Passion: A Single Dad Small Town Romance

by Bella Winters

  It took me another ten minutes before I was calm enough to drive back home.

  Chapter 18: Alex

  “Her car’s here.”

  The day was quickly coming to an end, the sun setting behind us as I rolled the car to a stop in front of the house and looked at where Kelly was pointing. Sure enough, Jenni’s car was parked a bit down the road, almost out of view behind a large maple.

  I had gone directly to the hospital after my disappointing encounter with Sheriff Blake, and although my nerves were wrecked and I had the urge to punch my fist through a wall, the fact that my father was awake immediately turned that all around.

  They had rolled him out of the ICU into his own private room, and he had been flanked by nurses all day. Apparently, the old man still had his charm working for him, and he had become a bit of a celebrity around the hospital. Samuel Logan, standing up to the misfits of Kent and taking one for the team.

  I only wished he could have earned his popularity through anything else.

  After a flurry of questions, and my incessant questions to a doctor who had looked like he wanted nothing more than to run far, far away from me, I had finally been able to calm down and enjoy the fact that, yet again, I had Samuel and Kelly ganging up on me.

  I had called Jenni and given her the good news, fully expecting her to show up after her shift. Needless to say, we were all just a little disappointed, and I had started to worry when she had stopped answering the phone.

  “Maybe knowing grandpa’s alright made her go back to her life?”

  Kelly had looked like she was begging me to disagree, but I hadn’t really known if I could. I still held onto the hope that we would come back home and find her, probably asleep with her phone silenced.

  Which was why I let out a sigh of relief when I saw her car.

  “That’s a good sign,” I said.

  Kelly nodded, a smile creeping onto her face. She looked a lot gladder about Jenni being here than I was.

  She met us at the front door, towel in her hand, hair flowing around her face. She looked pale, her eyes bloodshot as if she had just been crying, and her shoulders sagged a bit. Nothing like the woman who had cooked breakfast and shoved us out of the house this morning.

  “You okay?” I asked, kissing her cheek as I shrugged out of my coat.

  Kelly had already made her way upstairs after giving Jenni a quick hug and a concerned look. My daughter had the good sense not to ask, though. Whatever was wrong with Jenni, it didn’t seem like something she’d be openly willing to talk about. She already looked like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

  She attempted a smile, and it only made her look worse. “I’m fine,” she lied.

  I kissed her again and let the matter slide, for now. There would be time to talk about it later, with the door closed behind us and her lying in my arms. I kept a close eye on her, though, as we went about emptying the groceries I had bought on my way back.

  “How’s Sam?”

  “He’s doing well,” I said, smiling. “Looks better, except for the bruises and all. Besides, I think he’s actually happy he’s in the hospital. The nurses are all over him.”

  “I’m not surprised,” she said. “He’s always been a sweet talker.”

  “We missed you at the hospital.”

  She sighed and smiled weakly. “I’m feeling a bit under the weather, that’s all. Didn’t think it would make sense to show up and spread whatever it is that’s got me feeling like this.”

  “Samuel would have loved to see you,” I said.

  “I know. I’ll visit him as soon as I feel better.”

  I didn’t push, knowing that if I did, I would either make her angry, or worse, scare her away. Right now, having her around made me feel a lot better, and I didn’t want to do anything that might risk endangering that.

  “I’m sorry about what happened with Sheriff Blake,” she said, cutting through my thoughts.

  I felt a small pang of anger at the memory of this morning’s waste of time. “Yeah, well, apparently Garth Liston has a lot more pull in this town than I thought.”

  I felt her body stiffen at the mention of Garth’s name, and frowned. Before I could read any more into it, my cellphone began to buzz in my pocket, and I fished it out, Raul’s number flashing on the screen.

  “Gotta take this,” I said, leaving the kitchen and walking all the way out the front door.

  “Catch you at a bad time?” Raul asked when I answered.

  “Nah, was just about to help with dinner,” I said. “What’s up?”

  “For starters, I don’t know how you do it, but you hit a gold mine, man,” Raul said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Hope Enterprises.”

  I had completely forgotten I had asked Raul to look into that. “What did you find?”

  “Their CEO, Alexis Hope, real pile of trouble that one.”

  I leaned against the porch railing, glancing into the house to make sure I was out of earshot, and pressed Raul for more.

  “Apparently, she’s on everybody’s radar. FBI, Interpol, even MI6 is interested in her,” Raul explained. “Hope Enterprises has its name associated with a bunch of crap all over the globe.”

  “Really?” I asked. “Seemed pretty innocent.”

  “That’s just it, no one’s proven anything yet,” Raul said. “I have a contact in the FBI that swears the company deals in everything from human trafficking to money laundry. It’s just, this woman’s so damn good, she really knows how to hide her tracks.”

  I felt my stomach turn, suddenly feeling a lot worse about the company’s activities in Kent.

  “And it doesn’t stop there,” Raul said. “Apparently, one of the big cash cows is drugs, cocaine specifically. Some say this Alexis woman has ties with some of the biggest drug lords in South America.”

  “How the hell has this woman never popped up on our radar?”

