26. It Felt Damn Good
26
IT FELT DAMN GOOD
T he following Friday morning, Justine heard her phone ringing.
She never got calls, so didn’t think to put it on silent mode.
She rolled and grabbed it off the bedside, noticed it was ten in the morning and she’d been sleeping for about three hours.
The next thing she saw was that Elise was calling her.
She sent it to voicemail and rolled back over. She had the ability to fall back to sleep quickly just like her father and sister.
Not a good thing when the phone rang again and she noticed it’d been an hour.
When she looked at it, it was Elise calling a second time.
She’d seen her stepmother left a voicemail with the last call but no text.
This one was sent to voicemail just like the last one.
She closed her eyes, breathed in and out multiple times, and was back to sleep.
Until the phone rang a third time.
“Grrrr,” she growled and picked her phone up.
Elise again.
If she didn’t answer it wasn’t going to end and she was fed up at this point.
“Hello,” she said sharply.
“Justine,” Elise said. “Thank God you answered.”
She let out a sigh. “What do you want, Elise?”
There was silence on the other end. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What?” she asked.
“You’re being mean to me,” Elise said. She heard the crying.
“I’m sleeping,” she said. “I worked all night and got to bed at seven this morning. The phone keeps waking me up.”
“I hadn’t realized you worked nights,” Elise asked.
She ignored that. “What is it that you want?”
There was a noise in the background, like glasses clinking and then Elise drinking something. “I need your help,” Elise said.
“Elise, we’ve talked about this. I’m not helping you. You shot and killed my father.”
The gall of this situation was unbelievable.
“He was hurting me,” Elise cried. “Why won’t you believe me?”
There was another gulp of something. “Because you’re lying,” she said sharply. “He had the defensive wounds, not you. You think I don’t know that when you two fought, that you would shove him? Or that you’d hit him before?”
She’d never said those words out loud and wondered if it was lack of sleep that had them spilling out.
“I don’t know what lies your father has said about me,” Elise argued, her voice loud, and the shrillness she’d never heard had her moving the phone away from her ear.
“Not lies,” she snapped. “I saw the marks on him.”
She’d stopped at the house once and her father had spilled something on his shirt and went to the laundry room to change out of it. He hadn’t been thinking and took his shirt off and she noticed the scratch marks on his shoulder and chest, then the bruises.
She’d asked what happened and her father quickly put the new shirt on and tried to change the subject.
She wouldn’t let him.
She wasn’t an idiot and could tell right away.
“There are all sorts of explanations for bruises,” Elise said smartly.
“Are you drunk?” she asked. It just registered in her brain the sound of liquid hitting the glass again.
Justine was sitting up in bed and whipping the covers back in jerky motions.
“No,” Elise said.
“You are,” she said. “You called me drunk and it’s not even noon. You’re trying to tell me that my father was attacking you when I know damn well it was the other way around. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“You’re wrong,” Elise said, sobbing. The up and down emotions were too much to handle and she couldn’t understand how her father was able to live with this. “If you answered my call the first time I wouldn’t have had to have a drink. It’s just one. I’m taking the edge off. You have no idea what I’m going through.”
She flipped her arms up in the air. “What you’re going through?” she asked. “Give me a break. You caused it all. And if you think I’m not reporting this to the DA when you’ve said you’re getting help and staying sober, then you’re nuts. I bet they even send someone over to test you.”
“Don’t,” Elise rushed out to say. “It’s one drink. I’m struggling. I miss your father so much.”
“Bullcrap,” she said.
“I need money,” Elise said. “My lawyer’s fees are due and I don’t have much. Can’t you just stop fighting the will? You and Jordan got so much to begin with. Not even a fraction of what the will lists for me.”
“Elise, you were contesting the will. Not us. You didn’t think your percentage was enough. You started this all, not us.”
“It’s not fair,” Elise said. “I was his wife. I’m supposed to get his house and the money in his accounts, not you.”
“Let me get this clear,” she said slowly. “You’re calling me because you need money and want Jordan and me to just say sure, you can get it all?”
“Yes,” Elise said.
The phone almost flew out of her hand with how fast she was twisting her body around in frustration. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been this worked up.
“Nope,” she said. “Not happening. You’re more drunk than I thought if that is the case.”
“If I drop it, then I’ll get my percentage,” Elise said. “At least it’s better than nothing. I can force you and Jordan to buy me out and that will give me cash. Do you want me to do that? You might not want to touch what you got.”
