by Vivian Wood
“I’ll be back soon,” he promises.
For the first time in a long time, I have no doubt about that. “Okay.”
He leaves and I go back to plugging my phone in. Then I go back to looking at the papers. After a few minutes of letting it charge on its own, I’m able to turn the phone on.
My phone makes a hundred tiny noises, little chimes and bells to let me know that my absence has been noticed. Looking at all those notifications, I feel strange. Like I’ve already severed my connection with my old life and now I’m creeping back into that role for one final time.
Making a face at myself, I try to video call Sarah. Taking a deep breath, I prepare myself for her not answering. But she does. She’s somewhere outside, the sky around her already dark. Somehow I forgot about the time zone change.
“Rachel?” she asks, looking disgruntled.
“Yeah! Hey. Sorry about the time, I just forgot about the difference.”
Her expression is bitter. “I guess you didn’t get my messages, then?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Sorry.”
She rolls her eyes. “You missed like… everything. And I do mean everything.”
Inhaling for a long second, I prepare myself. “How about you give me the highlights?”
Sarah chuckles. “Okay. Well, to start, your dad was all but fired from Civicore. It was pretty hush hush, but there were whispers about financial improprieties and pension accounts.”
I’m almost too surprised to hold the phone. “What?”
“Oh yes. Your father was forced to resign from the board and from Civicore.” She purses her lips. “I don’t work for the family anymore, either.”
My mouth opens, but no words come out right away. I’m just stunned. “What? Why?”
“Because you’re persona non grata over here. Your father is getting rid of everything that relates to you. Your penthouse, your cars. All the photos of you that were in their houses have been removed. I’m surprised that your phone works, honestly.”
“What? In the last week?” My head spins.
“No. Your penthouse went up for sale as soon as you left. I guess your parents needed a cash buyer because of some cash flow issues, or whatever. That’s what your mom said when she let me go.” She pulls a face. “They had me sign another nondisclosure agreement and made a big stink about how it’s legally binding… but in my opinion, if anyone with any authority asks me any questions, I think I should answer.”
“Sarah, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what else to say.”
She shrugs. “It’s cool. The second they let me go, I called a headhunter. Within the week, I had already found a new position.”
I bite my lip. “My father has showed up here with a bunch of papers for me to sign. Stuff about dissolving my trust and forming a new one.”
“Ha! Your dad is a shark, honey. The only reason he’s out there is because he smells blood. And by blood, I mean money.” She frowns. “Your grandparents probably set up a trust fund just for you. I am guessing that that’s why your father is sniffing around. He needs money and he’ll do whatever he can to get it.”
Hearing Sarah spill all of these details feels illicit, like we are doing something wrong. But more than that, I feel angry with my father.
How in the world he turned the tables from his having a big problem to me bearing the brunt of it, I don’t know. But it’s pretty screwed up, honestly.
That idea that he needs money hadn’t occurred to me, but in hindsight it seems kind of obvious. “Oh, duh. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”
Sarah sighs. “I wouldn’t sign anything if I were you. And I would be careful. Your father… he’s facing down people from the SEC, the IRS, and angry Civicore employees. The fact that he hasn’t been indicted…”
“Wait, what?”
“Uh, yeah. He’s allegedly done tons of stuff that is straight up theft. When people figure it out, he’s done. All his wealthy friends will abandon him. Lawyers will bleed him dry of what little he has left. You’re better off where you are, away from all the hubbub.”
Stunned silence follows that, because what else am I supposed to say?
On Sarah’s end, someone says something off camera. “Hey, Rach. I have to go. Can I call you later?”
“Of course.” I wrinkle my nose. “I’m so sorry that you’ve been caught up in all of this, Sarah.”
“It’s okay. I landed on my feet. You should see the professional football player I’m working for… he is hottttt…” She fans herself. “Anyway, I have to run. Catch you soon.”
