Retribution

by Tymber Dalton

  “Family day?”

  “Well, I guess.”

  “I’ll go ask them. You call Steven.”

  That’s how, an hour later, Tom and Ty, Willow and Zoey, and Mikey and Steven were crammed into their old SUV and heading to Clay’s house. Adam had opted to stay back and volunteered to take care of the mowing so Tom wouldn’t have to do it tomorrow.

  Crystal had just arrived as they were departing. Tyler felt a little surprised at the hint of smug satisfaction that streaked through his mind at her brief expression of disappointment when they informed her they were leaving.

  Nevvie, however, had happily hugged them all and waved them off.

  Right. Family day.

  He reached over and patted Tom’s leg, where he was driving. Behind them, Zoey and Steven were talking, while Mikey and Willow had taken the far back seat.

  For the first time since he’d talked to Goossens and learned Marcus was dying and had asked to see him, Tyler started to feel a little normalcy return to his world.

  Chapter Eleven

  Nevvie didn’t understand why Ty and Tom were acting a little weird, but then again, she felt kind of hormonal herself that morning. She’d awakened almost feeling like her period was going to start soon and wishing she’d hurry up and hit menopause already.

  The past year or so, she’d had weird monthly symptoms, including killer headaches and even vertigo that was annoying as fuck because she didn’t feel comfortable driving when it hit.

  At least the guys were getting the girls out of the house today. Even better that they were including Steven with them.

  She also didn’t miss how a frown scudded across Adam’s face when Crystal arrived.

  He walked over to the kitchen cabinet where they kept the keys on hooks inside the door, and found the ones for the large detached garage building they called the barn, where they kept the tractor parked, as well as the keys for the tractor.

  “Where are you going?” Nevvie asked.

  “Going to go mow before it gets too hot. Poppa doesn’t need to be doing that with his bum leg.”

  “But you just took a shower.”

  “I know. I didn’t grab one last night before bed. I was too tired after my drive. I’ll get another one after I mow.” He grabbed a cold bottle of Gatorade from the fridge and headed out.

  Weird.

  “Is everything okay?” Crystal asked.

  Nevvie turned to find the woman studying her. “Yeah, I guess. He’s twenty. Sorry, I meant to talk to him before he walked out and ask about the social media stuff.”

  “That’s okay. We can ask him later. There’s plenty of other stuff to do before then.”

  Nevvie headed to the fridge and got herself a bottle of Gatorade, too, and took it over to the small eat-in table where they’d set up their laptops today. “I’m thinking we do lunch in town later, since it’s a girls’ day.” She smiled. “Maybe we can even talk Karen into coming with us.”

  “Oh, that’d be nice.”

  They worked for several hours, until Nevvie finally realized what time it was. “You know what? Let’s stop. This is a good place.” She stood and felt a little dizzy, reaching for the back of her chair to steady herself.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah, I get this sometimes. Mild vertigo. It’s hormonal. Stupid periods. I’ll probably look like someone’s butchering a pig in a day or two. You feel like driving today? I’ll buy lunch.”

  “Sure.”

  “Cool. Oh, wait, were you planning to come back here after?”

  “If we’re still going to talk to Adam.” He’d come in a while ago, taken another shower, and retreated to his room with the door shut.

  Fine, he wants to be a hermit, he’s earned the day off, I suppose.

  “I’ll go change.” Nevvie finished the bottle of Gatorade and grabbed another from the fridge, opening it and taking a swallow. “Wait, ibuprofen first, then I’ll go change.” She took a couple and left her drink on the table while she ran upstairs to change clothes.

  She stopped by Adam’s room before going back down, knocking and hoping she wasn’t interrupting him doing something…personal.

  “Yeah?”

  She didn’t open the door. “Crystal and I are going to grab lunch. You want to come with us?”

  “No, thanks.”

  She shoved back the guilty mom pang. She’d earned lunch in town, right? “Okay. See you later, honey. Thanks for mowing.”

  “You’re welcome. Love you.”

  She smiled. “Love you, too, honey.”

