I wipe the tear from my eye and try my best to appear strong. I don’t want Kyle to know I was crying. “I’ll always love you too Kyle,” I say.
“The last time we were together,” he begins and then stops for a few seconds. “It was wrong Hope. I was stupid. I’m not like that guy anymore.”
“Kyle, you're a good man. I know that.”
“Can I please see you?” Kyle pleads.
I don’t have the heart to tell him that I’m with someone else. “Kyle, I wish you the best. I really do. You’ve been through a lot, and I hope you get the help you need, but I’ve moved on. I can’t see you again.”
“Please Hope,” Kyle begs one last time.
“Take care of yourself Kyle. I’ve got to go,” I say and hang up the phone. I walk back into the kitchen, but now everyone’s in the den.
When I walk into the room, my eyes still show my hurt. Both Mom and Dad look at me to make sure everything is okay. I walk over to Blake, and take him in my arms. “I love you, baby,” I say with a smile and give him a kiss.
“Love you too,” Blake says looking at my face like he knows what just happened.
– CHAPTER 25 –
B ack in California, I get serious about school. I have all A’s, and I’m getting ready for finals. I’ve spent three days in a row at the school library, and I often return to my dorm past one in the morning. Before I head back for another night of studying, I open my bottom desk drawer for a notebook and find the same blue folder waiting for me. It’s like some force keeps drawing me here.
I open the folder, get back on the Internet and search for everyone named “Bell” in Austin, Texas. There’s only one person with that name who has a first name that begins with a Z. There’s a Zachary Bell who works at an Austin engineering firm.
I call the engineering firm and ask for Zachary Bell. A cheerful receptionist transfers the call to someone who picks up the phone and says, “This is Zachary Bell, how can I help you?”
“Mr. Bell, my name is Hope. You don’t know me, but I think you knew my mother.”
“Oh really,” he says like he’s very happy to hear from me. “Who is your mother, Hope?”
“Faith….Faith Brunick,” I answer.
This guy doesn’t say anything in response so I say, “Hello? Are you still there, Mr. Bell?”
It’s almost like I’m reliving my conversation with the investigator. His tone changes and he says, “I’m not sure how I can help you, Hope.”
“My mother, Faith Brunick, did you date her?”
“Hope, I wish I could help you but––”
“Mr. Bell, I’m not trying to cause you any trouble. I only want to know about my––”
“I’m sorry Ms. Brunick,” he interrupts. “I can’t help you.”
“Can you at least tell me, did you know my mother, Faith Brunick?”
“Faith, I can’t help you.”
“I’m not Faith,” I say. “My name is Hope. Faith is my mom.”
By his tone, and then the silence, I wonder if he just hung up on me. “Mr. Bell please,” I beg.
“I’m sorry. I have nothing to say,” he continues.
“Nothing to say about what?” I ask.
When he doesn’t answer I shout, “Mr. Bell I know what you did. You used my mom to smuggle drugs, and now she died in Thailand. You killed my mom.”
Click.
“Hello?….Hello?”
At some point, he hung up on me.
Now I’m completely shocked, and there’s no way I can back off. I return to the Internet and look up everything I can find on this Zachary Bell. His LinkedIn page shows he graduated from The University of Texas and now works as an engineer at a firm in Austin.
His Facebook page shows he’s married with two children. He currently lives just north of Austin in Round Rock. When I look up his marriage and divorce records, it shows he was married to Lois Bell. There is no records of any divorce.
Then, six pages into my search, I find a mug shot from the Travis County Sherriff’s Office. Zachary Bell was arrested thirteen years ago for the manufacture and distribution of a controlled substance. I can’t believe my eyes. BINGO! This Zach Bell was once a drug trafficker. He was the one who set up my mom!
As hard as I try, as much as I search, I can’t find anything more about his drug charges. Not a word! I know about the house he owns, the names of his children and wife, his education, and all his degrees and certifications, but as for his history as a drug smuggler or what happened to these charges thirteen years ago….everything goes blank.
