Chapter 45 #2
Abel had tried to reassure him, as did Emily when they came to visit yesterday.
Jenn was deranged, willing to go to any length to get what she wanted.
Never had he imagined this whole thing revolved around him.
He was single-handedly responsible for bringing Jenn into Adalyn and Jaclyn’s lives.
Their entire world had been turned upside down because of him.
Adalyn was now fighting for her life because he hadn’t seen the truth until it was too late.
Seeming to sense his conflict, Knox spoke again. “Davenport is taking care of the house. They were pulling up carpet and prepping to paint when I left.”
“Thank you,” he managed to choke out. Knox had mentioned yesterday that he planned to have Piers Davenport come in and fix the damage. The same man who’d assisted in the case with Oliver Eldredge, Davenport’s company had done some of the work on Vantage headquarters when they’d been remodeled.
He was grateful to both Knox and Davenport for the offer.
He didn’t want to leave Adalyn’s side, and renovating the house was the last thing he wanted her to deal with after everything that had happened.
He knew Wendy and George would have helped out, but he felt it was his responsibility.
Adalyn was his wife, and he should have protected her.
She never should have been in that position in the first place.
He would never be able to pay Knox back for the things he’d done over the past week.
His connections had enabled them to find his daughter and the person responsible for the recent upheaval in their lives.
He shuddered as the memory of that night washed over him.
He was incredibly grateful that Adalyn would never have to see that gory scene, the creamy carpet saturated in blood, tissue splattered over the walls and ceiling.
He didn’t know what it would cost to have somebody replace all those things on such short notice, but it was worth it. He wanted Adalyn to be able to walk into her house and not be uncomfortable. He had a feeling, however, that that night would haunt both of them for the rest of their lives.
Knox stayed for a few more moments and made small talk, telling him about Jenn’s boyfriend, Justin. Unable to make bail, he was still sitting down at the jail waiting for his arraignment. As it turned out, Eldredge had been behind the auctions all along.
Justin and two other young men had broken into the residences and shops, then transferred the items to Eldredge to auction off.
Justin had some informal training in computer science, so he’d been able to easily access the auction platform he’d set up for Eldredge.
He’d also had the foresight to record their conversations, and the police had arrested Eldredge yesterday on multiple charges.
Justin himself was facing several charges for kidnapping and human trafficking, though in exchange for his confession, the charges for larceny had been dropped. According to Justin, Jenn had asked him to get rid of Jaclyn however possible—permanently.
Jenn had been willing to eliminate anything in her way to get to him, but Justin insisted he couldn’t do it. Instead, he suggested they set up the auction, enticing her with the money they could make. It also allowed him to run background checks to ensure Jaclyn went to a good home.
The thought made him see red. Jenn had stalked, then attacked Adalyn because of him, because of her jealousy over a childhood crush that hadn’t been returned.
He wished he could go back in time and change everything, but it was too late.
He never even suspected a thing. Jenn had seemed so nice, so helpful—but it was all a ruse.
Everything she had done was out of spite.
Justin had confirmed what they’d all suspected.
Megan—the young woman Adalyn had fired a few weeks back—had claimed she hadn’t stolen the money. Ironically, Jenn had closed with her each night it happened. It would have been simple for her to reopen the register using Megan’s code and take the cash.
When she had supposedly been in the back working, she had plenty of time to go around the front of the building and throw the rock through the front window.
Even the night that the salon had been broken into and trashed—Jenn had closed that night, and Justin admitted that Jenn had been out until the wee hours of the morning.
Instead of going home after clocking out, she had taken her time pulling dresses from the racks and making a mess in the salon.
It made sense now why nothing had been stolen and nothing truly destroyed.
It burned him to think that she had come in and offered to help the next morning knowing that she was the one behind everything.
All she had to do with the dresses was make a few minor fixes here and there, and they were good as new.
Knox made a quiet exit, and he scooted closer to the bed. Adalyn’s hand was cool and limp in his when he picked it up and pressed it to his lips. He cradled her hand against his cheek and whispered against her soft skin. “Fight for me, sweetheart. I need you to be strong.”
He squeezed her hand a little bit tighter, hoping that she could feel him, could hear him. “Our daughter needs you, Addy.”
He needed her.