“Bye…”
I hang up the phone, awestruck. Sarah just dumped a metric ton of crap at my feet. I have to sift through the remnants and figure out what is useful to me, I guess.
Grayson comes barreling into the cabin, his arms full of stuff. “Hey, I found two backpacks and a few tarps…”
I look up at him, my expression confused. “What?”
He nods at my phone. “Did you get who you meant to call?”
Nodding, I scrunch up my face. “Yeah.”
He dumps the tarps and backpacks down on the floor. “And?”
I draw my legs up under my body so I’m sitting cross legged. “Sarah said that my father was forced to resign from Civicore. Apparently there have been some… what did she call it… financial improprieties, I think. Anyway, long story short, it looks like my father got caught with his hand in the company cookie jar.”
Grayson stills for a second, then slowly comes over and sits down beside me on the bed. “That sounds serious.”
I nod. “Yeah, Sarah made it sound like he’s living on borrowed time. Between the FEC and the IRS, my family is kind of screwed. She made it sound like… like my trust fund might be one of the only pots of money left.”
Understanding flares immediately in his eyes. “Ahh. That’s why your dad came out here. He’s backed into a corner and he can’t see any way out except for your trust fund.”
Catching my lower lip between my teeth, I sigh. “Yeah. Is it… is it bad that I’m just thinking about letting him have it? I mean, if my mother and father need it, all they had to do was to ask…”
I watch his face as he thinks about it. “Far be it for me to tell you what to do with your money, Rachel. I don’t care if you have nothing to your name.”
My whole being softens, just hearing that. I take his hand, lacing our fingers together. “Of course. I know that.”
He smiles a little. “But I can’t help wondering… would it really help them? Or would you just be floating their lifestyle for a few months’ time? And… I mean, your dad can’t pay off the people at the FEC, presumably. They are going to charge him with whatever he did.”
That hits me like a load of bricks. My father will likely go to jail, if what Sarah said is true.
“Oh my god,” I breathe. “He must be really desperate to come out here to me.”
Grayson squeezes my hand. “He’s trying to pick your pockets, just the same as he did the employees of Civicore. He hasn’t learned a damn thing.”
“True. So what, then?” I wonder aloud. “Do I just… do nothing?”
He shrugs. “It sounds like at least half of what your father threatened is just baseless. The only thing I’m worried about is the fracking on the Olympic Peninsula. If we could have some kind of leverage with the company…”
A lightbulb goes on for me. “Blackmail,” I whisper.
He looks puzzled. “What?”
“Civicore is going to be in a tailspin, trying to assure the public and its own employees that it is distancing itself from the Black family.”
I can see him trying to keep up. “…okay…”
“So we get some proof of his threats to the Olympic Park… even better if we get the state senator on record saying the same thing. Then we turn that evidence over to the media.”
His eyes widen. “You think?”
Nodding, I elaborate. “Civicore will be too embarrassed to eve
r think about going through with drilling out here.”
“Not to mention the fact that there will no doubt be a public outcry against a senator living in your father’s pocket. Can’t imagine that will go over well here or in D.C.”
I nod slowly.
“Yes. That will be the end for them. I just…” Reaching out, I wrap an arm around his neck. I look him dead in the eyes. “I can’t do it on my own. Will you help me?”
A smile plays on his lips. “Rachel, I would do anything for you. I would sail ships for you. I would build an army for you. I would conquer planets outside our universe if you asked me to do it.” He leans close, brushing a soft kiss against my lips, one that makes me a little breathless. “I think I can do anything, as long as I am by your side.”
The thread of the conversation is lost then, because I throw myself into his strong arms, kissing his lips and whispering his name until the wee hours of the morning.
Chapter Forty-Two
Grayson
Well after dawn arrives, I am drowsing, Rachel tucked under my arm. My sleep is not dreamless; in the way that morning sleep often is, I have vivid flashes of things, but they don’t make much sense. A German hostel that I once visited. The smell of the cinnamon buns that my grandmother made for me as a child. The peculiar smell of the rain as it fell on the dunes in Kandahar.