  “Because the business is so decentralized, it’s like she’s not even a part of it. You got layers upon layers of people. Crime families funded by her and giving her a cut, Big names scattered all over the country. In some cities, she’s supplying rival gangs as long as they keep the peace.”

  “And no one’s been able to get anything to stick?”

  “Not yet,” Raul replied. “A few have tried, and the ones who got closest usually ended up dead or missing. But listen, the fact that her company’s fooling around in Kent makes sense.”

  “Why is that?”

  “They invest in real estate, increase the population, and then set up their illegal activities using locals. I heard a community college is supposed to be opening up over there.”

  “Yeah, they’re building one outside town, big money.”

  “Sounds about right,” Raul said. “You want to know the kicker, though?”

  “Shoot.”

  “You obviously remember how you almost got us killed in that drug bust.”

  “My leg doesn’t really let me forget,” I replied.

  “That van we pulled in was registered to a local company here in Miami, right?”

  “Small delivery store, I remember,” I said. “They had reported it stolen, didn’t they?”

  “They did,” Raul chuckled. “I looked into them when I began to realize just how diluted Hope Enterprise’s operations is. Apparently, the delivery store is part of a group of delivery companies all owned by an Italian family. Ricci or Rossi, something like that.”

  “So?”

  “One of their kids, the eldest, major shareholder, moved out to Connecticut a decade or two ago. Built a small compound in Kent, married a local girl.”

  I felt my body go numb. “Darlene Liston,” I whispered.

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Raul said. “How did you know?”

  I pushed away from the railing and made my way across the porch, looking into the house and watching Jenni move about the kitchen as she prepared dinner.

  “Anyway, this guy
writes off all his shares to his new wife and her son, and they inherit the whole business when he died a few years back. A year later, his wife dies, and everything goes to the kid. Hold on, I have his name here somewhere.”

  “Garth.”

  The phone went silent for a second before Raul asked, “Yeah, you know the guy?”

  “We crossed paths.”

  “Well, he runs the company now out of Connecticut, and there are enough connections between him and Hope Enterprises to make your head spin. I mean, it’s almost as if Alexis Hope is funding them personally.”

  “You think he’s their drug player in Kent?”

  “Looks pretty much like it,” Raul replied. “What’s going on over there? You need me to book a flight in?”

  “No, that’s fine,” I said. “I got this handled. Thanks, Raul.”

  “No problem,” Raul replied. “Just enjoy your vacation, alright. We need you back here. Office is kind of lonely without you.”

  I thanked him and hung up, then walked back into the house. Jenni had some explaining to do.

  Chapter 19: Jenni

  I knew something was wrong the minute Alex stepped into the kitchen. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were cold as he glared at me.

  “I’m going to ask you a few questions, Jenni,” he said, “and I want the truth.”

  I frowned, my heartbeat suddenly accelerating, hammering in my chest. “Okay,” I said.

  “Garth Liston,” Alex started, and I felt my breath catch in my throat. “How long has he been distributing drugs in Kent?”

  I hesitated. “Distributing drugs?”

  “That guy we met outside the coffee shop, Jack something or the other. He’s one of Garth’s employees. He doesn’t exactly work Garth’s books, does he?”

  I shook my head, trying my best to hide the sudden fluttering in my stomach. “I don’t know.”

  “Bullshit!” Alex suddenly yelled, and I cringed at his outburst. “I said I want the truth, Jenni.”

  I looked at him, feeling the tears well in my eyes, and I tried my best to contain myself. I bit my lip, looked away and felt my body shake like a leaf.

  “He’s supplying the drugs, isn’t he?” Alex asked. “Garth? The whole real estate thing is just a front, isn’t it?”

  “Alex, I –”

  “Do you know how involved he is with Hope Enterprises? When you told me about Heath, did you know Garth was pulling the strings?”

  I didn’t answer him, a tear rolling down my cheek.

  “You let me go all the way to the Sheriff thinking that Heath was behind all this, behind my father’s near-death experience, when Garth was the one pulling the strings? You actually covered for him?”

  “I wasn’t covering for him,” I said, choking on my words. “He’s crazy, Alex, and dangerous. I didn’t want you getting involved, but you wouldn’t listen.”

  Alex’s hands closed into fists and he punched the table top. “My father almost died,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “Your drug dealing ex-boyfriend almost had him killed for a piece of land that was supposed to increase his drug business. And you failed to mention that?”

  “I didn’t want you to get hurt,” I stammered.

  “Get hurt?” he snapped. “How involved are you in all this?”

  “I’m not,” I said.

  “Is that why you’re here?” he asked. “Is that why you’ve been hanging out with us. What was the plan? Get close enough and then what?”

  “Alex, that’s not what this is,” I said, tears rolling down my cheeks, feeling guilty for not telling him sooner but angry at being accused of something so horrid, all at the same time.

  “Then what is it?”

  I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it again, unsure if anything I said right now would make an ounce of difference,

  “Answer me!” His voice roared through the kitchen, and I heard a door open and close upstairs, quickly followed by a flutter of feet down the stairs. Kelly appeared behind her father, eyes wide and full of concern.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “Go to your room, Kelly,” Alex said, his eyes locked onto me.

