Chapter 65
The Telegraph
Harper
“I found something.” Jack sits at the table working on the hard drive. Mom gave us a list of possible passwords she knew my father used to narrow down our search. We’re all spread out through the living room again.
I’m resting against Caden on the couch as I scan through the security footage of our house, but I stand. When I walk over to Jack, he draws me down onto his lap. I’m not sure how much more I can take.
With everything happening around us, there’s a lot we still don’t know. The answers always seem to come with more questions, though.
Resting back against Jack, I stare at the screen. There’s a video queued up.
I’m not sure what he’s going to show me, but butterflies whip around my stomach. I’m scared to learn more and part of me wants to distract us all from this.
We’ve left the laptop in the other room. The mystery person agreed to work on it, but we don’t want to worry about saying anything around them we shouldn’t. Not until we’re sure we can trust them.
Luke, Caden, and Eli set their laptops to the side and come over, pulling up chairs around us. Jack lifts his gaze to Caden.
“Go get Nico. He shouldn’t be left out, and he’s probably gotten enough sleep by now.”
Caden kisses my temple and heads upstairs.
“What did you find?” I’m not sure I want to know.
Jack wraps his arm around my waist. “It’s a video. It’s set to autoplay when the hard drive boots up and the password is entered.”
“What was the password?” I turn and look up at him.
He smiles softly. “The one with your due date and favorite toy.”
I let that sit for a moment. It makes sense to use something from everyday life and one that my mom would know, but did it have special meaning to him or was it just in the rotation of passwords he used?
I don’t remember my dad. I had that brief memory flash and the picture my mom showed me. But other than that, my memories are only of my mom and me. I don’t know who he is.
What I knew of him growing up was that he left us. And because of that, I didn’t think about him. He didn’t want us anymore, so I wasn’t going to pine after him.
But him leaving us was all a lie.
A lie to protect me, but still a lie.
Knowing what I know now, I don’t blame my mom for letting me believe the lie. It kept me safe and off the radar of the powerful men who run this town. But it also leaves me feeling really confused about who my father is and what he should mean to me.
Caden helps Nico down the stairs and Eli helps situate him somewhere he can see everything.
Jack unplugs his headphones and clears his throat. “I haven’t watched this. As soon as I realized what it was, I stopped it from playing. Can someone record it for Jennifer in case it disappears when it finishes playing?”
“On it.”
I look over at Luke as he holds up the tablet with the camera aimed at the screen.
“You ready, sweetheart?” Jack asks.
They all watch me. What if I say no? What if we just don’t? What if this changes everything? These are secrets that have been kept for years. What will unearthing them now do?
I draw in a deep breath and release it. “Yes. Play it.”
Jack hits play and the screen fills with an image of a man. It takes me a moment to recognize him as a slightly older version of the guy in the picture. My father. Sean.
He settles in front of the camera and smiles before his mouth turns to a straight line. My heart pounds so hard it’s likely to come out of my chest.
“Jenn or maybe Harper.” His voice is deep and sparks something inside me.
A feeling of safety and comfort, but I don’t recognize it otherwise.
“Fuck, I hope it’s one of you that finds this.
I’m going to assume it’s you, Jenny, because I can’t even think of my five-year-old finding this.
” He runs a hand through his shaggy blond hair and then over his red-tinted beard.
“If this is you, Harper, go run and fetch Mommy and tell her she’s raising a genius like I knew you’d be.” His smile is genuine and a little sad. “But if either of you come across this video, it means I didn’t come home and didn’t get to erase it because everything went fine.”
He looks down and blows out a breath. My heart clenches and tears well in my eyes.
When he looks up, it’s an expression I know I make when I’ve decided on something.
“Jenn... Fuck, I’m sorry if this ends with you alone with our girl.” He shakes his head. “All I’ve ever wanted was to protect you and Harper. Everything I’ve ever done was to get out of this town with you and make sure it doesn’t try to drag us back again.”
