by Dawn Edwards
Drew was walking towards his own van. I could tell he was eying us, as he pushed a wheelbarrow full of twigs and garbage.
‘Break a nail?’ Breton asked me too casually, taking a seat in his car, looking out at the men working, and then taking a drink from a bottle of water in his center console.
I gave him a death stare. ‘Break a nail?’ I repeated. ‘I’m about to nail your balls to that seat if you don’t stop mocking me.’
I blushed when I noticed the windows were open and Drew had heard what I just yelled. I saw a smirk on his face. ‘Roll up the windows and turn on the AC.’
‘Ok, what trivial thing do you have me driving all the way out here for?’ he asked me, resting his head back on his seat.
‘When have I flipped over stupid trivial things?’ I shot back, trying to keep my cool.
‘You flip a lot,’ he replied dryly, his eyes closed.
‘Fuck off,’ I yelled, playfully, but when he opened his eyes, I saw the look register in his eyes.
There was a knock on the window that was still ajar, as Breton hadn’t started the car yet. ‘You alright?’ Drew asked, looking at me with concern, his eyes going between me and Breton, trying to survey the situation.
‘Yeah, cousins’ quarrel,’ I lied, smiling up at him, enjoying the eye candy.
Breton rolled down my window farther and extended his hand. ‘Hey man,’ he was being friendly, and I remembered that they had got on well last week at dinner.
Drew looked down at his dirty hands, and Breton laughed. ‘Dude, I don’t mind, I’m not rich like these folks,’ he looked at me, ‘I’m from the poor side of the family.’
Drew shook his head with raised eyebrows and was clearly annoyed. He gave a mocking smile. ‘I hate to break it to you, but poor people don’t drive an Audi, dude.’ He mocked Breton with the Dude, and he was perceptive and personable.
‘Hey, what can I say,’ Breton shrugged. ‘I have a generous family.’
‘I’ll be seeing you around.’ He left us, walking to the far end of the parking lot again with the rest of his crew, leaving Breton and me alone again.
‘Ok, now please tell me what was so important that I left a willing, ready and able sexy thing to have you yell at me.’
I opened my purse, pulling out my laptop and placing it on the dashboard. Then, pulling out the plastic bag, I took out the pile of papers and handed them to him. Breton looked confused as he was going through the copies of passports and other identity documents with my name and pictures on them.
He looked at me sternly, as he rolled up the windows; it was now his turn to yell. ‘What are these, and why do you have them?’
Without saying a word, I then handed him copies of Matt’s documents. As he sifted through them, I pressed the button to turn the car on, turning on the AC, and then turning the music up some. ‘That’s what I need you to find out. And I have a whole bunch of paperwork with bank accounts and other information.’
He looked at the laptop sitting on the dashboard of his car with a horrified expression on his face. ‘Please tell me you didn’t Google these names... did you?’
‘Well, I was…’
‘Oh fuck, Jessa,’ he cut me off yelling.
‘But I didn’t,’ I added quickly shutting him up. ‘I figured someone with this information might be monitoring my searches. So I didn’t.’
‘Oh God, good.’ He sighed in relief, pressing his hands to his forehead, pausing. ‘Did you ask him anything about any of this?’ I shook my head no. ‘So he’s completely in the dark as to you knowing about any of this?’
I nodded, taking a deep breath. ‘Breton, who the fuck am I engaged to?’ I asked, starting to break down and cry. I wasn’t a crier, but I hadn’t been this upset in a long time. He reached over and held me as I cried.
‘I don’t know, but you can be sure I will find out.’ He looked over the documents. ‘Where is he now?’
‘I assume at work, he was still getting ready when I left this morning.’
Breton looked at me wide-eyed. ‘You stayed there last night?’
‘Clearly you didn’t make it home last night.’ I raised an eyebrow.
‘This isn’t about me right now.’ He let out a breath, and I could tell he was thinking.
‘I didn’t want to raise suspicion, I was scared.’
‘Rightly so,’ he said, looking through the papers again.