It was the snare that Elise used. The one where her words were slurring at the same time. “You know what, Elise? You always tried to see if you could get me to give in and this time I’m not. And not only am I not going to, but if you decide to drop it so that you can get your share, Jordan and I are going to contest so you get nothing and everything is held up. Considering you are on trial for Dad’s murder, that’s an easy way to keep his will frozen until the trial is done.”
“You wouldn’t,” Elise said.
“Yes, I would,” she said firmly. “Don’t test me. Don’t push me. Don’t call me again. And you better sober up because I’m calling the DA now.”
She hung up to Elise calling her a bitch and had to sit down and take a few deep breaths.
She never fought with anyone.
Never was a bitch like that either.
But since she came to this island she found herself speaking up more than she ever had before.
And it felt damn good!
Once she was composed, she did what she said and called the DA. She left a message, and then once she hung up, she sent an email with the same information so that she had an electronic trail of the call and what happened.
Before she could think, she texted her sister to call when she had a minute and explained she’d just spoken with Elise and it was important.
This was one of those things that she had to keep Jordan in the loop on. She knew her sister would support everything that Justine did and said.
She walked to the bathroom and then around her tiny apartment for a few minutes and hoped to calm down so she could get more sleep.
It didn’t happen though and thirty minutes later, she decided to take a shower and get on with her day.
She didn’t have to work tonight anyway, so at least she’d be able to go to bed at a normal time if she could even stay awake past dinner.
She was eating toast and drinking coffee when her phone rang and she noticed it was Jordan calling.
“I’m so sorry to bother you with this,” she said. She knew her sister had a lot on her plate.
“I want to know these things,” Jordan said. “Tell me everything that happened.”
“How much time do you have?”
“I’m on break and I’ll take the time I need,” Jordan said.
“I’ll be fast,” she said and told her sister everything.
“You’re damn straight we are going to contest it. I’m fine that she did that because I don’t want her getting anything,” Jordan said. “I hadn’t said anything to you, but I would have done this if she hadn’t contested it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?” she asked.
“Because you didn’t want to talk about it,” Jordan said.
She didn’t. There were times she still didn’t, but she couldn’t keep putting it off.
“It made her look worse doing what she had. Now the courts wouldn’t let her drop it anyway with her being on trial.”
“They might,” Jordan said, “but again, I don’t care. I told her I was going to do it months ago if she tried this.”
Her jaw dropped. “Again, you didn’t tell me. You said you haven’t talked to her.”
“I did it before I blocked her. It’s in a text. She was probably too drunk to remember or she deleted it. But I’ve got it.”
“At least we are thinking the same way,” she said.
“We are,” Jordan said. “I’ve got four days off next week. I volunteered to work July Fourth. That night. In exchange, I was able to swap some days. What do you think about me coming to see you Monday and then leaving Friday to get back in time for my shift?”
“I’d love it,” Justine said and felt her eyes fill. “But don’t you need to study and do other things?”
“It’s short notice, you’ll be working, I can do those things while you are. I can study somewhere else, but I’d like to spend time with you. I’d like to meet this guy that you seem to be falling for.”
“I never said anything about falling for someone,” she argued.
“You don’t have to,” Jordan said. “I hear it in your voice every time you talk about Garrett. Then the fact you just gave Elise shit makes me so proud. I need to meet this guy.”
“What does Garrett have to do with what happened with Elise?” she asked.
“I don’t know. You’re just different there and I want to see you myself. I’ll crash on the couch. I’m fine with that.”
“I’ll be on days next week. I can see if I can switch shifts too with someone, but not sure.” She pulled her schedule up on her phone and looked at it quickly. “I’m off on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday next week. I didn’t realize it. I’m going to try to see if I can switch with whoever is working Monday or Wednesday to get at least three days off with you.”
She was all but jumping in her apartment and hoped she could swing it.
“I’m happy with the two days,” Jordan said. “Remember, I’ve got studying to do. Don’t be messing with your schedule too much if you normally have plans with Garrett on Saturday. I’ll be gone.”
“He’s not going to care,” she said. “Why didn’t you tell me you had all that time off?”
“Because I just arranged it now before I called you back. I had a feeling something might be going on and it felt right to visit. It’s time.”
She sniffled some more. “I’m glad you were able to do it. Text me your flight plans when you get them. Then I’ll let you know the ferry schedule. We’ll figure it out.”
“Don’t worry,” Jordan said. “I’m a big girl and can find my way to my older sister. I’ll see you in three days.”
Justine was dancing around her apartment when she hung up. It was exactly the news she needed.