  Kelly looked at me, her concern giving way to fear. “Jenni?”

  I sniffed, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “Kelly, I’m so sorry –”

  “Don’t you fucking talk to her,” Alex shot. “Kelly, go to your room.”

  “Not until someone tells me what’s going on,” Kelly replied, standing her ground.

  Alex turned to her and grabbed her by the arm, shaking her. “I said, go to your fucking room!” he yelled.

  The shock on Kelly’s face brought a fresh burst of tears from me as she stared at her father then looked at me. She whipped her hand out of his grip and raced out of the kitchen.

  Alex turned back to me. “I said I want answers, Jenni.”

  The front door opened and slammed closed, and Alex quickly turned around to see what was going on. “Kelly?”

  From outside, a car door slammed closed and an engine started up.

  “Kelly!” Alex yelled, racing out of the kitchen with me running close behind him. We rushed out the front door just as Kelly backed her father’s car out, turned the wheel around, and shot down the street with a screech of tires.

  “Kelly!” I called after her.

  “Fuck!” Alex yelled, pushing forcefully past me and running back into the house.

  I barely made it to the front door when he came storming out again. “What are we going to do?” I asked, panicking at the thought of Kelly behind the wheel of a car.

  “We are not going to do anything,” he snapped. “I’m going to take the truck and drive after her. You are going to go upstairs, pack whatever you have up there into a bag, and get the fuck out of my house.”

  “Alex.”

  He whirled around, his eyes burning with fury. “I want you gone by the time I get back, you understand? I don’t ever want to see you around me or my daughter again.”

  With that, he raced down the steps, jumped into the Ford, and drove off after his daughter. I watched him leave, and when he turned the corner, I dropped to my knees and broke into tears.

  Chapter 20: Alex

  Why the fuck had I ever taught her how to drive, I had no idea.

  I felt a raging headache overwhelm me, the veins in my head pounding incessantly, threatening to burst. My heart raced as I pushed down harder on the gas, willing the truck to move faster, taking wild guesses at every intersection as to which direction Kelly was driving in.

  She lied to me. She stood there in my house, slept in my bed, and all the time, she had been lying to me.

  I pushed the thought away. Right now, none of that mattered. My little girl was driving around town in a car she could barely control. If anything were to happen to her, I’d probably kill myself.

  Then you probably shouldn’t have taught her how to drive.

  “Shut up, Janice.”

  The sun had almost set completely, and the streetlights flooded the roads in their orange glow. The worry found its way to every corner of my body. I had taught Kelly how to drive the car in cases of emergencies, but always during the daytime. Nighttime driving was a whole other issue.

  The hospital. Check the hospital.

  I doubted Kelly would be able to find her way there without stopping to ask someone, but then again, Kent wasn’t Miami, and if you took enough left and right turns, you were bound to get to where you wanted to go.

  I turned left right down Elizabeth Road, making a mental not to check the bridge leading across the river next, and stepped on the gas. Luckily, there wasn’t much traffic around, and I was able to get hallway to the hospital before I caught sight of my car parked outside Kent Park. I slowed down, took the U-turn, and quickly pulled up next to it, jumping out quickly and rushing past the main gate.

  My eyes scanned the empty picnic tables and park benches, the few people left already packing up and leaving as I looked for Kelly. I felt
terrible for shouting at her, the first time it had ever happened, and I knew that that little outburst was bound to put a scar in our relationship I’d never be able to fix. I was more than ready to start blaming Jenni for all this when I began to panic. Kelly was nowhere to be found.

  Maybe she just parked here and went across the street. The library?

  I shook my head at the thought. If Kelly wanted to hide in the library, she would have parked at the library. She was smart, but not cunning enough to be able to throw people off like that. There were some things she was still too innocent to do.

  The pond.

  “Fuck, of course!”

  I raced down the narrow path leading past the playground and cut through the trees, taking a short cross across the small hill that rose and then fell towards the duck pond. I only slowed down when I caught sight of her sitting by the edge of the pond, legs pulled up to her chest and rocking back and forth.

  “Kelly?” I called to her when I was close enough for her to hear me.

  She turned around, looked at me through watery eyes, and turned away again. “Leave me alone,” she stammered.

  I felt my heart drop and sighed heavily as I approached her. “Kelly, what were you thinking?”

  “I said leave me alone,” she repeated.

  I ran a hand through my hair and sat down on the grass beside her, silently grateful that she didn’t move away from me. I looked out at the pond and didn’t say a word. We just sat there, quietly lost in our thoughts, neither of us willing to be the first to break the silence.

  “You never shouted at me like that before,” she finally said, and when I looked at her, I could see the tears running down her cheek.

  “I’m sorry, baby,” I said. “I didn’t mean to. I was angry at Jenni, and I took it out on you. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “No, you shouldn’t have,” she said, sniffing and wiping the tears away with the sleeve of her windbreaker. “And you shouldn’t have made Jenni cry.”

  “Let’s leave that discussion for another time,” I said. “Jenni did a horrible thing, and I don’t think we’ll be seeing her anymore.”