‘Didn’t you do a search on him?’ I sniffled.
‘Yeah,’ he nodded, hugging me. ‘That's why this doesn't make sense to me.’ He rubbed my back. ‘I obviously missed something. It was early days when I did it, maybe I wasn’t good enough then. Jessa, I’m so sorry, everything checked out at the time.’
I remember Breton telling me he thought the fact he didn't have a family seemed very dodgy. But in the end, his story checked out with what Breton had found; school records, bank records, company searches, even newspaper coverage of the accident; his father's death and obituaries. He was working for a pharmaceutical company, that checked out too.
‘I don’t know what his plans are, but the evidence here suggests they’re not wholesome. I am going to do everything in my power to find out and stop him. No one messes with my family,’ Breton told me, placing a kiss on the top of my head.
I pulled away from his embrace. I saw Drew back working at the edge of the parking lot but noticed he kept looking up at us, concerned, ready to intervene if needed. Did he not trust Breton? Did he think I was in harm's way? I know what it must have looked like, two people yelling. He didn’t know us, how we got on and interacted. Outside the house we were tamed, social. Around each other in the privacy of our own homes, we unleashed our true selves. Breton was loud, sarcastic, and didn’t take shit. While I was pretty docile, I had a temper when I was stressed or wasn’t getting my way—I’d been spoiled all my life, Daddy’s little girl who always got what she wanted.
If Drew was going to be around for the summer, he was going to see a lot. I didn’t like having someone, anyone, especially a stranger watching me. I knew Breton would like it even less, we were all private. What Breton did was private, none of us wanted our secrets known. More than that, I didn't want my secrets known.
I handed all the documents over to him. ‘Please get to the bottom of this.’ I looked out the window at Drew and his crew working as I wiped my eyes.
‘I will, don’t you worry.’
‘Did you do a check on him?’ I looked to where Drew was still watching us.
‘Of course I did,’ Breton said, looking at the documents.
‘And?’ I prompted. I wanted to know everything about the guy.
‘And I hope I did a better job at his search than I did with Matt.’ He sighed.
‘So, tell me, is he an alright guy?’
‘He’s working here and ate dinner with the family inside our house, what do you think?’
‘Obviously he’s not a serial killer, but what did you find out?’
‘He’s British…’
‘Yeah, that’s hard to tell…’ I rolled my eyes,
‘When I plugged his name into Google, I got a few Facebook hits and clicked on his picture. His profile is open, so you can stalk him yourself, but he has over 300 “friends” and by all appearances he looks social, well-liked and missed. It also looks like he goes by the name Drew, and not Andy, as many Andrews go by. His comments and sharing of memes show a good sense of humor and varied interest. You know, I think you can tell a lot by someone's social media feed, they make the background checks more human and transparent. It’s when there are no social media accounts that I see it as a red flag.
‘Obviously, his criminal record check was clear as a whistle, even a good Samaritan mention. His school references check out, but his resume didn’t mention his good grades or the scholarships he received.
‘However, his credit file was a mess. This had me worried, but I dug more, knowing your father would want it. His credit had lots of defaults and fraud actions take
n on many of them. With the corresponding police reports. Seems as if both his mom and brother took loans and credit cards out in his name. Knowing this isn’t the norm, I searched his brother. That guy’s bad news; has a long rap sheet and served time in jail. His mom was only slightly better. Raised on welfare and raised her kids on welfare. 4 kids by 3 men, possession charges, domestic violence victim, and many social services calls.
‘Looks like Andrew, or Drew’s, family are a bit of a nightmare; however, he managed to get out of it, must have taken a lot of willpower. The social services records showed letters and lots of notes of neglect, written by himself, and he was granted emancipation from his mother at 16 and given an allowance to cover expenses so long as he stayed in school.
‘It looked like he lived a pretty hard life but seems to be doing well now. I worried that he might be trying to pull a con, but then your dad found him, and everything checked out. He’s legit a good guy and really hard-working.’ Breton was raised by a single mum, with no father, but at least my aunt loved him and never exploited him. He had a whole family that loved and cared for him.