I’m so excited I immediately call my sister. “Grace, I found it….I found him!” I declare as soon as she answers the phone.
“Found who?”
“Zachary….Zachary Bell.”
“Who’s Zachary Bell?” she asks.
“The man whose name was in the file at the investigator’s office that I told you about. Remember….Z Bell? Well, his name is Zachary – Zachary Bell.”
“How do you know?” she asks sounding exhausted with the whole thing.
“I called him.”
“You what! Hope, what the hell are you doing?”
“I don’t know. I told you that investigator was hiding something.”
“Hope, I’m sure it’s private or confidential or something. He’s probably protecting his client.”
“Oh, he was protecting someone – that’s for sure. When I gave that stupid Flint guy the picture and told him my mom died so I’m trying to find her old boyfriend, he didn’t care a bit about privacy. He was happy to help. He told his secretary to get the file and said he’d give me whatever he had. Then everything changed once he saw the file. As soon as he opened it up, he gave me this look –– it’s hard to explain, but something wasn’t right. Then after he saw me looking at the file sitting right in front of me, and he slammed it shut and practically threw me out his office.”
“I don’t know, Hope,” she says.
“You should’ve seen the stack of photos he had – all with the same stamp on the back. Grace, this was a big investigation. Someone took a lot more than just the four photos that I have.”
“So, tell me what happened when you called this Zachary guy?”
“Again, he was so nice when he first got on the phone. The second I said “Faith Brunick” everything changed. He kept saying he can’t help me and hung up the phone.”
“Maybe he had nothing to do with this,” Grace says.
“No way! You want to hear something weird? He called me Faith. He said, ‘I can’t help you, Faith.’”
“That proves nothing,” Grace says.
“If he didn't know what I was talking about then why didn’t he just say so? Why didn’t he say he didn’t know her? No, he said he can’t talk to me. Why can’t he talk to me?”
“Hope, I don't like this. You’re in way over your head.”
“He set up our mom,” I say with anger in my voice.
“You don’t know that, Hope. Maybe he is a drug dealer. For all you know Mom knew exactly what she was doing.”
“Maybe so,” I concede. “Maybe she was just trying to make some easy money, but our mom died in a Thai prison and this guy’s out there living his life like nothing ever happened. It’s just not right.”
“If this guy’s a drug dealer–” Grace tries to get out.
“He is a drug dealer. He was arrested for drug trafficking around the time Mom left with him.”
“Okay,” Grace continues. “If this guy’s a drug dealer he could hurt you.”
“I don't care,” I practically shout. “People need to know that he killed our Mom.”
“Hope, do you not see? Your life is in danger. Whoever did this to Mom will hurt you….or kill you.”
“I’m not afraid of these guys,” I make clear.
“Stop Hope…just stop.”
“Grace, you might not care but I do. If I don’t do something, no one will.”
“What are you talking about?
What are you going to do?” she asks.
“I’m going to expose him, and if he’s a drug trafficker I’m going to expose them all. Otherwise, he’s going to keep doing this to other women.”
“Hope, you’re in way over your head,” Grace says.
“I don’t care,” I say. “Maybe I wouldn’t care if I never went to Bangkok, but I did. I saw the prison. I can no longer sit back and keep quiet.”
“Oh my God, you’re hard-headed,” she says.
“Well, maybe I am,” I agree. Suddenly I look at my watch and see how much studying time I’ve lost. “I’ve got to let you go, Grace. I’ve got to go study.”
“Bye Hope,” she says.
“Bye.”
Ryan Brunick
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!"
Sir Walter Scott
“In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. If they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.”
–– Warren Buffet
– CHAPTER 26 –
A fter she hangs up the phone, Grace calls her father. “Hey Daddy,” she starts after he picks up.
“Hey sweetie, how you doing?”