Eli takes my hand and Caden takes my other. I rest against Jack and just absorb their strength. We’re trying to do the same thing. Will it backfire on us too? Or can we really make it out of here? Together?
“There’s this meeting. Robert told me about it. He wants this to end too. They’ve taken it too far.”
Jack sucks in a breath, but he doesn’t stop the recording. Robert is his father.
“We met a few days ago. I figured out about the drug running happening at the hospital from what you told me, but he told me about the girls. He also told me you help those women when you can. Sorry, Jenn, I know you’ve been doing what you can.
I know you probably made a deal with the devil himself to help them. I’ve always loved your big heart.”
Caden squeezes my hand. I’m just absorbing this person who is my parent. The one I don’t remember. It makes my heart clench to think I don’t remember him. That this might be my only memory of him.
“I know the devil you bargained with because I bargained with him too. First for you. Then for us. I’m sorry if he found a way to use that against you, but I know you. I know how strong you are and I know you’ll give our little girl your strength.”
His eyes are watery, but he doesn’t let a tear slip. Instead, he inhales and straightens.
“Tonight, the final three are meeting. They’re discussing losing Cam, but they’re also discussing their business strategy from now on without the other two. If I can catch them on film, that’s our ticket out. But if they catch me...”
His brown eyes take a far off look. A tear slips down my cheek for this man I could have known. If he’d been alive, he never would have let things go this far.
“Here’s the thing.” He refocuses on the screen, and it’s like he’s looking right into my soul.
“I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you.
I knew you were mine, Jenn. But the devil spotted you too.
He waited, but I had something on him even back then.
It was small and almost useless to us now, but then it would have blown him up. ”
My father smiles and there’s a little devious light in his eyes. “I had to keep digging, keep uncovering the things he left behind to stay a step ahead of him. So he couldn’t use me to get to you. He knows I have something that will go off if he ever tries anything with you.”
He leans forward with his elbows on his knees and grins. “I may not have a lot of friends, but the ones I have are almost as powerful as William Foster.”
What? My gaze goes to the kitchen door.
“If you’re seeing this, you might think I’ve left you, but I haven’t stopped protecting you. I haven’t stopped loving you wherever I am. My friend will make sure William stays away from you and Harper. If you find this, Jenn, and I’ve been gone, I’m probably not making it back to you this time.”
A tear chases down his cheek and he swipes it away.
“Fuck, I hope everything goes fine. Erasing this shit is a priority. Getting back home to you and Harper is my top priority. My only priority. Okay, logistics time. They’re meeting at the old quarry.
I’m heading there early to find a place to set up and watch.
I’m taking the HD digital recorder. I downloaded your videos on my laptop for safekeeping though. ”
He smiles and scrubs his hand over his face. “Okay. The real shit. Harper. Fuck. You’re so bright and curious. Don’t let anyone dim that light, baby. If a boy asks you out, you kick him in the balls or throat punch him. No one will ever be worthy to date you.”
He cocks his eyebrow. “Get good grades. Listen to your mother. She’s the smartest person I’ve ever met.
If you prefer girls, I’m all for that. Boys are gross.
” He smirks. “You take care of your mom. Sometimes that big heart of hers will get her into trouble and she needs someone to help her out of it. You can do that for me, can’t you, Harper? ”
He stops and takes a breath before mumbling, “Fuck, I don’t want to do this.”
He lifts his gaze. “Jenn.”
“Pause it, Jack.”
Jack hits the pause and I wipe at my eyes and cheeks. My emotions are bleeding all over the place here.
I turn to look at Jack. “Can you connect us with my mom so she can see this? I don’t want to watch this without her.”
He pulls over his laptop and pulls up the chat, sliding it in front of me.
Me:
Mom? Are you there?
I draw in a deep breath and try to stop crying. Caden rubs my thigh and Jack keeps his arm tight around me. Caden holds my gaze steady, and I release a breath. I think my dad would have liked all of them. Maybe not their dads, but how could he not love the guys I love.
Mom:
Yeah. Everything okay?
Me:
We found something. Jack’s going to connect you. Can you watch something where you are?
