27. Chapter Twenty-Seven
”Did she say anything else when you spoke to her?” I ask my father as he shifts gears beside me and drives through the dark streets that separate our house from Callie’s.
“No, Nate. I’ve told you exactly what she said three times now. My answer isn’t going to change,” he grumbles in reply, shaking his head.
Brad sticks his head between our seats, leaning through from the back of the car. “Did they kill him?” Dad huffs and releases the wheel with one hand so that he can push Brad into the back of the car again.
“No, of course, they haven’t killed him. Johnny said that he’s got a few broken bones and he”s unconscious, but they’ve kept him alive. He explained to me about Fraser’s actions toward Callie and said they’ve got a confession. He’s also spilled a lot of Derek’s secrets, so hopefully this will be a step in the right direction, and we can manage to get this family the justice they all deserve.” Brad claps a hand down on his shoulder.
“You’re a good man, Colin.” I nod my head in agreement with Brad’s statement when my father casts his gaze my way.
“I just really hope Callie’s okay,” Kat says quietly as she watches the blur of lights out of the back window.
“She messaged us and said she was fine, so I’m sure she is.” I don’t believe the words that flow out of my mouth, so I doubt Kat or Brad do either.
After a few more minutes, the car stops outside of a large white house and my Dad turns off the engine. Brad hastily yanks on the handle to let himself out, but my father”s words halt his movements.
“You’ve got to keep in mind that she might not be okay.” He grimaces when he notices us all watching him, waiting for him to elaborate. “I saw how badly beaten her mother was when she left. I’m hoping that Callie is okay, just as much as all of you. But you also have to consider that she might not be. You don’t know what might’ve happened before Derek left,” he pauses as his eyes trail over the lighted windows. “If she is injured, keep it together whilst you’re with her and lose your shit later.”
He turns back to us and waits for us all to agree before he moves to get out of the car, all three of us hurrying behind him.
When he reaches the door, he knocks his knuckles against it a few times before stepping back, creating some space between himself and the door. I watch through one of the panes of glass as a large figure moves through the darkened entryway.
The door opens and I hear Kat and Brad gasp beside me. I glance over at Brad questioningly as my father shakes hands with the guy at the door.
Brad leans over to me and whispers in my ear, “That’s the car park guy. The ex. The one I told you about the other night.” My brows raise, and I cast my eyes back to the dark-haired man who’s now standing in the doorway scowling at us both.
“Hi, uh, I’m Nate,” I offer, wiping my hand against my leg and stepping forward before lifting it between us, waiting for him to shake it. He smirks and sizes me up before flickering his eyes over to Brad.
Once he’s fully observed us both, head to toe, he takes my hand and shakes it firmly.
“Ryker,” he states. “Nice to finally meet the other two guys that want my girl.” My eyes widen at his abrupt comment and I hear my dad sigh beside me.
“Alright, that’s enough, macho man. Just let ‘em in the bloody house!” Someone shouts from inside. I breathe a sigh of relief when he releases my hand and steps back, allowing all of us inside.
Light filters into the large entryway through a doorway, illuminating it enough for us to see where we’re walking. I follow after my Dad as he walks across the tiled floor. I’m relieved to see Connor and Callum sitting there when we enter the kitchen.
“Where’s Callie?” Kat asks, pushing her way between all of us, directing her question toward the twins and the burly man they’re sitting with. My father grabs her wrist, stopping her from barrelling over to them and instructs her to calm down.
“She’s upstairs, needed some time to herself. She’ll be down in a little while.” The gruff voice draws my attention to the blonde-haired man who’s swirling a glass of brown liquid around in his hands. His gaze lowered to the table. Although I can only see part of his face, I think it’s safe to say he’s a Conrad, considering he looks like a blonde, older version of the twins. From the vibes he’s giving off, and how he’s dressed in all black with a thick leather jacket on, he looks like some kind of biker.
My father clears his throat, drawing all attention to him, including the biker guy.
“Johnny, can we talk somewhere else for a few moments whilst Calliope is busy?”
Johnny’s eyes narrow and he shakes his head. “Don’t call her that,” he murmurs. “It’s Callie. Only Derek called her Calliope, made her hate the name.” He stands from his chair, downs the contents of glass and then stalks off through another doorway.
“I’ll be back shortly,” My father tells us, following Johnny.
Brad, Kat and I stand awkwardly to the side of the kitchen for a few moments as Ryker leans against the counter, watching us like a lion with his prey. I glance around nervously and find smashed glass spread across the floor over by the sink.
“Can I go check on Callie?” Callum shakes his head at Kat”s question and cringes.
“She’ll come down when she’s ready to. She’s okay, though,” he tells her. Ryker scoffs, and Callum turns to glare at him.
“Don’t look at me like that. You can’t say she’s okay, Callum, because we both know she’s not!” he spits, causing me to frown.
“Shut up!” Connor shouts, banging his fist against the kitchen island.
“I’m assuming you guys don’t like each other?” Brad asks, walking through the kitchen and taking the seat next to Callum. Ryker huffs and turns away from the group, busying himself with filling the kettle with water. Meanwhile, Connor chuckles and shakes his head.
“At this moment in time, no, we don’t. He’s an alright guy, a bit full of himself sometimes, and he’s annoying once you get to know him. He’s also a dickhead. Let’s just say, he fucked up, he hurt Callie and also hurt us. Got a lot to make up for and a lot to explain still.”
Every person in the room looks just as shocked as I feel by Connor’s statement. Not only did he just admit to being hurt by someone, but he also spoke more than a few words. Even Callum, his own twin, is side-eyeing him as if he’s someone else.
