Chapter Forty – Fate of Ophelia
Chapter Forty
Andie
FATE OF OPHELIA
Performed by Taylor Swift
Even though she normally worked labor and delivery, when Maisey found out I was at the hospital, she came to the ER and assisted while I received five stitches.
The slice from the gunshot was actually nothing compared to some of the injuries I’d had after a beating from Eddie, and many of those had gone unseen by any doctor.
I’d likely have another scar, but, in some ways, this one was a good one.
It would remind me I’d actually done something right. That I’d stepped between Luca and a bullet. I hadn’t just let bad things happen to me or to him.
Maisey was hurt and frustrated when I wouldn’t tell her what was going on, and it stabbed at my gut.
I promised I’d tell her and Fallon everything as soon as I could.
At least, I hoped I had a chance to tell them myself before it was in the news.
But if the FBI showed up and took me away, I doubted I’d get to see them.
My eyes stung. My stomach churned.
I was surprised I was still free by the time the hospital released me.
Lydia and Luca took me to the Wylees’. The farmhouse looked ethereal in the pristine snow with more falling softly around it.
Smoke spiraled from the chimney, blending into the gray of the sky.
It looked like everything a home should be, especially with Dale on the porch, a beat-up sheriff’s jacket on, and a tumbler in his hand as if he was getting ready to head out.
He hugged Luca, whispering words in his ear that had the teen blushing again. He kissed his wife and then told her, “I’m heading to the station to give Coop a hand while he unravels all the shit that hit today.”
Lydia caressed his cheek. “Be safe. Both of you. I don’t want even one more scratch on any of our family. Andie was enough.”
My heart lunged and leaped and ached at the idea of her including me as part of their family. But she still didn’t know the whole story. Didn’t know I was the reason a lot of this had happened. I’d led the devil to their door.
She and Luca headed inside, and Dale watched them for a moment, his expression serious, before he turned knowing eyes on me.
As he assessed me, a host of emotions flooded my veins.
Instead of fear, it was regret and embarrassment.
I’d never felt as bad about disappointing my father as I did meeting Dale’s gaze now.
He was the one to break our silence. “How are you holding up?”
I shrugged, cringing at the pain it sent through my arm. “I’m sorry—”
Dale shook his head. “I don’t know the whole story, just the bits Coop’s been able to give me, but I figure I know the heart of you, Andie.
And what I see is a woman who stepped between a bullet and my grandson.
A woman who’s made my son whole again. You’ve made Luca and Coop a family once more.
You’re the piece they’ve been missing for years. ”
I barely choked back a sob, and Dale reached over, drawing me to him gently and wrapping me in a hug that felt almost as good as his son’s. Safe. Trusting. Real.
“I’m so sorry to bring all this ugliness to your door,” I said with my voice muffled in his jacket. “I wanted… I just wanted to give them all the love Eden didn’t, and instead, I brought danger and trouble.”
“I reckon Cooper would be furious at you for spending even one second thinking this way.” I eased back to look at him.
His eyes were steely. “You love my kid, my grandson, and you continue to show up for them. That’s all I’ll ever ask of you.
But to do that, you've got to believe in yourself. You gotta truly believe you deserve them.”
He squeezed me again and then let go. “Try to get some rest. It’s likely gonna be a long day for all of us.”
Then, he stomped off the porch into the snow, heading for his truck.
I would give just about anything—an arm, a lung, a kidney, anything and everything I owned—if I was able to shower this family with love for the rest of my life.
If I was allowed to stay, if that impossible wish came true, I’d give them everything they deserved.
And maybe Dale was right—maybe it was everything I deserved too.
I’d made mistakes, but I’d paid for them. Painfully. Brutally. Horrifically.
It was time to believe in redemption.
To believe I’d earned it.
? ? ?
It wasn’t Cooper but Deering who came to take our statements.
He didn’t ask about my past and what had caused Muirgen and Marla to come after me, focusing instead on the simple facts of what had happened once I’d arrived at the house.
I was relieved not to have to revisit what happened with Eddie again, but once Deering left, an FBI agent showed up at the farmhouse, and I was thrust right back to Clover Lake and those awful few months.