“I’m doing good.”
“And my little grandbaby?”
“Doing good,” she says. “Starting to kick.”
“What’s up baby?” Ryan asks.
“Dad, I don’t think Hope wants me to tell you, but I’m worried about her.”
“About Hope? What’s wrong with Hope?”
“You can’t tell Hope I told you this,” Grace says.
“Of course.”
“It’s about Mom, our real mom.”
This conversation just took a terrible turn. “What about her?” Ryan asks.
“Well, you already know she looked Mom up. She told me that she asked you about it, and you told her that she went to prison for drugs, right?”
“Right,” he admits cautiously.
“Well….,” Grace continues and then stops.
“Well what?” Ryan asks.
“Daddy…I wasn’t supposed to tell you, but she wanted to meet with Mom. She wanted to talk to her.”
“Right,” Ryan says afraid where this is going.
“She went to Thailand,” Grace gets out.
Ryan can’t hide his shock. “How? When?”
“I gave her some money to go.”
NO! Ryan’s first line of defense has been breached. As long as Hope had no money, she couldn’t go to Thailand. This whole mess would simply fade away. Now, thanks to Grace, Hope actually flew there. God only knows what this means.
“What!” Ryan shouts. Grace how could you do this without telling me? She’s eighteen years old. She––“
“She’s nineteen,” Grace interrupts.
“Eighteen..nineteen..it doesn’t matter. She had no business going to Thailand. It’s dangerous. Do you know what could have happened to her?”
“I’m sorry, Dad. I tried to talk her out of it. She told me was going one way or another. I made her promise to call me every day. At least that way I could keep an eye on her.”
“Shit Grace,” Ryan says.
“Dad….Mom died. She died a long time ago.”
Ryan’s tone changes. Truly sorry for his daughter’s loss, in a much softer tone he says, “I’m sorry to hear that sweetie.”
“Hope talked to someone there – some guy at the embassy. He gave her the name of Mom’s friend from the prison.”
Ryan’s stomach turns. The guy at the embassy? A friend? Surely it’s that Madi woman who stabbed her husband. Who else could it be? Faith and Madi were best friends. Faith probably told Madi everything.
“Don’t tell me she met with this girl?” Ryan asks.
Grace pauses and then says, “Well, she did. This girl gave Hope some photos of Mom – old photos. They were all stamped on the back – some professional investigation company took them. Someone was investigating Mom.”
This is much worse than anything Ryan could imagine. Ryan made sure the only photos he took to Thailand were the photos that didn’t implicate himself – except for one and he took that back. Over the years, he’s thought about those photos and knows he made a mistake. He should have taken them all back before he left. He never even realized until the investigator told him that they were all stamped on the back.
“Photos? How many photos?”
“Four,” Grace says.
“Did you see them?” he asks.
“I saw them when I visited her. There’s two photos of Mom with that sleazy guy she was dating after you divorced.”
The “after you divorced” part strikes a chord with Ryan. He wants to correct her, but he stays quiet.
“––and one with her painting somewhere. The last photo was her walking on the beach with some guy – he’s torn out of the picture.”
Ryan knows each of these photos very well – he knows all of the photos very well. He breathes a slight sigh of relief. He feared she had a photo of Zachary, but she doesn’t. Without Zachary, it’s just about impossible to trace anything back to him.
“Grace, they were probably investigating this guy she was with. I’ve seen this so many times. The police, the FBI, the DEA, will investigate people for years before they make a move. I’m sure your mom got caught up in it all.”
“I tried to tell her that, but you know her––she can be hard-headed. I think the whole trip – talking to that friend - really affected her. She wants answers.”
“What guy!” Ryan snaps. “This guy’s a drug dealer. He could be anywhere. He probably doesn’t even live in the United States.”
“That’s why I’m calling you. He does live in the United States. He lives right here in Austin.”
“What?” Ryan shouts.
“She called him. She talked to him.”