“I’ve already explained why I did what I did!” Ryker shouts, turning to face Connor. “I’ve explained to Callie and I’ve literally just explained it to you. I thought I had no choice!”
“You did have a choice. You chose to do the wrong fucking thing!”
“So you’d rather I stayed here? We all know I would’ve ended up dead! You think you could’ve helped put her back together if I fucking died?”
“Can everyone calm down and stop shouting, please?”
My head whips around to find Callie standing in the doorway wearing a fluffy black dressing gown that swamps her figure. Her wet hair is loosely tied on top of her head and water trickles down the sides of her face from the loose tendrils. A large purple bruise is spread across the side of her face and her lips look more swollen than usual.
I feel my eyes prickle as I stare at her.
No. No, that can’t be right.
I blink rapidly, trying to make the bruise disappear, hoping that it’s just my imagination conjuring up my worst thoughts. The bruise doesn’t leave her face, though. It seems to become clearer to me each time I blink my eyes back open.
“Callie.” My voice is strangled, and I take a hesitant step towards her. She holds a hand up, halting my movements.
“I’m okay,” she says, wincing when she tries to smile.
“Please baby, will you stop saying you’re okay or fine all the god damned time?” Brad remarks. “We can all see that you’re not okay.”
Kat rushes towards her, arms outstretched in front of her, ready to pull Callie into a hug. Before Kat reaches her, Callie takes a step back, shaking her head.
“Please, don’t. I’d love to hug you all right now but I can’t. My body hurts.”
“What the hell happened?” Brad asks, swinging his gaze toward the twins and Ryker.
“My brother is what bloody happened, lad,” Johnny grumbles as he strolls back into the room with my dad following closely behind. When my father spots Callie, his steps falter, and his jaw drops open.
He quickly recovers from his shock, clearing his throat.
“I know you all likely have a lot of questions and a lot of things to talk about, so I’ll make this quick, but I need to talk to Callie, Connor and Callum for a moment before I leave,” he states, his gaze sweeping between all three of them.
I hear Callie’s sharp intake of breath from behind me and I watch as Connor shifts uncomfortably from his seated position.
“What is it? Is something wrong? Has something happened?” Callie asks, walking further into the kitchen until she’s by my side, her eyes locked onto my father.
“No, no, nothing’s wrong,” he assures her, shaking his head. “I just wanted to explain to you all about what’s going to happen now that your father is gone. I’ll be putting a few things into place.”
Callie shifts beside me, her arm brushing against mine. She looks up at me, her worried eyes flickering across my face as she entwines her hand with mine. I smile down at her and she sighs before turning back to my father, waiting for him to continue.
“Your mother and Crystal will be moved to a different safe house tonight. They will stay under protection until your father is caught. As for you kids, I could put you all into witness protection as-”
“With Mum?” Callum asks, interrupting my father. He shakes his head and cringes.
“No, I’d put you three into a different-”
“No,” Connor growls. My father huffs in frustration at being interrupted again. “We’ll stay here.”
“Well, Johnny told me that you’d say that. So, if you want to stay here, I will have a police car outside at all times with two officers. They’ll be there to watch over the house, they will also follow you to and from college and anywhere else you may go.” He pauses, waiting to see if anyone has any objections, and when no one speaks up, he continues.
“I have already been alerted by one of my colleagues that your father has been caught on CCTV an hour out of town. We will be tracking him and keeping tabs on him. So far, it looks like he’s only with Paul, but we’ll be trying to find the others as well. I’ll leave my card here for you all so that you have my contact information. If you have any evidence or if you need anything, you only call me, no one else, because your father has a lot of corrupt people on his side and I’m not sure who we can trust just yet.”
Everyone nods along with him, listening to every word that he’s saying.
“Fraser has told Johnny and Ryker a lot of information, so I will be having a team go to every warehouse that Fraser knows about so that we can hopefully find something. Callie, I will also need a statement from you and if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like pictures of the injuries you’ve sustained tonight.”
“Yes, of course, I can do that. I also have the letter to give you.” She squeezes my hand before releasing it and then hobbles out of the room.
My father turns to face Callum and Connor. “I understand from the note that you left for me that you have committed a few crimes over the past few years and that your father has proof of those crimes. I’d like to inform you that I will make sure neither of you will be convicted for anything you may have done. I would like for you both to tell me anything that you may know about your father and his business, though. Every little thing you know or find out will help put him behind bars, hopefully for the rest of his life.”
Connor stiffly nods and grunts in agreement. Callum on the other hand, walks over to him and holds his hand out for a shake.
“Thank you. I really appreciate everything you’re doing for us.”
My dad shakes his hand and then turns to Johnny, his eyes flicking over to Ryker as well. “You did well with doctoring the video, but to be safe, I’ll be sending it to a friend of mine so that I can be sure neither of you will be implicated from it.” He walks over to the kitchen side and places a card down with his name and contact information.
“Does anybody have any questions?”
“Yeah, when are you going to be home again?” Kat asks, frowning at my father. He sighs and slides his hands into his pockets.
“I’m not sure, Kitty Kat. Hopefully, it won’t be too long.”
Callie walks back into the room then with teary eyes and a folded piece of paper in her hands. She walks over to my dad and holds it out to him, quietly thanking him when he takes it from her.
“Have you also got Connor’s and Callum’s letters?”
“I do. They’re in a folder tucked away safely in my car. I’ll add this one to the folder as well. I’ll make sure she gets them.”