Oh my God. I抦 about to find a way to break the laws of physics so I can reach through the screen and smack him.
Do you check up on all of your employees on Saturday nights to verify their Monday plans? I send back bitterly.
Ha. It takes him a solid minute to respond to that one.
Cole: Only the ones I love.
Oof.
Mammoth freaking oof.
He loves me? After all of this? And he has to say it now after slamming the door in my face?
I hate how I get all squishy inside. I guess the joke is on me after all and I抦 the one who抯 playing myself with these men.
Eliza: How do they usually answer?
Cole: So far, they抮e not very forthcoming.
Eliza: I might need a wellness day. Mostly so I can get an appointment with my employment lawyer to file a harassment suit.
Cole: You抮e not serious?
I抦 not, but the joke抯 on him.
Eliza: We抣l see. Depends on if I survive the many horrors waiting outside my front door. Do I need a bodyguard for that?
Cole: Eliza, if you were a parent, you抎 understand.
Eliza: LOL. Right. Because it抯 not like I care about her or anything.
Cole: I抦 out. I tried to be reasonable.
Eliza: Only because your head is that far up your ass.
At least he抯 a man of his word.
Because he doesn抰 respond to that last hit.
He just leaves me alone in this chasm of silence where I wonder how much of that was hot air梐nd how much he ever loved me, after all.
20
Bad Cuppa (Cole)
The next morning, I knock on Destiny抯 door, feeling like the biggest walking shitpile alive.
揇ess??
Silence.
Swearing, I bang on the door with my fist a few times, but she doesn抰 answer. I hold my ear to the door until I hear her breathing.
She抯 alive in there, at least.
Eliza抯 backbone must be rubbing off. Destiny was never this bad with the stone-cold silent treatment.
Worst of all, I know I deserve it after what went down.
Still, I don抰 do well with games.
I抎 like to un-fuck my status as everybody抯 favorite villain.
揇ess, open up.?I wait another minute before I sigh and say, 揑抳e got my Swiss army knife. If I don抰 think you抮e okay in there, I抣l pull this door right off its hinges.?
揇ad! You抮e ridiculous.?
I pull out my knife for show while I hear her stomping over. I wouldn抰 actually take her door off梕ven I抦 not that big a prick梑ut it抯 better for her to wonder.
She tears the door open, glaring at me with her lips pursed.
揥hen it抯 important, I need you to answer,?I say neutrally.
She still doesn抰 speak and just folds her arms, indignant as ever.
揑抦 going to the Wired Cup downtown for a meeting,?I say.
揜eally? You woke me up for that??She gives me a sarcastic thumbs-up.
揇estiny, I抦 not asking for the damn moon. I just need you to acknowledge me when I say I抦 going out.?
揧ou want me to talk to you? Fine.?She strains on the tips of her toes, trying and failing to reach eye level. 揧ou抮e a sexist, a jerkwad, and a rich bitch!?
揜ich...bitch??I repeat slowly.
揧eah! You just桮od, you think you抮e so much better than everyone else! You just had to assume the guys who stole my necklace were homeless. And I thought you抎 actually care a little about the necklace. It was Mom抯 last present, wasn抰 it? Now it抯 gone.?
Fuck.
I clear my throat. 揇ess, we抳e already been over this homeless thing. Also, your mom had lot of jewelry棓
揂lso,?she cuts in, 揈liza thinks it抯 strange that they didn抰 take my phone or purse.?
I freeze, cocking my head.
揥hat??I have to admit, that is bizarre.
Why the hell would anyone go after that turtle and nothing else? It抯 a specialty item you can抰 just pawn off as easily as a ring or a bracelet.
揇id they see your phone? Or were they scared off before they could棓
揑 dropped it, Dad. But whatever. It doesn抰 matter, I guess. Just go to your stupid meeting.?
I hold in a brutal sigh.
She抯 right.
I抳e burned this bridge and there抯 no sense in playing Hardy Boys with her right now. I have other ways of figuring shit out, anyway.
I start moving away but stop and turn back to her. 揥ait. Why am I a sexist pig again??
揈liza抯 friend, Dakota梱ou think she抯 such a damsel in distress that she can抰 go anywhere without her hot married muscle??She rolls her eyes. 揙kay, Boomer.?
揙kay, Zoomer,?I throw back, my nostrils flaring. 揊or a girl who gets straight As in history, you must抳e forgotten Boomers weren抰 born in the 1980s.?
揥hatever. You act like you抮e two hundred, Dad.?
揝o I抦 a vampire and a jerk??My jaw tightens.
Unbelievable.
揧ou totally were with Eliza,?she says bitterly. 揝he抯 the one who washed blood off my leg while you were at your dumb meeting and you didn抰 even thank her. She just took care of me. She cares, Dad. Then you showed up and started barking crap.?
For a second, I抦 speechless.
She抯 got me there.
揓ust go already,?she says with a sigh, turning her back to me. 揗eetings are what you do best anyway.?
My gut sinks because she抯 too fucking right.
I抦 certainly not at my best right now in this house with a daughter who抯 acting like my conscience personified.
I should just go before I dwell on how badly I抳e mucked things up with Eliza for the thousandth time.
How did I let my anger take the driver抯 seat? How did I discard a woman who came to my daughter抯 rescue?
The same way I blunder through everything else, apparently.
I am a hotheaded fool with a hornet up his ass, and regrettably, I don抰 know how to be anything else.
Dealing with old demons almost seems easy after everything else.
I head inside the downtown Wired Cup store to meet an unassuming man with white hair and a brown sports jacket. He waves at me.
揗r. Lancaster??
I move to his table and sit down across from him. We shake hands.
揑抦 not much for small talk,?I say, dispensing with the niceties. 揋ive it to me, please.?
揜ight. There抯 no easy way to say this, Mr. Lancaster, but I think your more colorful suspicions were unfounded. I抳e reviewed the autopsy report. I抳e also talked to people who knew her梩he folks she spent the most time with. Everything points to suicide.?
Goddammit.
An iron fist grips my heart and squeezes it dry.
Why am I so shocked? Deep down, a part of me always knew.
揂ster was a young woman prone to bouts of severe depression and distress. She often disappeared from family events without much notice梩hat抯 verified by you and everyone else I抳e talked to in Hawaii.?
I nod, staring into his dark-brown eyes.
揟o be clear, I抦 sugarcoating it. The chief housekeeper at the Kona estate, Kalani, she told me she抎 never met anyone as miserable as Aster.?He pauses like he抯 making sure I won抰 go to pieces. I nod firmly. 揑t was very late that night, as you know. Fortunately, your security detail keeps impeccable records. For a second, I thought the records might be too good, so I went back a few years before the incident. Nope, same excellent logs. There was nothing out of the ordinary that night梪ntil it happened.?
I feel my hand shaking under the table and I clench it into a fist against my thigh.
揑s it possible they missed anything??I ask.
揚ossible, but not probable,?he says quickly.
Damn. I stare at him blankly.
揋iven her location and the state of the body in the autopsy report, I think we have a pretty clear suicide, even without a smoking gun. I抦 sorry. Weather and maritime reported a windy night. Those waters would抳e been choppy梪npredictable梐nd if she had a couple drinks like the autopsy said, it wouldn抰 have taken much at all for her to wind up in a bad situation. The ocean simply claimed her, and she allowed it.?
Bile rises up my throat.
I抦 surprised I still feel this sick when I had a feeling this was coming.
揅ase closed? That抯 it? No alternate theories??I know I抦 reaching, but dammit, I have to if this is the last time.