Chapter 8
“Ididn’t think this particular rabbit hole ran so deep,” said Marge.
She felt a powerful sense of deflation and disappointment in herself. Sitting across from her brother in a dingy little bar in the bad part of Hampton Cove, she kept her face hidden, worried that one of the regulars would recognize her.
“I mean, I know I shouldn’t have done it, but you can see how I got there, don’t you?”
Her brother sighed deeply and rubbed the side of his face. “Look,” he said finally as he directed a surprisingly kind look at her. “This isn’t your fault, Marge. It’s all Tex. He should never have dragged you into this. He’s the one that started this whole mess.”
“I know, but he never told me to contact the guy. And he never said I should pursue this to such an extent. That was all me.”
And for the life of her, she still didn’t understand how she had managed to get dragged in so deep.
“We need to get you out of this,” said Alec, stating the obvious. “And we need to make sure that this can never get back to you, honey. Or your life will effectively be over. Well, the life of this entire family will be over. And that includes Charlene and me.”
Marge hadn’t quite looked at things from that angle. But her brother was right. If her reputation was shot to pieces, it would reflect on her nearest and dearest. And that was the absolute last thing she wanted.
Which is how she finally landed on the idea to assume the blame for all of it. “I will give a press conference,” she said, therefore.
Alec frowned. “A press conference? What are you talking about?”
“Where I take full responsibility for everything that has happened. And I tell the people of Hampton Cove that the buck stops with me. And that I did it all by myself, without the involvement of the rest of the family. That should put a firewall between my actions and the family, don’t you think?”
Alec smiled a rueful smile. “People aren’t machines, honey. You can’t stop them from thinking the worst thing. And trust me, they will link this to me and to the others. You can say whatever you want, but they will think you only did this because we told you to.”
“But you didn’t! You wouldn’t even have known if I hadn’t said anything.”
“I know that, and you know that, but do you really think the rest of Hampton Cove will believe you? Of course they won’t.
As I said, you need to make this thing go away.
And by that, I mean that no one will ever trace it back to you.
” And when she opened her mouth to protest, he held up his hand.
“End of discussion. You asked for my help, and I’m willing to give it.
But it has to be on my terms. And you have to trust me. ”
“So… no one can know? Not even my husband? Or Odelia?”
“Oh no, you should tell them. You should tell all of them. Just not the rest of the town.”
She nodded, though not wholeheartedly. It seemed like a pretty tough measure, especially considering the fact that she had done it all with the best intentions.
Only it had backfired so spectacularly that she was at a loss and willing to do whatever Alec told her to. Even though it went against all of her principles, honed during a lifetime of doing the right thing.
Finally, she hung her shoulders. Looked like she didn’t have any choice. So she resigned herself to her fate.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” she said. “I’ll take your advice.”
“You made the right decision, honey,” said Alec warmly. “Trust me.”
But then why did it feel as if she hadn’t?
Only time would tell if Alec was right or not.
Whether she had been right in asking him for help.
Maybe she should have handled this all by herself. But then, of course, that wouldn’t have been feasible. Especially considering…
She gave herself a little shake.
Enough, Marge, she told herself.
Enough prevarication.
She had decided.
And now she was going to stand by her decision.
Come what may, this was how it was going to be from now on.
As she left the bar, making sure that she and Alec left separately so they wouldn’t attract any attention, she glanced over to where the kid sat and gave him a curt nod.
The kid returned the nod and added a tight grin.
She gripped the package closer to her chest and hurried off, keeping her head down and her hoodie up.
Looked like there was at least one other person who knew about her transgression, and that person might not be interested in staying silent.
But since Alec had said he’d deal with the kid, she had to trust that he would.
She just hoped that it wouldn’t cost him too much.
Oh, if only she had never gone down this rabbit hole!