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“Lawrence Grayson posted his million-dollar bail, but authorities are keeping the former North Carolina State Senator on a short leash, urging him to stay close to home until proceedings commence. Grayson has not made any further public statements following the death of his son and his own arrest, but his former publicist, Anastasia Bolton from Apex Publicity, posted a short statement online about an hour ago.”
Anastasia’s face filled the screen. She sat on the couch in her apartment, and Cassie could imagine a glass of wine sitting on the table out of the frame. The words were delivered in a voice of compassion, but Cassie didn’t feel any genuine emotion in them. Her eyes stayed dark.
“Apex Publicity is sad to part ways with Senator Grayson, particularly during such a difficult time, but we have a no-tolerance policy for criminal activities. I have worked closely with Mr. Grayson for the past year or so, and I am truly shocked and hurt by his actions. I considered him a colleague and a friend. I wish him the best moving forward and hope the consequences of his actions teach him he cannot win by cutting corners.”
Cassie snorted. She couldn’t imagine Anastasia having friends. Colleagues, maybe. Lackeys, definitely. But not friends.
The news anchor’s voice filled the room again. “In shocking news, Detective Calvin Davenport has been charged with the murder of Connor Grayson. We’ll bring you updates as the story develops.”
Judy turned the volume down and looked up at Cassie. “Do you know anything about that?”
Cassie’s first instinct was to bristle and lie and be vague in her answer, but she reminded herself that she was past that now. No more secrets from her family. “Yes. I was there when they arrested him.”
Almost no more secrets. She wasn’t going to tell her mom Davenport had held her at gunpoint.
“Why did he do it?” Judy’s voice cracked. “Why did he kill that poor kid? And the senator? This is all too much.”
Cassie sat down between her sister and her dad. “It’s complicated. We don’t have all the answers yet, but it involves Apex Publicity. They’re not as innocent as they’d like to appear, but I’m not sure the FBI will be able to pin anything on them. They’re very smart and very rich.”
Her dad grunted like he wasn’t surprised.
Judy tossed the blanket aside and stood at the front of the room, facing them. “Now that we’re all here, I want to say a few things.”
Cassie and Laura exchanged looks.
“Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. This is more about me.” Judy took a deep breath. “I want to apologize. To all of you. I haven’t been myself lately. When I found out about the brain tumor, I hid it from your father for about a week. I was scared, and even though I knew not talking about it wouldn’t make it go away, it made it feel more real to say it out loud. So, I didn’t. Then it was real, and I didn’t want you girls to know because I didn’t want you to worry. I was afraid of what it would change.” She looked directly at Cassie now. “It hasn’t been easy not talking these last few years, but I think I’d gotten used to it. I knew if you learned about the tumor, you’d want to visit, and I wasn’t sure how to handle that. I was afraid to face the pain I was feeling. It was easier to just ignore it and pretend everything was okay.”
Cassie wiped a tear from her eye. She knew it was the truth, but it didn’t make it any easier to hear. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you for saying that.” Judy didn’t break eye contact. “I’m sorry, too. I’m still nervous about the surgery. I’m afraid I might not wake up, and I want to make sure I tell you all how much I love you. Your father and I have everything set if something happens to either of us.”
“Mom—” Laura started.
Judy held up her hand. “I know it’s uncomfortable to talk about, but we need to make sure you girls understand what to do. We have all the paperwork in the upstairs filing cabinet. Money has been set aside for both of you. You’ll share the house.”
“But it’s all just a precaution.” Walter looked at his wife, and Cassie saw the confidence in his eyes. “The surgery will be fine. We’re living forever. And if we don’t, then we’re going to haunt you so you can never get rid of us.”
Cassie swallowed. She saw Laura shoot her a look. Judy didn’t miss it.
“What?”
Cassie stood and gestured for her mom to take her place on the couch. “I have something I want to talk to you about, too. And I want to start off with an apology.”
Cassie had practiced this speech in her head hundreds of times over the years, and somehow, she still struggled to find the words to express how she was really feeling. This trip home had been an emotional rollercoaster, but she felt closer to her family in this moment than she’d felt since she was a kid. Even if things weren’t perfect, they were okay.
And she was starting to realize that was good enough.
“There are a lot of different reasons why I pushed you guys away after Novak’s attack. I didn’t want to be coddled or smothered or made to feel weak. You didn’t do that on purpose, but I was so afraid all the time after that. I needed to be strong, and doing everything on my own was the only way I could figure out how to feel that way again.”
She looked directly at her mom. “You and I have butted heads a lot over the years. There have been a lot of hard feelings between us. You wanted to help, and I pushed you away. I needed space, and you kept pushing. I think we both said and did things we regret, and I hope you can forgive me for staying away all these years. This trip proved to me that there’s still a lot to talk about when it comes to what happened back then and what’s been going on over the years. I’m ready to own my part in this and work on being a family again. I hope you are, too.”
“Of course we are.” Judy’s voice was soft. She looked at her husband. “We both want that.”
“We love you,” Walter said. “Both of you.”
Cassie looked at Laura and smiled. Her sister knew what was coming next and nodded. Cassie had trouble looking her parents in the eyes, so she looked at the wall above their heads. “There’s something else I want to talk to you about. It might be kind of hard for you to take in. I’d like it if you just heard me out and kept your minds open.”
Her parents exchanged a look. Her mother spoke first.
