Blackest Night

by Stephanie Hoffman McManus

  “I’ll make you a deal. You go get Aunt Nora and tell her I said you could open presents now, and I’ll go see if I can catch Cassie before she leaves.”

  “Okay,” he agreed, and I stood so I could hurry and try to catch her, but Eli stopped me.

  “Dad!”

  “Yeah?”

  “Sometimes girls just want you to say sorry.”

  I nodded and then sprinted outside. I scanned the crowded parking lot and spotted her car in the row closest to the road. I jogged over to the silver Subaru hatchback. If only I could go back to the day she bought it. We spent that entire day driving all over, looking at cars until she decided on that one. She’d driven me crazy with her indecisiveness, but I had to admit, it’d been a good day.

  I slowed as I approached the driver’s door. Through the window, I saw Cassie bent over the steering wheel. The way her shoulders shook, I knew she was crying. Something hot and sharp stabbed me in the chest. Was Eli, right? Did I do this?

  No.

  She did this.

  She was the one who wasn’t happy with the way things were. She was the one who put an end to us, and then moved on with the first guy she came across. Although, after what just happened inside, and the way Cassie reacted when I threw it in her face, I was beginning to seriously doubt the information I’d been given.

  I rapped on the window with my knuckles and Cassie jumped in her seat. Red, puffy eyes met mine through the glass. For a minute, I thought she was going to put the car in reverse and try to back the car out over my foot. Instead, she opened up the door and climbed out, not bothering to wipe at the tear streaks on her cheeks.

  “What do you want?”

  “Eli said you left crying.”

  “So, you came to what? See for yourself? Maybe get a few more asshole remarks in because you haven’t already stomped on my heart enough?”

  The misery in her voice was salt in my chest-wound.

  “Actually, I came to see if you were okay?”

  She choked out a bitter laugh. “Do I look very okay?”

  “Cassie, I’m sorry, I never meant—”

  “Could you just spare me the I never meant to hurt you bullshit. Please don’t pretend to suddenly care.”

  I started closer, but she jerked back and put up a hand. I stopped. “I never denied caring about you.”

  “You just have a funny way of showing it,” she muttered, dropping her eyes to the pavement. “I almost feel like I should warn Marissa.”

  “What does Marissa have to do with this?” I frowned, and a sense of dread started building in the pit of my stomach.

  Her eyes shot back up to narrow on mine. “Spare me the innocent act. I saw the two of you in there. I guess all the bullshit you fed me about not wanting to complicate things only applied to me, because the nanny, Nikolai? That could get pretty damn messy. So much for sparing Eli from your shitty choices.”

  “Cassie,” I gritted out, “It wasn’t what it looked like. I swear.”

  “Never is, but you know what? It doesn’t matter. Because this,” she gestured between the two of is, “is nothing. It was nothing to you the whole time. I see that now.” She turned and climbed back inside the car, yanking the door closed.

  I stepped back and watched her pull out of the parking lot.

  I should have told her she was wrong. About a lot of things, but mostly, it wasn’t nothing to me. She wasn’t nothing to me, but I didn’t think telling her that now would have made much difference. It was too late and sorry wasn’t enough.

  Now, I had to go back inside. Where Marissa was. I’d have to deal with that kiss eventually, but not here. Not right now.

  She’d caught me off guard outside the bathroom. I probably should have seen it coming, because it wasn’t like I could deny having noticed she’d developed somewhat of a crush. I’d been very careful not to encourage her and she hadn’t crossed any lines. Until today. We both did.

  She kissed me, and I let it happen.

  I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. Seeing Cassie had me all sorts of twisted up. I had been since Marissa told me she’d seen Cassie out with another guy. I’d believed it so easily because I told myself it was Cassie. That’s who she was and what she did, but that was the bitterness speaking. That wasn’t really Cassie, and I should have given her more credit. Marissa on the other hand, had fucking manipulated me. And that pissed me the hell off. Because of it, Cassie had gotten hurt again. I didn’t want to keep hurting her, but I didn’t seem to be able to stop.