  The door opened, startling her. “Be careful.”

  “What?”

  “Just…be careful.” He hugged her.

  “Um…okay. Sure. We will.”

  She headed back downstairs, grabbed her purse, and the bottle of Gatorade, and followed Crystal out. “Oh, the door.” She locked it but didn’t set the alarm. If Adam was home, it wasn’t necessary.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Nevvie took a swallow from the bottle before getting into Crystal’s car. “Blech. I shouldn’t have brushed my teeth and taken a swig of that. Yeah, Adam’s just being…moody today.”

  “Are you sure you want to go out? I could run get us something from the store and—”

  “I want to go out. Let’s stop by Dad’s and see if Karen’s up for shenanigans.” The next swallow tasted a little better, but still toothpaste funky.

  They were pulling into the yard when the dizziness hit her again. “Just park there, behind Dad’s car. That’s fine.” She took a few more swallows and set the bottle in the cupholder. Whenever she felt like this, Gatorade always helped steady her and made her feel better. The electrolytes or something in it.

  Karen was home, but Bill wasn’t. And Karen didn’t look good.

  “Sorry, I’m working on a migraine,” Karen said.

  “Yikes. No lunch for you!” Nevvie burst out laughing, then clapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry. Don’t know where that came from.” She reached out to steady herself against the back of the couch as another wave of dizziness washed through her. “Yikes.”

  “Nev, sweetheart, are you all right?” Andrew’s concern touched her, nearly enough to make her cry.

  “Yeah, just a little dizzy, that’s all.” She threw her arms around him. “I love you, Dad!”

  Wow, I’m really hormonal today.

  It was like…it was…weird.

  Like she wasn’t exactly in control of herself.

  Colin now studied her, too, and she found the twin expressions of concern on their faces funnier than fuck and started howling with laughter. “You guys are adorable!”

  She turned and headed for the door, the world spinning a little. “Wow. Maybe…maybe I should go back home. I don’t feel good.”

  Andrew tried to get her into the kitchen to sit down, but she resisted. “No, I think I need to go home.”

  But when she reached the front porch steps, she sat, firmly, and stared at a knot in the wood that had been painted over and…

  Fascinating!

  In her mind, she even said it in Spock’s voice, too, which cracked her right the hell up.

  Then Adam stood in front of her.

  When did he get here?

  “Mom?” He was staring into her eyes and then he was Tyler and Andrew before he was Adam again. “Mom, are you okay?”

  “No, my head really hurts bad…” She lost her train of thought.

  Thinking was damned hard.

  “Call 911,” Karen said, taking Adam’s place. “Nevvie, smile for me, honey. Give me a smile. Please?”

  A blank slate appeared in her mind, and Nevvie became one with it.

  * * * *

  Andrew struggled not to panic as he talked to the 911 operator and answered her questions, flashbacks hitting him of that day.

  “I…I don’t know what’s wrong with her. My daughter thinks maybe a stroke because she’s not on any medications that would do this to her, and she hasn�
�t taken any drugs. She doesn’t do drugs. And she hasn’t had any alcohol. She’s been with a friend all morning and they stopped by our house on their way out to lunch. Her friend said she was complaining earlier of feeling dizzy, said sometimes her period does it to her. She did take a couple of ibuprofen before they left the house about twenty minutes ago and she had some Gatorade.”

  “We’ve got an ambulance crew on the way, sir. Please stay on the line.”

  Andrew shoved the phone at Colin. “Stay on the line with them.” He’d called Adam to come over, worried that Nevvie had been acting odd and about to go out with Crystal, thinking maybe he could take her home.

  Now it looked like maybe his strange worries were wrong, and his worst nightmare was repeating itself.

  Crystal stood there, looking like she was in shock and bloody useless. She had done as instructed and fetched Nevvie’s purse out of the car and handed it to Adam, at least. Plus she stood there with hers over her shoulder, hugging it to her.

  “Adam, call your fathers,” Andrew said. “Get them back here. They’re at Uncle Clay’s. And drive down to the end of the driveway and wave the ambulance crew in.”

