Troubled Waters (The Lake Trilogy, Book 2)

by Grant, AnnaLisa

  “I mean, he’s…he’s the stalking type. If it didn’t work out with you two, you’d never be rid of him. Trust me.” Dana gives me a sideways look, but then seems to decide to take my word for it and drops the subject.

  We haven’t been studying for long when I get a text from Furtick letting me know that we have to leave campus immediately, and that he’s on his way into the coffee shop to get me. I gather my books and apologize to Dana for the short study period. I tell her a quasi-lie that I got a text from my uncle and there’s a family emergency. I’m standing just as Furtick enters. He gives a nod of acknowledgement to Dana and I promise to connect with her before our final next week.

  “What’s going on?” I ask as Furtick ushers me by the elbow to the car. He’s looking around feverishly for something, or someone. He opens the back door and practically shoves me in. We’re driving down the road before he answers me.

  “Marcus’ father, uh, stepfather, reported a break-in last week. The only items missing from the home were his two .38 Specials.” Furtick finally says.

  “Those are guns, right? Big ones?” I ask nervously.

  “Not big, but powerful enough. Most people prefer the .38 Special due to its superior stopping power.”

  “And you think Marcus has them?”

  “I don’t know yet, but I’m not taking any chances. The timing is too coincidental.” We pull up to the house and it looks like a used car lot. Everyone is here – Luke and Claire, Will and his mother, Taylor, and now Furtick and me. I can only assume Cline is manning his post watching Marcus.

  I’m so happy to see Will when we enter the house, but am shocked since he was told in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t to come to the house until we knew what we were going to do. “What’s the word?” Furtick asks Taylor as we enter the Great Room.

  “We have every reason to believe he’s got the guns, but haven’t confirmed. At this point in time, we’re assuming he has them. We followed him to a different apartment about fifteen minutes from here. It’s gated, a nice place, and no roommates, but there’s more,” Taylor reports, handing Furtick a file. He reviews it and hands it to Luke who does the same.

  “It looks like Greg supported Marcus’ family until he turned eighteen…an unofficial child support payment of sorts in the amount of $25,000 a month. He even paid for Marcus’ college tuition and books in full. When Marcus turned eighteen the payments to his mother stopped and he began receiving a single $10,000 deposit every month until he turned twenty-one, which was in May. But…huh! He didn’t spend a dime of it. He’s got almost $400,000 in his bank account.” Luke shakes his head. “It’s not Meyer wealth, but he’s got more money than he could ever need right now. He could go anywhere…do anything. What sent him over the edge? It couldn’t be as simple as Gregory’s refusal to take him in.”

  We all stand there for what seems like forever. This doesn’t make sense. I’m still having a really hard time wrapping my head around Marcus’ mental break. Part of me wants to reach out to him – to the Marcus who was my friend and not my stalker. I have fond memories of my time with him and had truly hoped that we could be friends again one day. I remember how my heart leaped at the site of him when he came to say goodbye. It meant so much to me, but now I have to wonder about his motives. Was he there to see just how distraught I was and how long he might have to wait before he pounced on my heart? If only we could know what happened after we left.

  “Wait…” I begin. I’m nervous to make this suggestion but it may be our only hope. “Holly. We should ask Holly what happened.”

  “Layla, I don’t know…” Will says. “She may not know about any of this with my father. I don’t want to open anything there. I…I don’t want her to get hurt by my family, again.”

  “That’s very noble of you, Will, but she’s the only one who’s going to have a clue. He stayed with her when he went back to North Carolina. She’s not stupid – she’s got to know something is wrong. We have to at least try. Maybe she would even be willing to come here, to come get him and take him home. He would listen to her.” I try my best to be as convincing as possible, although I think it’s me I’m trying to convince the most. I don’t want to see Holly. Did Marcus tell her about the lengths Will and I went to so we could be together? Am I on her black list because Will did that for me and not her? I have no idea how this will go. All I know is that she is our lifeline to Marcus. If we don’t at least try we’ll continue to walk blindly.