Breton must have felt something for Drew, and I knew that my father would have respected the fact that he’d overcome adversity and was doing what was right in order to leave his mark on the world.
‘But Jessa,’ Breton’s voice hinted that a warning was coming. ‘If Matt has access to this kind of cash and fake travel documents, who knows what kind of connections he has or what he’s capable of. If you want me to get to the bottom, he can’t catch any wind that I’m snooping around; I’ll be careful, but I need you to make sure he’s not suspicious either.’
I remained silent, processing what Breton had just told me, watching Drew and his crew work a short distance away. Matt really could do a lot more damage than I had initially thought. His blackmail to keep me close was just the tip of the iceberg. He could literally keep me close by making me disappear with him.
‘Don’t poke the bear,’ Breton cautioned, and I knew he meant Matt. ‘Drew’s attractive and he’s going to be around, but Matt’s the jealous type, don’t give him reason to do further damage or use these passports and take you away.’
I nodded.
‘Jessa, promise me.’
‘I promise you.’ And I truly meant it. Even if I wanted to end things with Matt, I couldn’t. If I could, I would have long ago, but it just wasn’t as simple as walking away as everyone thought. My parents had alluded to the fact they didn’t want me to continue my relationship with Matt, but he held too much power to destroy me and hurt my family.
Now with all this information that I had uncovered, I knew his threats weren’t idle. He was preparing for war and was arming himself to the teeth.
Chapter 8
JESSA
MOPING AROUND REALLY WASN’T my style, but it’s what I’d been doing for almost two weeks now. It had been 11 days since I found the documents, 10 days since I’d asked for Breton’s help, and had been waiting—impatiently—for our next move.
I’d tried to avoid Matt as much as possible over the past two weeks, but Breton had advised me better of it, so I’d had to endure two dinners, a movie, and a hockey game—at least Breton was at the hockey game with us. Never was I alone with him, and never had he tried much. It was hard enough to pretend in public, I just knew I wouldn’t be able to handle him privately and would lose my ever-loving shit if the physical contact had been more then hand-holding and a few kisses. Thankfully, he kept our public displays of affection to that of middle-schoolers.
It was the first Thursday of May, and I drove down to the Cape alone that afternoon, as I’d have tomorrow off. Breton was already there at his mother’s place, and if my parents weren’t at the summer house now, they soon would be.
I saw Drew’s van parked off to the side of the garage when I pulled into the driveway, and my heart fluttered. I hadn’t spoken more than a few words to him since he left our Boston house three weeks ago today. But I thought about him all the time.
Like, all the time.
I really shouldn’t, but there was just something about the man. Man, yes, he was all man—or at least in my private thoughts, when I touched myself, he was ALL man.
I was getting tingly just thinking about him.
It wasn’t like I was cheating, I’d leave that to Matt. Well, I didn’t have confirmation, but I was pretty certain of it. It really should have bothered me more, but at this point, he meant no more to me than my classmates or co-workers. Actually no, I was pretty certain most of my co-workers liked me and would show respect and loyalty to me, if not because they cared for me, then at least because of their allegiance to my father.
But still, two wrongs didn’t make a right.
But would it even be cheating at this point? My mind was fully made up, there was no way I’d carry on a relationship with Matt, not if Breton could find out who he really was. Perhaps he’d also help me with the blackmail too. If that were the case, I’d get myself a pair of sneakers and run away as fast as I could.
I got mad every single time I thought of it, and my anger and fear held me back from asking for help.
I wasn’t a cheater; I didn’t think cheating was fair, to me, the other person in the relationship, or to the person I would cheat with, but I also didn’t see myself as in a relationship anymore. I was playing a part at the moment. It wasn’t like what I ever had with Matt was anything like what my parents had.