Lydia asked if I wanted a lawyer, and when I declined, she refused to leave my side.
I hated to have her hear my story, to hear the worst of me, but I wasn’t going to hide anymore.
I’d tell the truth about my part in what had happened now and a decade ago, because if I didn’t, I’d always be worried it would come back to haunt me.
I had to face the consequences if I planned to move past it, if I wanted that chance at a life with Cooper and Luca.
When Luca looked like he was going to stay with me too, I shot Lydia a worried look.
I didn’t want him to hear about the abuse I’d gone through with Eddie.
Reading my concerns, Lydia sent Luca out to the barn to take care of the animals.
Then, she took my hand and held it while I repeated much of what I’d told Cooper.
She shed several tears, and when it was over, when I’d gotten to the end, she pulled me tight, whispering words of encouragement and love that had my tears overflowing.
Special Agent Hannigan taped our conversation but also took pages of notes.
When I had nothing left to add, he looked up at me with grim eyes.
“Nolan was a good agent, and he’s an even better Assistant Special Agent in Charge of our Vegas Violent Crime Section.
Personally, I know this case has haunted him for nearly a decade.
He would have come himself, but he understood you wouldn’t trust us if he were here.
“We did a quick analysis of Marla Lark’s phone, and the data on it goes back well before Clover Lake.
I think it will help us put away some of Muirgen’s organization, as well as Marla.
When I opened some of the videos from ten years ago, it was obvious what had happened.
They cloned your phone. They could turn the speaker on whenever they wanted and listen in on your conversation.
They recorded every talk you had with Nolan and the casino management. ”
A chill went up my spine, and I had to fight the urge to look around. To wonder if I was being watched and listened to even now.
Hannigan’s eyes seemed to soften. “She did have videos from inside your apartment in Idaho and some from your house here. But nothing from any of the Wylees’ homes, or the ranch, and no recordings from your current phone.”
Did it matter? Would I ever be able to use a phone again without feeling as if I was being listened to? Ever walk into a house without wondering if I was being watched?
Silence settled down, and I pressed a hand to my chest before finally risking the question I dreaded most. “What’s going to happen to me?”
He slapped his notebook shut and picked up his phone, shutting off the recording. “If the gun Marla used today is the one that killed Eddie, we’ll be able to match the ballistics. His murder case will finally be closed.”
I swallowed. “What about the casino theft? The money?”
I’d told Deering and Hannigan about my father bringing the gun to me today and that I wasn’t sure how Marla had gotten it when Cooper had taken it from me.
I’d also told Hannigan the gun had been with the cash in Eddie’s hiding place.
What I hadn’t expressed aloud was what Cooper and I suspected, which was that my father quite likely had taken the money. They could draw their own conclusions.
“I reached out to the tribal leaders earlier today,” Hannigan said.
“After Eddie died, they considered the case closed. To tell the truth, the FBI took a hard look at them back then, wondering if they’d taken matters into their own hands and killed Eddie to send a message to anyone else thinking of stealing from the reservation.
The tribe is relieved to have answers and has no desire to bring any of this back into the light.
They just want the whole thing to go away once and for all. ”
The pressure in my chest, that had been living there for days, eased ever so slightly. But my palms were still sweaty as I forced the final question. “And the FBI? Are you pressing any charges?”
“We got what we wanted out of this. A cold case is closed, and our open case into the Doyle family now has several arrests and more leads to follow. Sheriff Wylee has handed over the investigation into the speedball lab to us. We’re running down Randy Cleaver’s accomplices as we speak.
We think we’ll be able to tie it nicely to the case we’ve been building in Vegas.
I can’t see anyone on our end, from the Department of Justice on down, wanting to press charges against one of our key witnesses, who also happens to have been a victim of the Doyles’ violence. ”
The relief that winged through me was so strong and heady my head spun.
I was getting my wish…
When he left, I wasn’t able to hold back my emotions any longer. Years of worry, years of guilt, years of dread just flowed out of me in a torrent of sobs.
Luca came back in from taking care of the animals and found Lydia’s arms wrapped around me, trying to comfort me. When he added his arms to hers, when he held on too, for the first time in my life, I felt completely and utterly loved. Like I actually belonged somewhere. Like I’d finally come home.