  “Got it.”

  “Nevvie, darling, look at me.” Her eyes had rolled back in her head and he gently slapped her cheeks, trying to get her to respond. Karen and Adam had moved her off the step she’d sat down on and onto the grass, rolled onto her side.

  She let out a soft moan, but didn’t talk, didn’t actually look at him.

  Don’t you die on me, sweetheart. Don’t you fucking dare.

  What felt like hours later, he heard the sirens in the distance. The ambulance rolled into the driveway, followed by Adam in his car.

  Five minutes later, as they were loading Nevvie into the ambulance, she puked all over the grass and started moaning and speaking gibberish.

  “What’s wrong with her, Grandpa?” Adam asked.

  “I don’t know. Take Crystal and follow the ambulance. Colin and I will be along in a moment.”

  Crystal started toward Adam’s car, then hesitated. “Is my car all right parked there?”

  “I’ll move it for you. It can stay here for now. Give me your keys. You go with him and we’ll be right behind you. Go!”

  She pulled the key fob out of her pocket and handed it to him. “Thanks, Andrew.”

  “Quite all right. Now get moving.”

  He rushed inside and dropped the fob on the bookcase in the foyer.

  Karen followed on his heels. “Chloe! I can’t leave.”

  “You stay. Colin and I will keep you posted.” He needed to get shoes and his wallet and phone and he needed his heart to stop pounding so blasted hard. They took Colin’s car, since he wasn’t parked in, and it was only when they were almost to hospital that he realized he had left his heart meds at home and would be due for his afternoon dose soon.

  Blast.

  A flurry of activity surrounded Nevvie once she was in a bed in the ER, everyone ordered out except for Adam and Andrew, who handed over Nevvie’s ID and did their best to give them her health history.

  “Is she on any medications, or use any drugs?”

  “Mom doesn’t take drugs,” Adam said, nearly indignant in his reply to the nurse. “They were sitting in the kitchen and working on their laptops all morning. Not even drinking or anything. She had ibuprofen. She was feeling dizzy when she woke up this morning. It happens around her periods sometimes.”

  Nevvie was still moaning gibberish, not responding to the ER staff. Andrew and Adam did their best to stay out of the way and answer questions.

  Then Tom and Tyler ran in, both looking out of breath and terrified, and Andrew handed off Nevvie’s purse to them and led Adam to the waiting room.

  Colin had taken charge of the kids. The girls were huddled on either side of him, clinging to him, both of them crying, Steven flanking Zoey and Mikey on Willow’s other side.

  Crystal looked stunned and wasn’t much help other than confirming what they’d already told the staff about their morning. No, no medications, just ibuprofen.

  “She was fine,” she insisted. “Just a little dizzy. She asked me to drive.”

  They’d been there nearly thirty minutes and there was little change in Nevvie’s condition, and no answers. Saliva tests for alcohol and the most common illegal drugs had been done and were negative. A CT scan also came back negative. Her blood sugar was well within acceptable ranges. Blood tests had been ordered and drawn, and she’d also puked again, so they’d started an IV.

  Colin stared at Andrew. “Where are your meds? You’re due to take them.”

  Blast. “I’ll be all right.

  “Adam, take your grandfather home, please, to get his medicine.”

  Andrew started to protest, but Adam jumped up. “I’ll drive you, Grandpa.” His blue eyes met Andrew’s, and…

  He looked like Tyler had at that age.

  “All right, son.” He turned and kissed Colin, not caring who was watching. “Call me immediately if there’s any news.”

  “I will.”

  He followed Adam out of the ER.

  “This is weird,” Adam said as they pulled out of the parking lot.

  “I know.”

  “She was fine this morning.” He stared at Andrew. “She was fine. She talked to me before they left, minutes before this happened, and she was fine.”

  It took him every ounce of strength not to say So was Peggy.

  They all had enough valid fear right now. There was no reason to add to it.