I dream of the subway station where Rachel and I would so often meet. With its ceramic tiled floor and its low ceilings, part of it looks like nothing so much as a fallout shelter. In my dream, I pay for my fare with my MTA card. Then I look up, as I have so many times in the past, and find Rachel beaming at me. This is Rachel as an adult, but she’s dressed like she used to as a teen; her long honey hair in a ponytail, wearing a bright blue dress and scuffed pink Converse. She’s waiting for me, so I don’t hesitate.
I run to her, catching her around the waist. She laughs as I pull her into a hard kiss.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” she whispers against my lips. “I brought someone that would like to say hello.”
“Oh yeah?” I say, arching a brow.
She bites her bottom lip and nods, stepping back. She grabs my hand as I turn to look.
Bobby Tillson is standing there, in full dress uniform. He has that stupid grin on his face, the same one he had the day he died. It doesn’t falter as he waves.
I’m frozen in place, staring at him. I manage to utter, “Tillson?”
“Hey there,” he says, still smiling. “I’ve been meaning to visit. You know how it is.”
Rachel moves a little closer. “We do. We know, Bobby.”
“You’re dead,” I blurt out. “I watched you die.”
He just shrugs. “Easy come, easy go. I’m onto the next adventure.”
My eyes mist over just a bit. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you died. I’m sorry I didn’t.”
My voice breaks on the last word. Rachel squeezes my hand. Tillson just has the same grin on his face.
“Does it look like I’m sad about that?” he asks. “Cause I’m not. Neither is Danvers. He says hi, by the way.”
“Tillson…” I say, shaking my head. “There is so much you didn’t get to experience—”
Tillson looks behind him, then nods. “I’m short on time. I have to go. Just know that you’ll be okay. Stick with your girl. She knows the way. And I will see you again.”
I suck in a breath. “Tillson—”
He laughs. “I know, man! I know. I just wanted to say hi one last time. I really have to go—”
And then he’s gone, just like that. I look down at Rachel in disbelief. “Was that… you saw that, didn’t you?”
She smiles, reaching up to touch the lobe of my ear. She pushes up on her tiptoes to whisper.
“They’ll be here soon,” she says.
My eyes snap open. For a moment, I’m disoriented. Then I realize that I’m still lying on my back in bed. Rachel has slipped from my hold on her body and looks down at me, touching my hair with every bit as much care as I dreamed.
“Did you hear me? They will be here soon.”
I surge up, finding her lips. She kisses me, laughing. “What’s all of this? Didn’t you get enough last night?”
“Never,” I swear, moving my lips down to her neck.
She smells so incredible. Like vanilla and pixie dust and home, I swear it.
Rachel laughs again. “You’re terrible. And I hate to remind you, but you are supposed to help me blackmail my father this morning.”
“Ah.” I kiss her neck. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
“I’m sure!” she declares, pushing at me. I let her go, my mind awhirl.
Bobby really would’ve loved Rachel, if they had ever met while he was alive. That thought makes me smile but it also makes me a little sad.
I drag myself out of bed, getting dressed. Rachel hands me a cup of coffee.
I drink it down, hoping to avoid any more mental fog. I’m willing to face any foe that Rachel sets before me, but her father still intimidates me. He makes me feel like the poor young boy who first met Rachel all those years back, when I was just working at his golf club.
In some respects, I still haven’t entirely moved on from the part I played back then.
But I want Rachel. I want to start a life with her. I want to give her everything she has ever dreamed of. Babies, a ring, a house, even a fucking huge wedding if that’s what she wants.
Because she is already giving up everything to be with me. She’s my dream. I am already getting the girl.
I just want to make sure I know how to keep her.
There is a knock on the door to the cabin. Rachel opens the door to find Nate standing there, looking extremely anxious.