  “Dad!”

  I spun around, and Eli was standing just outside the exit. Marissa was with him.

  “Is she still here?”

  I made my way back across the parking lot. “Sorry, bud, she had to go.”

  “But did you tell her you’re sorry?”

  “Wasn’t that simple.” His face fell. I’d thought I couldn’t feel any shittier. I was wrong. I knelt down in front of him. “I’m sorry. Sometimes grown-up things are complicated, and it takes more than an apology to make them better.”

  “But you’re going to make it better, right?”

  “Come on,” Marissa reached for his hand. “Let’s get back inside so we can cut the cake.”

  “Eli!” someone hollered from across the parking lot. All three of our heads turned in that direction.

  “Sonuvabitch,” I cursed under my breath and stood. What the hell was he doing here? Before I could take two steps toward him, Eli had realized who it was and yanked his hand out of Marissa’s. He went tearing across the parking lot.

  “Mike!”

  “Shit,” I cursed again. “Eli, stop!” I yelled but he didn’t listen. I took off after him, but by the time I caught up, Mike had already scooped Eli into his arms.

  “Happy Birthday, Munchkin.” He tickled Eli’s side and Eli squirmed and giggled.

  “I’m not a munchkin anymore. I’m eight.”

  “Is that right?”

  I cleared my throat and Mike finally shifted his attention to me. I did nothing to hide how furious I was. “What are you doing here?”

  He should’ve been in Texas, behind bars. Three weeks he’d been in the wind and we hadn’t been able to find him. Now, I was beginning to doubt he ever left the state at all.

  “We need to talk.” He lowered Eli to the ground, and I grabbed him by the shoulder and tugged him behind me. “Marissa,” I barked without taking my eyes off Mike. She’d stayed back, but I felt her come up beside me. Mike’s eyes fixed on her in a way I didn’t like.

  “Can you take Eli back inside?”

  “Of course. Come on, Eli.”

  He started to protest, but I clipped out, “Eli, go with Marissa right now.”

  He allowed her to drag him off.

  “Who is that?” Mike asked. I followed his gaze. He was still watching her. She glanced back over her shoulder and then hurried Eli inside.

  “The nanny,” I growled. At my disgusted tone, his eyes snapped back to me. “I’ve heard you have a thing for the nannies. That your car?” I jerked my head at the white Camry behind him.

  He frowned. “It’s a rental.”

  Just like the one Cassie saw, and just like the one Marissa said she’d seen sitting outside our house three nights in a row, a couple weeks back. As soon as I asked someone to watch the house, the car didn’t come back. I’d suspected Mike then, and now I was sure of it.

  I stalked toward him. “Where the hell have you been the last three weeks, Mike?”

  “Look, Nikolai,” he held up his hands, “I know what you’re thinking, but you need to hear me out and let me explain everything.”

  I grabbed him by his shirt and dragged him around the side of the building. “All I need to do,” I snarled, “is hold you until the cops can get here.”

  He struggled to free himself from my grasp. I gave him a shove and he hit the dumpster. He straightened and smoothed his shirt. “Just listen to me,” he begged, the desperation in his voice pathetic. “It’s not what yo
u think it is.”

  I pulled out my phone. “You can tell it to the detective once they ship you back to Texas.”

  “You can’t do that! Not yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “I figured out that you were looking into me. I know you found out about the warehouse in Galveston and the money laundering—”

  “And the drugs!” I roared, grabbing him around the throat and slamming him into the dumpster again. “Getting in bed with the cartel got Lisa killed and put my son in danger. I should just kill you right now myself.”

  He sputtered and tried to say something, but my hand around his throat was squeezing too tightly. He clawed at my hands and gasped. “Iss not hhhh,” his choked words died off as I squeezed harder.

  “It’s not what?” I grated, finally letting up with a shove before he passed out or I really did kill him. This wasn’t the place.

