesy first.”
“Thanks for that. Justin Cooke. Middle initial is T.”
“I’ve patted him down and he’s got zip ties on. I’ll take them off once you let me know what is going on.”
He didn’t want to see that but understood it was procedure too.
Luke walked out the front door to his squad car.
“You’re letting me go?” his father said.
“Not yet,” he said. “It’s really out of my hands. He’s running a background on you. If you have any warrants he has no choice but to take you in.”
“Nothing,” his father said.
He didn’t believe it but would find out soon enough. “Is Mom really alive and sick?”
“No,” his father said.
“No, she’s not alive or no, she’s not sick?”
“Alive,” his father said. “She passed away two years ago.”
He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. “Did you know my father died?” Abe asked. “Your brother?”
“No,” his father said. “No one told me.”
“We didn’t know where you were,” Easton said. “It’s not as if you’ve wanted to keep up with what was going on in your son’s life.”
His father only nodded his head. “I wasn’t the best parent.”
“Not even close,” he said. “You never cared one bit about me.”
“It was the drugs,” his father said. “Your mother got me on them and I haven’t been able to kick them. I’ve tried and it’s not easy.”
“Where are you living?” he asked.
“About an hour from here. I parked around the corner and walked over.”
“Are you working?” he asked.
“I’ve got a job,” his father said. “I work in a manufacturing plant doing maintenance.”
He looked at Abe and before he could say anything, Luke came in. “No warrants. He’s got a past arrest about five years ago for possession but nothing else.”
“What do you want, Dad?”
“I want to be let go,” his father said. “This was stupid. I know. I just won’t get paid until tomorrow and need to pay rent. I can’t be homeless. I need a fix. For some reason I thought of the money here. I was desperate.”
“So you pay your bills over drugs?” Abe asked.
“I’m trying,” his father said. “I can’t quit cold turkey, but I need to keep it in me in small doses at the very least to function.”
“Can we talk?” Luke asked Easton and nodded to the back of the house. He followed Luke. “If you want to get him into a rehab I can bring him in, book him, we can fill out paperwork and get him in that way. It might be the only way. You press charges, he goes before the judge and says he wants to clean up.”
“Yeah,” he said. He knew that was a possibility, but it wasn’t something he was positive about. “I’m not sure I believe him. The drugs always meant more to my parents than me.”
“If anyone knows that,” Luke said, “it’s me. We share that. My mother didn’t want help and I cut her from my life. No judgment there.”
He hadn’t known that, but it did make him feel a little better that he wasn’t alone.
“If my father wants help this might be the only way. He has no idea I’m an attorney. If I offer to pay for it, I don’t think he’ll follow through. I’m sure he’d cause more problems too.”
“Probably the case,” Luke said.
The two of them went back to the living room where they’d moved his father.
“Do you want help getting cleaned up?” he asked. “If you could get into rehab would you take it seriously?”
“Yes,” his father said. “This is my last chance. I know that.”
He looked at Abe. “If you press charges they are going to lock him up. He won’t make bail. Once he goes before the judge he can plead guilty and then ask to go to rehab. It can be court-appointed which will force him to stick it out.”
“Your call,” Abe said.
He looked at his father who nodded. “There you go,” he said.
Luke pulled his father up and read him his rights and then brought him out to the car and put him in.
“How are you feeling about that?” Abe asked.
“Numb,” he said and walked out the door back to Laurel’s. Abe would give him space, but Easton knew who he had to talk to and texted Laurel.