My Audi SUV was full with my suitcases of clothes I would use over the summer. I took one bag out of the back and rolled it to the front door, using my key to unlock it, and went to turn off the security system, but it was already disarmed. I went back to my car to find Drew, already carrying two bags for me.
‘That’s ok,’ I told him.
‘I know. Where do you want them, cupcake?’ he asked. I noticed that wasn’t the first time he used that name for me.
‘Um...you can just leave them at the door,’ I replied, walking to get my purse and the remaining carry-on suitcase with my toiletries.
‘And you’re going to carry them upstairs?’ he asked over his shoulder, walking into the house.
He was standing at the bottom of the stairs when I closed the front door behind me. ‘Leave the big one, I’ll come back for it,’ he told me, and I just didn’t have it in me to argue with him. Besides, I’d seen him in a t-shirt, I knew he was packing guns under there and my overweight suitcases were nothing for him.
I followed him up the stairs and down the hallway to my bedroom. Clearly, he’d already been in the house before and knew where my room was. It was kind of creepy, but also made me smile as he’d made a point to find it.
There was a small section of the second floor that had always been reserved for Josh, Breton, and I. It was self-contained and accessible to the kitchen through steep narrow services stairs and was also connected to the main upstairs hallway by a door.
When the house had originally been built nearly a century ago, our rooms would have been the servants’ quarters. Now there were three medium-sized rooms. Josh and Breton had always shared the largest room, with a connecting bathroom to my room. We had a cozy TV room, that had served us well over the years on rainy days.
As a family, we didn’t spend any time out here last summer, we were all in the depths of our grief and mourning over the loss of Josh. Aside from a few weeks ago when gifted the house next door, this was the first time I’d been at the house since Josh’s death. At the time, I didn't have it in me to walk upstairs. This was the first time I was walking into our space. I took in a deep breath as I walked into the hallway, swallowing the large lump forming in my throat.
We all had decided as a family that the mourning period had gone on long enough, probably too long, and that we’d resume living our normal lives. Our new normal. Josh lived life to the fullest, he would have hated to see us only existing.
I stopped at his door, on the verge of tears. I couldn’t let Drew see me cry again, he was going
to think I was a blubbering mess. ‘This one?’ he asked, turning to face me. He took me in, just staring at the door. ‘You ok?’ he asked.
‘I almost want to close the door but can’t bring myself to do it. He’s everywhere. Almost more so here than in the townhouse,’ I said aloud, but I wasn’t sure if Drew was aware of what had happened to my brother or not. If he was, he didn’t make any comment.
Josh had loved the Cape, he preferred it here to the city. Something about the sea, the serenity and the closeness the family had during the summers.
‘No, it’s the next door, right there,’ I told him, forcing myself to walk past the boys’ room and into my own to unpack the suitcases I had brought with me.
‘Thanks,’ I said to Drew, and he nodded, walking past me. I was grateful that he wasn’t trying to make conversation with me. I thought I was prepared emotionally, but seeing his room brought back memories and the loss.
I didn’t even think of having Drew in my room, until he walked back into my bedroom a minute later, carrying the last of my suitcases.
‘Where do you want them?’ he asked me, looking around the room, his eyes falling on me.
‘Can you put the two big ones on the bed, and the medium one in the closet, please?’ I instructed, rolling the carry-on into the bathroom.
When I exited the bathroom, he was standing in my door to the hallway. ‘I’m just outside if you need me...or a call or text away, I’m always here.’
It was all he said before he walked away, and I knew he meant it.
Breton arrived just before dinner with his mother, my aunt Deb. She was one of my favorite people in the entire world. She and my father were close, even though she was much younger than him.
I had been sitting at the kitchen table, reading my textbook, while Mom was busy in the kitchen with Kathy, our summer cook and housekeeper. She also took care of the place during the winter months when we were in Boston.
Breton picked up the book, reading the title, ‘Business Ethics?’
‘Yeah, it’s one of my required classes, and it’s offered this summer. It’s three hours every Wednesday morning for May and June.’ Yeah, so what if I was a bit of an overachiever.
