32. RHETT #3
It seems as though Robert has left her a puzzle rather than “freedom.” Last night we spent hours going over the papers in the file.
Nothing but random lists, mostly numbers.
Apparently, numbers were Robert’s thing, according to Avery and Nora.
Although the rest of us are baffled and mildly irate with the entire thing, Callie is happier than ever.
“My head feels ready to explode if I’m honest. I’m not sure what any of this means; all I know is that it can’t be good, and I’m not sure how to handle it.”
“Well, we have Rowan and Callie and all their resources and contacts. I know I keep saying this, but we will figure all this out.”
Shutting her MacBook, she stands and pulls out the drive. “At what cost?” she asks, trying to think of where to put the USB stick. Finally dumping it in the satchel, she grabs the boxes from the desk and puts them back in the safe along with the jewelry box.
“I’m reeling right now.” Her tone makes it very clear that she’s pissed. A kind of pissed that I haven’t seen before. When she turns to me, closing the safe and secret compartment behind her, she sighs. “He’s dead, and that is obviously why.”
“Avery…”
“You can’t deny that. You and I both know that whatever he was doing with all this is the reason someone—” She stops.
With a visible swallow, she comes back to me.
“All this time I’ve only ever wanted to protect my baby, and now I’ve got this thing on my hands that could ruin everything I’ve done. We had a new life and…and it was—”
“Is, sweetheart. You have a new life, and it is going to be fine.” My assurance does nothing to soothe her.
“I should run this past Mike. He’ll know what to do. Maybe he’ll make sense of it because I’m perplexed. Some of those people on those pictures, I’ve never met in my life, and others I didn’t know existed until now. I didn’t even know my father knew them.”
“Maybe he didn’t.”
“Then why are they in those pictures with him?”
“I don’t know, but—”
“Exactly. It’s why I need him to help figure this mess out before anyone else gets hurt.” With that she cups my jaw, taking a step closer until I can press my lips to her forehead.
A soft, pained hum rumbles from her at my kiss. “It feels as though I have everything to lose and nothing to gain from this. For a moment I thought he’d left me a way out. So much for freedom,” she scoffs.
“I think the best thing to do right now is head home and talk to Rowan and Callie about this.” I already know she’s not going to like what I’m about to tell her, but it’s no longer about what she likes.
If Avery feels threatened, as though she’s in danger, this is about keeping her safe.
“You should keep this as quiet as possible. The more people you bring into it, the more dangerous it could become. It could spiral out of control.”
“I know you don’t like Mike. I saw the way you were looking at him last night and the way you spoke to him. You don’t know him like I do.”
“I don’t need to know him because—”
“You might not trust him, but I do. My father did too.”
And maybe that’s why he’s dead. Although I don’t say it out loud, the thought earns me a glare from her.
“Keep your cards close to your chest, sweetheart. There’s a reason your father left that to you, whether it was smart or prudent or not. And you have every resource you need at your disposal with Rowan and Callie.”
“Mike is practically family. I’ve known him all my life.”
“What do you mean practically?” We both turn to the open doorway where the man in question stands with Iris in his arms, a sucker in her hand. “I was one of the first people to hold you after you were born.”
“Uncle Mike.” Avery smiles, heading straight for him. “What are you doing here?”
“You know I stop by every day. Keeping an eye on the place for you girls.”
Bullshit.
“Well, we appreciate it,” she tells him, and when she takes Iris from his hold, the sudden tightness in my chest loosens somewhat.
“I saw the rental outside and I figured it would be you, so I wanted to see how you were after last night. It all happened so fast that I didn’t get to make sure you were okay. Didn’t want you thinking I don’t care about you.”
“I didn’t think that at all.”
“Well, I don’t want anyone thinking it,” he reiterates, marking me with slitted eyes. “I’m all the family you got now, and I don’t want anything making you think otherwise.”
“Actually, there are a lot of people who care about these girls,” I tell him, pulling Iris to my side as I stand behind Avery and wrap an arm around her waist.
I won’t have him prey on her insecurities. “They’re not alone.”
“Good,” Mike sneers, turning to head back out of the room.
Avery follows, looking back to smile at me as I bag her laptop and make sure we haven’t left anything out. Unlike her mom, Iris remains glued to my side, a toothless grin spreading across her face as I sweep her up.
“Are we going home now?” she asks, brushing my hair away from my face. “I miss Jojo and the ranch.”
“Me too.”
We head back downstairs, and it dawns on me that I locked the door behind me when I came in earlier.
But I don’t bother saying anything about it.
It will only make things tenser than they already are.
The best thing to do right now is talk to Rowan about it and see what he says about it while I make sure my girls remain safe.