“Oh…my…God!” runs through Ryan’s head. “How? How did she find him?”
“I don't know. Why are you yelling at me?”
“I’m sorry sweetie. I’m not yelling at you. I’m just concerned.”
“She got his name somehow and looked him up. She called his work and talked to him.”
Ryan sits up in his chair holding the phone to his ear and rocking back and forth again and again. I can’t believe this. I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS! Ryan stops to let everything sink in and collect his thoughts. “What did he say?” he asks.
“He didn’t deny it. He just acted like he didn’t know what she was talking about. He hung up the phone on her. Dad, I’m concerned. I’m afraid for Hope. I’m afraid she’s getting herself into something very bad.”
“This isn’t good, Grace. Drug smugglers – people who do this kind of thing are dangerous.”
“He’s an engineer or something,” Grace says.
“No, if he put your mother in prison he’s dangerous.”
“Hope’s not afraid. She says she’s going to expose him or something.”
Ryan has to think fast. “I’m afraid for Hope too. You’re right; this guy is probably a small fish in a big pond. If she starts stirring the waters after all these years you don’t know what they’ll do.”
“I know,” Grace says.
“You did good baby. Hope will be home from school next Friday. I’ll talk to her – we’ll talk to her.”
“That’s why I called you. I knew you’d know what to do.”
CHAPTER 27
R yan calls his investigator and says, “Mr. Flint, I think we have a problem.”
“What kind of problem?” Flint asks.
“It seems my daughter talked to Zachary Bell.”
“Dammit Ryan, I told you!” Flint barks.
“I know….I know.”
“How did she find out?”
“I have no idea,” Ryan says exhausted.
Flint knows exactly how she found his name. Mr. Bell’s information was right on top of the file. She was reading it like she was getting ready
for a final exam.
“What did he say to her?” Flint asks.
“I don’t know. From what I can tell…nothing.”
“Damn, damn, damn….I hated this from the start. I told you Ryan - I won’t go down for this. I won’t lose everything for some bimbo who’s locked up in Thailand! How long has it been? Isn’t there some Statute of Limitations on something like this?”
“She’s not in Thailand anymore,” Ryan says. “She died.”
“Holy Shit! That’s murder, Ryan. You're the lawyer – you know that. There’s no limitations on murder.” Flint starts talking faster and faster –rambling on and on about murder, prison, and the rest of his life.
“This ain’t coming back on you, Ryan….it’s coming back on me. I gave Zachary the credit card. It paid for his fancy clothes, the meals, the hotels, the plane tickets, the resort - everything. I covered for you so you stayed clean – remember? If I go down then you go down with me, goddammit!”
Ryan doesn’t dare tell him that Hope went to Thailand and spoke to Mali’s friend or about the other photos. “Calm down Flint. No one’s going to jail. Go talk to Zach. Do you know where he lives?”
“I’ll find the son of a bitch,” Flint yells. “He wants to run his mouth? I’ll pay him a visit he won’t forget.”
“Make sure he keeps quiet. Tell him anything. You're the ex-cop. Tell him those old charges are still out there waiting to be filed. Tell him he’ll be in as much trouble as anyone. Tell him he’s facing a murder conviction.”
“He ain’t the problem Ryan. It’s your little girl who’s the problem,” Flint says.
“Don’t worry about her. I’ll take care of her,” Ryan says.
“You better,” Flint demands. “If you don’t, I’ll take”
Ryan cuts him off. With a calm and cool determination, he says, “Don’t you ever threaten my daughter again. Do you understand me? If anything happens to her I’ll”
“Nothing’s going to happen to her,” Flint says. “I just want this all to go away. Make it go away, Ryan.”
Ryan hangs up the phone, looks up, and says “Dear God…why me?”
The Beginning of Hope: The Highly Anticipated, Mind-Blowing Sequel to the Killing of Faith (The Killing of Faith Series Book 2) Page 15