  Chapter Twelve

  Andrew hated leaving everyone at hospital, but there wasn’t a damned thing he could do there except wait and worry with everyone else.

  Neither spoke the rest of the drive. He knew Adam worried about Nevvie—and frankly, so did he. When they arrived, Adam updated Karen with what little they knew while Andrew went and took his medication. Then he headed to his bedroom to grab his phone charger. As he stood there and tried to think if he needed to bring anything else to hospital with him, Adam appeared in his bedroom doorway with an undecipherable expression and furrowed brow.

  “Adam?”

  “I need to talk to you,” he whispered. “Right now. Alone.”

  Adam looked…troubled. Beyond the degree of their current level of crazy.

  Andrew waved him in and waited until Adam closed the door behind him to softly speak. “What’s wrong?”

  “I need to ask you something, Grandpa, but I need you to keep it quiet.”

  “Of course.”

  “If I thought I knew something bad about someone, that they’d done a pretty bad thing, or were about to, but I wasn’t one-hundred-percent sure if it was the right person, should I still say something?”

  A chill filled him. “How bad are we talking?”

  Adam mulled it over for a moment before apparently surrendering to trust. “I think Crystal isn’t who she says she is. I mean, she is, but stuff happened that didn’t happen the way she says it did. The problem is, I don’t have proof. In fact, the proof is against me for some of it.”

  Andrew breathed a silent sigh of relief even as his own instincts buzzed. “What’s the short version, and let’s work backward from there, shall we?”

  “This all started because my friend, Lyle, in Athens, saw one of Mom’s Facebook pictures a couple of days ago that I was tagged in, and he asked me a question about Crystal. She was in the picture. Lyle’s a few years older than me. He went to school with Crystal, or maybe someone who looks exactly like her. But her name wasn’t Crystal, it was Christine. And the guy she accused didn’t really rape her. The reason campus police didn’t pursue charges at first is because it was all he said/she said. But her parents had money and pushed it through and a jury convicted him.

  “She’d originally asked the guy out and he’d turned her down. Later, she’d heard from someone else that he’d made a snarky remark about her. So at a Greek party, she got him alone in a room for a little while. Later, he was
found passed out, and the next morning she’s claiming rape, even though people who talked to her right before she left the party said she looked and acted fine.

  “She fabricated the story against him. It ruined his life, and he killed himself in jail after he was convicted. Even in his suicide note he said he was innocent and still claimed she’d drugged the drink she’d given him, which was why he was passed out. After the conviction, she got drunk one night and bragged about it to Lyle’s sister, who was a close friend of hers at the time, and that’s how he knows. Christine made a lot of money with fundraisers and stuff. But once the guy killed himself, Christine suddenly moved away. Rumors said she transferred schools and did some intern work in New York City.”

  The entire story also sounded strikingly similar to a subplot in one of Tyler’s earlier Augustine novels, which finally struck Andrew as when he’d first started distrusting Crystal—when he’d heard her story about the circumstances surrounding her rape. Andrew couldn’t remember which book at the moment, and the falsely accused didn’t kill themselves in that book. They’d eventually persevered and managed to regain their freedom.

  “I understand that’s upsetting, but that’s also hearsay.” And a perverse kind of plagiarism.

  “I looked up the case yesterday and that’s the real reason I came home. I need to figure out how to tell my dads. The woman’s name was Christine Higgins. She wasn’t named at first, but then she basically outed herself in the guise of being some victim’s advocate or something, and was raising funds for a sexual assault support group she started but never did anything with, funds that were never accounted for later. A few people accused her of grandstanding, trying to scam money, but when she moved away it all died down. But here’s something else.”

  He opened his phone and showed him a website, a fan page devoted to Tyler, run by someone named Cailey Higley. “I Googled Christine Higgins, and then thought to go through website registrations. The .com and .net versions of the domain were registered anonymously. But the .org was registered later, and they forgot to use an anonymous service. Or maybe they couldn’t with a .org, I don’t know. The registrar for the domain was Christine Higgins, at a PO box in Kentucky. Crystal said her mom’s in Kentucky.”