Mom:
At home. Okay.
I nod and Jack takes over, keying in something and suddenly my mom’s face pops up on the screen.
“Why are you crying, Harper?” Mom’s gaze darts around and sees all of us together. “What’s happening?”
I force a smile and blow out a breath. “I’m just emotional.”
She narrows her eyes on me, and before she can do something like ask if I’m pregnant, Jack connects her to the feed of Sean.
She inhales sharply. “What?”
“It was on his hard drive,” Jack says. He carefully backs the video up and lets Mom watch the whole thing from the beginning.
I pay careful attention for anything more I might learn from it. But somehow, just watching this piece of our past has me in tears all over again.
“Fuck, I don’t want to do this.”
I draw in a breath and hold it at my father’s tone.
“Jenn.” He pauses, and his eyes are filled with unshed tears. “You were never a game to me. I always knew you were meant to be mine. I’d give up my life over and over to protect you and Harper, but I’d rather live with you than die for you. There’s never been anyone else for me.
“I love you with everything I have to give. My whole life I’ve spent trying to get us away from this town so we could be free of the chains, but every time I tried, those chains wrapped tighter around me and dragged me back.
I’ve always known there was one way to break free: neutralize William Foster. ”
My dad chuckles. “That’s what I’m doing tonight. I’m going up there and witnessing and recording them, so I can break us free. If I don’t make it—”
He scrubs his hand down his face and takes a moment to control his emotions.
“Fuck, Jenn, if I’m not back, that means they did something because I would ride through hell to get back to you.
My friend, I don’t even know if you remember them, but they have our backs.
And if anything happens to you, they’ll come get Harper. They know what to say.”
I look at my mom’s image and she’s crying, but she nods slightly like she knows who he’s talking about.
“I swear I’m going to destroy this video. I shouldn’t have even recorded it, but it seems like the best way to tell you what happened, so you don’t think I ran off and left you. That would never happen, Jenny. Not in a million years. If I’m not back...”
He draws in a breath. “I have two SD cards for tonight and the camera’s drive. If I don’t come back, that card is still somewhere in that quarry. I’ll mark it how we used to.” He winks. “Fuck, that was cheesy. More reason to make sure I get back and erase this shit.”
He shakes his head and gives us a grin. “I love you, Jenny. I love you, Harper. I’ll see you tonight.”
The image stops.
The backs of my eyes tingle and my throat swells. Tears are already streaming down my cheeks. I turn to search my mom’s eyes. She looks how I feel.
Mom sighs. “I can go search—”
“Not alone.” Luke shakes his head. “We don’t know if they’re watching it or you.”
She smirks. “I’m not stupid enough to play that out loud. I know how to use headphones.”
I smile and sniffle. Eli hands me a box of tissues. I take one gratefully.
“Finish up whatever you’re working on. I’ll wait and one of you can bring me to it.” Mom draws in a breath. “Why are you all up at five a.m.?”
Fuck, is it five a.m.?
“Things to do.” Jack rests his chin on my shoulder. “Do you know who he was talking about?”
She nods and glances around. “A friend.”
“Pronouns they/them?” Jack asks, probably to see if that was to be mysterious or identifying.
Mom nods. At least now we know why the friend on the computer wouldn’t tell us their gender.
“We can trust them?” Jack says.
“Sean trusted them with his most valuable asset.” She looks at me and my heart aches. “Take care of her. I’ve got to go.”
“I love you, Mom.” My voice catches on the words.
“Love you, kid.” She clicks off.
Caden scoops me into his arms and I bury my face in his chest as the tears flow freely. I want to scream and yell, but I also just want to hide from the world. For a moment, I really believed my father might be alive. That he was communicating with me and the guys. That he was still helping me.
“What do you need, princess?” Luke’s hand rests against my back.
I shake my head, because I don’t know. I didn’t know I still had something to grieve about the father that left me. But now I know the guy my mom said would never leave us. It was in his every word to us and I don’t know what to do with the guilt for hating him for so long.