  He stumbled backward and doubled over, coughing and sucking in ragged breaths. His hand rubbed at his throat as he straightened up. “It’s not the cartel,” he rasped.

  “What?”

  “I’m not in bed with the cartel. I’m not that stupid.”

  “Could have fooled me,” I spat. “We have proof of multiple visits you made to Mexico, specifically a region known for drug activity, and we have proof of the payments that originated there after your last visit. At least the last visit on the books. We found several trips you made down in secret over the last eighteen months. Not to mention the surveillance videos from the port that show your trucks making regular pick-ups at that warehouse. Now tell me again how you’re not smuggling drugs for the cartel.” I took a threatening step toward him.

  “Wait, wait, wait” he held his hands up again. “It’s not for the cartel. It’s prescriptions.”

  “What?” I stopped.

  “I was smuggling drugs, but only prescriptions, and the cartel had nothing to do with it.”

  “I’m listening.” I folded my arms over my chest.

  Mike breathed out a visible sigh of relief. “I threw my back out a few years ago, and it’s cheaper to get meds on the other side of the border. I knew other people who got their meds that way and I was making several trips a year down there anyway for business. Used to be that a lot of Americans would go down there to get scripts, but with the current climate, less and less feel safe going into Mexico. The guys down there, dealing in the prescription meds, they knew I was a businessman from Texas. On one trip, they approached me, said they just needed somewhere to offload them on the Gulf and that they’d pay me handsomely. The business wasn’t doing good and Lisa was racking up debt faster than I could keep up with it. That’s how it started. They fronted the money for the property and that was as far as my involvement went. Then they said I could make more if I would haul the meds for them. It would look less suspicious if it were my trucks coming and going from the warehouse. But that was it. That’s all I did. Twice a month the drugs would come in, and I’d have a driver pick them up and take them to another location.”

  “What happened with the deal? What went wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Then why did the money stop a few weeks before Lisa got killed?”

  “It didn’t. I just got smarter. I knew Lisa was having an affair. I figured she might be getting ready to leave me. If that was the case, I wanted the money to be a little harder for lawyers or investigators to find, but until she died, the operation was still running. I only put it on hold once I realized the cops were going to be digging into everything until they figured out who caused the accident, but I’m telling you, it wasn’t me and it had nothing to do with the drugs. These guys, they’re not big-time. They’re not violent psychopaths. They’re just trying to make a few bucks to give their families better lives. Everything would have been fine if you hadn’t had your guys digging around.”

  “You expect me to apologize?”

  “No, no. I know I screwed up. I shouldn’t have gotten involved. It just seemed like easy money and the risk was low. I was stupid, I know that, but nobody was getting hurt.”

  “Then explain, Lisa.”

  “I can’t. I only know I had nothing to do with it. I thought maybe it had to do with your work, or whoever she was seeing on the side, but the cops are never going to figure it out if they keep looking for me, which is why I’m turning myself in. I would have from the beginning, but I needed time to dismantle the operation and get rid of any ties or links the police might find. They still might, but at least I gave them a heads-up.”

  “How noble of you to try and protect the drug dealers,” I scoffed.

  “It’s not about the dealers. Some of those meds were being delivered to clinics, here. Maybe the dealers are just looking for a profit, but those clinics, they’re just trying to help people who can’t afford their meds any other way. They needed time to figure something else out and get themselves clear of this mess.”

  “You’re really going to turn yourself in, when you could just leave the country?” I asked doubtfully. He’d already proven he knew how to disappear.

  “If I do that, I’ll look guilty forever. To the cops. To the world. To you. And to Eli. He deserves to know what really happened to his mom and that I would never have hurt her. Our marriage wasn’t perfect, but I loved her, and I love that kid.” Call me an idiot, but I almost believed the guy.

  “Can I just say goodbye to Eli, and then you can put someone on me like you did before. I’ll go back to my hotel and in the morning, I’m on a nonstop flight to Texas.”

  “Why not just turn yourself into the police here? They’ll make sure you make it back.”