  “I’ll call her, Will,” Claire says. “I’ll be gentle. I won’t tell her anything unless I absolutely have to. We don’t want to hurt her any more than you do.” This puts me at ease. Claire is marvelous with words and delivery. If any of us can get information from Holly, it’s going to be her.

  Will takes a deep breath before he agrees. “Ok. Just be careful with her.” This is how I know Will is nothing like his father: he cares about Holly’s wellbeing. Claire wastes no time and goes to the office to call Holly, her phone number, I’m sure, filed away in the myriad of intel Furtick has gathered.

  “Finn misses seeing you,” I tell Will, making light conversation in the interim.

  “Does he?” Will raises an eyebrow.

  “Yeah. I told him we were on a break. He didn’t seem to like that. He likes us together.” I wrap my arms around Will’s waist and feel the embrace of his around me.

  “I like us together, too,” Will says giving me a sweet squeeze.

  Claire is back in the Great Room faster than I expected. “Was she there? Did you talk to her?” I ask not seeing how that’s even possible.

  “She wasn’t there, but I spoke to her roommate,” Claire says. “Holly’s on a plane to Tallahassee right now.”

  I haven’t had time to even begin processing this before Furtick has left the room. Knowing him, he’s finding out which flight Holly is on and what time she lands. But if she’s coming here to see Marcus, how do we intercept that? Marcus will either be at the airport or expecting her to arrive at his place not long after he knows she’s landed…unless he doesn’t know she’s coming.

  “She was originally on the 12:55 flight, but it looks like she got bumped to the 3:55,” Furtick reports the moment his foot approaches the threshold of the room. “I checked his email and phone log. There’s been no communication between Mr. Reynolds and Holly, and since she got moved to the later flight and hasn’t contacted him, her trip most likely wasn’t prearranged.” It’s amazing how he can track Marcus’ phone and activity like that.

  “That’s good. That means we should be able to catch her at the airport and bring her here,” Luke says. This news has filled him with confidence that he can do something. I’ve discovered that a Luke who feels helpless is a very sad thing.

  “I’ll get Cline on it. Taylor can keep eyes on Mr. Reynolds,” Furtick says.

  “You can’t just have Cline show up at the airport with her name on a sign and a chauffer’s hat on his head!” I protest. “If no one knows she coming, how are you going to explain that?” I swear, sometimes these men are too single minded. She’s going to think she’s being kidnapped!

  “She’s right, Luke. I’ll go with Cline to get her,” Claire adds giving me a knowing look. She hears how crazy their thinking is, too. “I can debrief her on the way here.”

  “Ok, but only if Taylor can confirm that Marcus is nowhere near the airport.” Luke puts his arm around Claire and gives her a look. That look. It’s the kind of look you give someone that tells exactly what you’re thinking. It tells them everything is going to be ok, that you appreciate them, are proud of them, that you love them, and that you would be lost without them. I see Luke and Claire give each other this look a lot.

  “It’s almost five now. She’ll be landing in about an hour. Get with Taylor and have Cline pick Claire up and confirm that they still have eyes on Marcus. If this is going to work, we’ve got to get to her fast.” Luke says to Furtick. In less than a minute Taylor is gone and Furtick is back with confirmation that Mar
cus is still at his apartment. Less than fifteen minutes later, Cline is at our door.

  “Make sure Will is gone before we’re back.” Claire kisses Luke goodbye and is gone within moments of Cline’s arrival. Luke and Furtick disappear to the office leaving Will and me alone in the Great Room. We stand there together in the calm after the storm of whirlwind activity.

  “Are you ok?” Will asks.

  “Am I ok? I was just going to ask you the same thing?” I reply. I’m shocked. Holly is going to be here in a matter of a few hours and he’s not fazed a bit?

  “Besides the obvious in that you have a psycho stalker…why wouldn’t I be ok?” He furrows his brow making that little V above his nose.

  “Well, Holly is going to be here. I wasn’t sure how you felt about that. I mean, I know how you feel about that, but…” I say, flustered.