“Mr. Black is here. He brought Senator Hunter with him and like… twice as many attorneys as he brought yesterday. I had to ask them to wait in the mess hall because there were so many men in suits.”
I look to Rachel. She smiles weakly. She’s nervous too, I can tell.
“That’s perfect,” I say. “We’re ready to go when you are."
“Okay. Let’s go,” Nate says.
He leads our keyed up little party down to the mess hall. We climb the stairs, finding Mr. Black waiting in the doorway. Rachel finds my hand, locking our fingers.
Mr. Black’s gaze lands on us. He straightens his tie.
“You men can wait out here,” he announces.
Nate pauses, but I do not. I smile. “There is no chance of me leaving your daughter’s side.”
His eyes narrow. “I want to make sure she’s not being coerced in any way.”
My eyebrows rise. “Other than by you, you mean?”
Rachel clears her throat. “I’m going to go wherever Grayson goes. I think it’ll be more expedient for you to just let us both in. Otherwise, the deal is off.”
Her father’s expression turns dark as a thundercloud. “If you insist.”
He turns on his heel and marches inside, leaving us to follow in his footsteps up into the mess hall. We step in and find the senator leaning up against the wall, waiting. Her father nods to the senator.
“That is Senator Hunter. He is just here to ensure that everything goes smoothly.”
Rachel breaks off from me, heading straight for the senator. She holds out her hand. I can’t help but notice her trembling. “Senator Hunter! It is so nice to meet you.”
Senator Hunter slides a disgruntled gaze over to Mr. Black as he shakes Rachel’s hand. “A pleasure.”
“That’s enough, Rachel,” her father says flatly.
Rachel licks her lips and continues to address Senator Hunter. “I just want to make sure that you’re on board with everything. If I sign the papers that my father wants me to sign, I need your assurances that you will use your influence over the voters here in Washington to end the possibility of drilling.”
Senator Hunter glances at Mr. Black, raising himself up to his full height. “I will.”
Rachel isn’t done
. “But how will you convince them? Do you just have that kind of pull or what?”
Mr. Black hurries around the tables. “I think Senator Hunter can step out now. We’re in a hurry to get back to Manhattan anyway.”
Senator Hunter looks at both Rachel and her father like they are something he’s about to scrape off his shoe. He pushes past Rachel, adjusting his tie as he exits the mess hall. “I’ll be in my car!” he calls over his shoulder.
Rachel just smiles as she turns her attention to her father. “Alright. Where are the papers?”
Mr. Black casts a malevolent look in my direction as he waves to a table nearby. “Bring the papers!”
I follow Rachel to the table, not looking at Mr. Black. My eyes are steady on her shoulders as she sits down. She’s sweating just a little; I can make it out on the back of her neck. Her father moves to stand opposite, pulling a pen out of his suit jacket. The papers are slid across the table by a lawyer.
“Here,” he says, handing her the pen.
Rachel smiles, flipping to the first dotted line. She picks it up, putting the pen to the paper. Then she hesitates. “I just have a few questions before I sign.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Mr. Black sighs. He scolds her the way he would a child. “What could you possibly need to know? You are signing a few papers, in exchange for which I will not drag you back to New York. You can stay here, if that’s your heart desire. Plus, you will get enough money to never have to work again and I’ll stop the purchase of mineral rights on the entire peninsula. Surely that has been made crystal clear for you by now?”
She looks back at me, then down at the papers. She takes a breath. “What if I decide that I want to come home instead of signing these papers?”
Mr. Black leans down, anger written all over his face. “Sign the papers, Rachel. Just get it over with.”
She looks indecisive. “Can I consult with a lawyer that isn’t in this room?”
He completely loses his cool and starts threatening her. “Rachel Marie Black, you are going to sign these fucking papers right goddamn now. Then you can play around out here all you want with whatever fucking trash you like to keep you company—”
