Chapter 9
I WANT ANSWERS
J.D. Stevens
“Earth to fucking J.D.”
I looked up at Caesar, his face etched with worry. I didn’t know how long he had been calling my name. We were sitting in my office at the clubhouse, and I hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything. The fear on Dani’s face replayed in my head, triggering a flood of memories. It crushed me that I couldn’t help her. Save her from whatever terrifying thing had shaken her that day. If I could have reached through that damn screen, wrapped her in my arms, and told her I had her back, I would have. She knew I’d always have her back. The question was why the hell didn’t she come to me.
“You alright, bro?”
The memories of being at the hospital had now been replaced with the haunting sight of their lifeless bodies at the funeral home. And it was because of the promise I made them that day. Now that I had seen how freaked out Dani was, I think my mind was reminding me of my promise. And it was a promise I was determined to keep even if it killed me.
“Yeah, I’m good.” I rubbed my hand over my face. Tiredness from all this shit weighed heavy on me even though I wouldn’t be able to sleep. “Just thinking.”
“About?”
“The video Rebel uncovered.”
“She’s damn good at what she does. I knew if anybody could find anything it would be Rebel fucking Pierce.”
“What can you tell me about her?”
His brows drew together in confusion. “What do you want to know?”
I wanted to know everything. I wanted to know why she interested me so much. And I wanted to know why now and why her.
“Umm... she’s my ex-sister-in-law.”
He shrugged like it was no big deal he’d been married. I’d known this man for years and he’d never said not one damn word about being married before now.
“And when were you going to tell me you were married?”
He let out a weary sigh, his shoulders slumping. “It was a long time ago, man. We were so fucking young. Too young to be married. And I fucked it up, anyway. Rumi put up with a lot of shit from me while we were together until she didn’t.”
He shrugged again like it was nothing, but by the look in his eyes that breakup had done a number on him. Caesar had been a ladies’ man for as long as I’d known him. I’d never known him to settle down and never thought he’d ever have an Old Lady. But the look in his eyes let me know this woman must have meant a lot to him and he fucked it up.
“Anyway, Rumi and Rebel are twins. I met them when we were younger. Rumi was the goody two shoes, where Rebel was the very epitome of her name. She’s smart, very blunt and has shitty taste in men.”
“I know. I met one of her exes.”
“Although she has shitty taste, she doesn’t hang around them too long. But they’re the kind that can’t take no for an answer when she cuts them loose.”
“Hmmm....”
“Hmmm? What the fuck does that mean?”
“Nothing man. I just wanted to know more about her.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And why is that?”
I leaned back in my chair. “I find her interesting.”
I told him the truth. Rebel Pierce was interesting to me. From the way she dressed, to the way she showed no fear in that situation with her ex when most women would have cried or some shit, and how she bluntly asked me questions about my marriage.
Rebel didn’t back down from asking me the hard question. And I had to admit, I admired that shit. Of course, the question about Dani cheating pissed me off, but I couldn’t fault her for asking. Some of the evidence was pointing in that direction but I also knew Dani and how tight our relationship was. And cheating wasn’t in the playing cards for either of us.
“You find her interesting?” he asked, repeating my question.
“Fuck yeah. Is that so wrong?”
“Not wrong, just strange for you to even look at a woman unless you want to get your dick sucked.”
“Fuck you.” I stuck my middle finger up at him, causing him to chuckle. “Anyway, she found video from the daycare that morning.”
He leaned up in his chair, anger marring his face. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! They said there wasn’t any.”
“I know. Dani received a call that morning, and she was fucking terrified, Caesar. It was all over her face, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. I felt so helpless.”
I hadn’t felt that helpless since I made it to the hospital the day of the accident.
“She lied about the appointment?”
“She did but I don’t know why. Why in the hell would she be keeping something from me? We told each other every fucking thing.”
“You know she had her reasons man. Dani was a protector. She was protecting something or someone. We just need to figure out what or who.”
I nodded. “The number couldn’t be traced, but she had been talking to this person for at least three weeks prior to the accident.”
“What in the hell,” he said, shaking his head. “What else did Rebel say?”
“She said she was going to dig more, and she’ll call me as soon as she has something.”
“If there’s something out there, Rebel will find it.”
“You have a lot of faith in her.”
“Rebel is good people. If there’s anything out there, she’ll turn over every rock until she finds it.”
“I just want to find out what the fuck was going on with my wife, and why the hell the police covered it up. I think if I could find that out, I might be able to get some peace.”
“And move on,” Caesar said.
I nodded. “And move on.”
I never wanted to admit that not knowing what really happened had kept me from moving on with my life, but now that I’d got some answers, I think that was hindering me. And I didn’t believe I would have made the connection if it wasn’t for my attraction to Rebel.
For the first time in a long time, I wanted to get to know another woman. Had I felt guilt for that attraction? Yes. For a fraction of a second. But I can’t live in the past forever. Dani and Luca were gone. And finding out what happened that night would allow me to move beyond it. I’d find peace once Dani and Luca found the peace they deserved.
“What’s the next steps?”
“I want you to stop by the daycare.”
“How are we handling that?”
“I want answers, Caesar. Do what you need to do.”
He looked at his watch, then stood. “I’m heading over there now. I’ll let you know which way it goes.”
As soon as he left, I grabbed the picture of Dani and Siobhan from my desk and sank back into my chair. I looked at the picture I took a few days before Dani and Luca died, and memories of their laughter and joy came flooding back. I loved the smile on their faces. My daughter was happy. Dani was happy. Or at least I thought she was. Now I don’t know what to believe.
Could she have been happy if she was keeping shit from me?