  “Hey, hey, hey…I’m ok, but it’s clear you’re not.” Will pulls me into his arms and holds me. “It’s going to be ok, Layla. You know, you could just let Claire talk to her. You don’t have to even meet Holly if you don’t want to.”

  “I want to. Well, I do and I don’t. What if she hates me? What if she thinks you didn’t try hard enough to make things work with her like you did with me? She could be coming here as an ally to Marcus and then all of this…this intercepting her…could backfire.” I can feel my heart begin to race with nervousness of the impending unknown.

  “Just wait for Claire to get back. She’ll tell you where Holly stands with Marcus, and then you can decide from there. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.” Will holds me tighter and I feel so safe, like nothing can hurt me. This is where I want to be forever and always. “And it doesn’t matter how she may or may not feel about you. You had nothing to do with how things played out between Holly and me. If she’s going to hate anyone, it should be me. Besides, that’s in the past. You are my future.”

  Will leaves and I spend the next hour pacing my room thinking of what to say to Holly. I wonder if I should apologize, but then wonder what I’m apologizing for. It was Will’s choice to pursue our relationship the way he did. And if I remember both Will and Marcus’ recounting correctly, Will tried to get in touch with her but Marcus wouldn’t give him Holly’s number. If she’s going to be upset with anyone it should be her brother, not me or Will.

  If I tell her that I’m not interested in Marcus romantically, will she think it’s because of anything other than still being in love with Will? Will she believe that I’m just like all the other Heyward Prep socialites? I remember how Marcus expressed his disdain for them. That’s the farthest thing from who I am. The fact that Will wanted both of us should be evidence of that. He once told me that Holly and I were a lot alike.

  My hope is that she’s knows Marcus has gone over the edge and she’s come to take him home. If she knows he’s had a mental break, surely she knows that Gregory Meyer is his father and I can only further my hope to her being willing to help us.

  I hear the front door close and muffled voices. After a minute Claire calls to me. “Layla, can you come down please?”

  She’s here.

  Chapter 17

  I walk slowly down the stairs and take in Holly as she is revealed inch by inch, from feet to head. She is beautiful. She’s got shoulder length dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. Her height falls somewhere between me and Claire, and her face is soft, warm and inviting. When she smiles at me, I see the light that drew Will to her.

  “Hello, Layla. It’s very nice to finally meet you,” she says. She speaks first, which puts me at ease. She stretches out her hand and I hesitate for only a minute before I reciprocate.

  “Hello, Holly. It’s nice to meet you, too.” Whether this is really true or not remains to be seen, but I’m going to play nice.

  “Why don’t we sit?” Claire suggests, opening her arm to direct us to the Great Room. Luke leads the way and the rest of us follow. I’m cautiously optimistic about how this is going to go. Surely Claire would not have brought me down so quickly were she not confident in Holly’s ability to help rather than sabotage the situation. “Thank you for coming, Holly,” Claire says as we all get situated.

  “Layla…I’m not sure where to begin. But I just want to tell you how sorry I am. Will’s death was a terrible tragedy.” She stares at me with eyes that continue her sympathy. “And I’m so sorry about what’s happening with Marcus. He…he’s not well,” she continues, head hanging in slight shame by association.

  “Thank you, Holly. I appreciate the sentiment.” I don’t mean to sound cold, but I’d like to hear how she’s going to be of help to us.

  “Holly, would you mind telling Layla what you told me in the car?” Claire asks.

  “Of course. It’s, well, it’s hard to explain…please just stick with me as I try to convey everything.” Holly pauses and collects her thoughts, finding the best starting point after having relayed the whole story to Claire already. “Marcus has been through a lot in his life. My mom…she’s not the best person. My dad knew her before she was married to Gregory Meyer and he says that what Mr. Meyer did to her put her in a pretty dark place. That place got darker and darker as the years went by. I grew up hearing about what an evil man Gregory Meyer is, and that one day he’d pay for what he did to her.