  “I know I’m going away for a while. I just want one last night of freedom. I’m going to order up a steak from the hotel and a bottle of single malt. Just give me that. I’ll stay put, and in the morning your guy can make sure I make it to the airport tomorrow. I won’t take off this time. I’ve already called Houston. They know I’m coming to turn myself in. I’ll tell them everything I just told you, except I’ll deny knowing where the meds went after my drivers took them to the drop-off point.”

  I weighed the chances that he was lying, but decided if that was the case, I’d just have the team track his ass down, and I’d kill him then. Didn’t matter how good he thought he was at hiding, with enough time, we could find anyone.

  “You can have five minutes,” I told him. “Eat some cake, tell him you have to go back to Texas, and that’s it. Don’t make me regret this. My guy will drive you to the airport in the morning. Just know, if you’re lying to me, I will hunt your ass down.”

  Inside, I didn’t take my eyes off him for two seconds, but I pulled Spencer and Cam aside and filled them in. Cam volunteered to escort Mike back to his hotel, and Spencer shot off a text to Jones letting him know he was up again and to meet Cam at the hotel.

  Mike spent his limited time letting Eli show him all the presents he’d gotten, but his attention was split. The perverted bastard couldn’t keep his eyes off Marissa. Kept looking over at her every few seconds. It was clear that he was making her uncomfortable. I’d had enough of it.

  “Time’s up,” I came up behind him. He and Eli wore matching looks of disappointment, but I was done being the nice guy. He said goodbye, handing Eli a stack of bills from his wallet, apologizing for not bringing a real gift, and then Cam showed him out.

  After that, we wrapped up the party and got everything loaded into my truck. Eli was quiet in the backseat on the drive home. I knew the day hadn’t gone exactly the way he’d hoped it would.

  “I know you’re a little bit disappointed, bud, but did you at least have fun at your party?” I watched his face in the rearview.

  “Yeah. It was fun, I just wish my friend Brittany could have come, and that Cassie and Mike didn’t have to leave.”

  “So, do you like this Brittany girl?” I’d been hearing her name increasingly ever since the fight at school. I hoped to get him talking about anything other than Cassie and Mike.
<
br />   “She’s just my friend, Dad. My best friend. Like Cassie was until you made her go away.”

  “You really miss her, don’t you?” I sighed.

  “Yeah,” he muttered sadly.

  “I’ll tell you a secret, I miss her too.”

  “What are we going to do about it, Dad?”

  That was a damned good question.

  Eighteen

  Cassie

  “You sure you don’t want to come with me?” Grandmama asked for what must have been the tenth time since I got back from the birthday party.

  I tipped my head back over the arm of the couch and looked up at her from where I was stretched out in front of the TV. “No, Grandmama, that’s alright.” The last thing I felt like doing was going to some dinner and fundraiser auction at the church. “I think I’ll just order a pizza and watch a movie.”

  “Okay, baby. I’ll bring you home some dessert.” She shuffled over and dropped a kiss on top of my head.

  “Thank you.” Dessert would be nice, especially since I didn’t get to have any cake at the party. “Have fun and bid on something cool.”

  “I’m going to bid on a husband for you,” she teased.

  “I don’t think so, Grandmama. But go ahead and get another one for yourself.”

  She laughed. “Oh, goodness, no. One was enough for me. Besides, your grandfather would be too tough of an act to follow.”

  A car horn sounded out front.

  “Mrs. Park is here. Have a good night, baby.” I cringed at that name and was even happier not to be going.

  “You too, Grandmama.” Though, I doubted that would be possible with Mrs. Park.

  I had the pizza place website opened on my phone before she was out the door. I placed my order and then kicked back and settled in with Netflix. All the horror movies were still on there from Halloween, and that was the sort of mood I was in. I started up a classic slasher, and prepared to wait the twenty to thirty minutes for my pizza to arrive. I reached back and flicked off the lamp next to the couch. If I was going to watch scary movies at home alone, I might as well do it in the dark.