  “Marcus was twelve the first time she sent him to Mr. Meyer’s office to ask him to take him in. He dismissed him and Marcus came home with nothing but tears. And my father…he wasn’t very accepting of Marcus either. I guess he had a hard time since Marcus wasn’t biologically his. They just never really bonded. My mother didn’t help the situation.” Holly’s tone is a mixture of sadness and anger, but I can’t tell who she’s angrier with, Mr. Meyer or her mother.

  “Why didn’t she just expose Meyer as Marcus’ father?” I ask the elephant in the room question. I know everyone else has given me an answer to this, but I have to hear it from someone who was enmeshed in the insanity.

  “When Marcus was born Mr. Meyer agreed to take financial responsibility for him and Mom until he graduated from college. When my mom married my dad shortly before Marcus turned one, Mr. Meyer changed the terms to support them until Marcus turned eighteen, then just Marcus until he turned twenty-one. The terms and conditions of the contract included a non-disclosure agreement that both she and my dad had to sign. They were legally bound to keep the truth to themselves or they’d be in breach of their contract and lose all the money,” she answers.

  “So what’s going on with Marcus now?” I ask.

  “My mom never hid the fact that Gregory Meyer was his biological father. She never sugar coated her feelings about him either. So, Marcus spent his whole life wanting to be everything Gregory Meyer isn’t. He didn’t want to go to some Ivy League school, even though between his grades and Mr. Meyer paying, he could have gotten into any school he wanted. He tried so hard, but when your whole life is spent being a pawn in your mother’s game to destroy your father, well, you crack a little bit with every move until you eventually break.”

  “You said he was twelve the first time she sent him. How often did she make him do this?” I’m horrified at the idea of sending a child to face Gregory Meyer alone.

  “I’m not sure exactly, but the way Marcus described it, it sounded like it was about every six months.” Oh, my gosh! I can’t imagine the fear and anxiety he must have felt. After the first few times he had to know that Mr. Meyer was going to reject him each and every time, and then he watched Will live the life he would have had if his parents hadn’t divorced.

  “Marcus hadn’t been to see him since he turned eighteen,” she continues. “But when Will died he gave it another shot, on his own. My mom didn’t have anything to do with it. Only this time, somehow it was worse for Marcus. I guess he reasoned that Mr. Meyer had been denying him all those years because of Will. So after Will was gone and he was still rejected…it was the final crack. He just broke.” Holly’s eyes well up with tears. She tries to hold them back but one esca
pes and makes its trail down her cheek and rolls under her chin.

  “When Marcus told me about you and Will, he was angry but still had nice things to say about Will. But when Will wanted to come after you, Marcus wouldn’t tell him anything,” I say trying to fit some of the pieces of the puzzle together, also trying to let her know that Will didn’t abandon her.

  “Marcus never held anything against Will. He knew it wasn’t his fault. Will was just as innocent in the whole thing as Marcus was. But, well…” Holly catches her breath, her face creasing together in concern. “I’m not proud of this, but…my relationship with Will was based on another one of my mother’s plans to get back at the Meyers.”

  “What?” My brows furrow together as I question her statement. A soft look from Claire lets me know that I should prepare myself for what Holly’s about to tell me.

  “After a while Marcus refused to play my mother’s games, so she enlisted me. Layla, I was sixteen and didn’t know how to refuse my mother,” she begins. “I spent that summer at the Green, every Saturday night, working to get Will’s attention. Eventually I did. At first it was just part of the plan. We hung out, I flirted, Will responded. But…we started dating and I started to really like him. He wasn’t anything like his father. He was kind and genuine.”

  “What was the plan exactly?” I’m doing everything I can right now not to leap across the coffee table and have an all-out catfight with this girl. She toyed with Will’s feelings and for that I want to slap her right across the face.

  “I was supposed to get Will to fall for me while my dad found a way into the law firm. It was all about inserting ourselves into the Meyer’s lives so that Mr. Meyer would have to be reminded of what he did every day.”

  “How did your dad get hired into the firm? Gregory Meyer is obsessive about an in depth background check on anyone he shares more than two words with.” I say condescendingly. It seems obvious to me that no one works for that man without a thorough background check, so how could her father even get past the application process? Mr. Meyer would know who he was and there’s no way he would bring him on.