AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ash, do you think Stu could have taken it?”
“It’s a possibility, yeah.” I lay the file on top of the others as I look around the small storage container. These few boxes are what’s left of my dad’s life. It’s sad. It breaks my heart. Ash never mentioned what he did with my brother’s stuff, and I wonder if it’s all still locked away in his room at Ash’s house. I make a note to ask him, but right now I need to get home as an idea forces its way to the front of my mind.
“I need to get home. I just had a thought and I want to check it out,” I tell Ash, shoving the empty file back in the box and closing it up.
As we pass by the clothing rack, I can’t resist the urge to brush my hand over my dad’s coat again, saying a silent goodbye as I do.
In the car I explain to Ash that there is a safe behind one of the pictures in my dad’s old office, not exactly original but still. He tells me that as far as he knows the pictures are still there and that neither him nor Jackson knew about it. After that the car ride home is silent bar the soft sounds playing through the radio, both of us lost in our thoughts.
Stu’s car is in the drive when we pull up, and Ash tries to convince me to let him come in with me, but I don’t want to draw attention to us or what we’re up to. I lean over, kissing him goodbye, but his hand wraps round the nape of my nape, holding me to him as he deepens the kiss. I can’t help how easy he turns me to putty every time he touches me. Letting him have his fill, I almost change my mind. He finally lets me go, and I head inside with a promise to call if I need him.
I’m just closing the front door when an angry, raised voice reaches me from down the hall in the direction of my dad’s office. I tiptoe down the hall towards the slightly open door, stopping just short of the sliver of light spilling from inside.
“I didn’t sign up for this.” There’s a moment of silence, and I realize he must be on the phone. “Get rid of them? How the hell am I meant to do that, Jonathan?” I push the door open with enough force it hits the wall behind with a thud, causing Stu to turn around just as he says, “Oh, right, so I’m just meant to… Fuck! I’ll have to call you back.” He ends the call, and I step into the room, unable to think beyond the idea that Stu is discussing getting rid of mom and me I’m guessing.
“Kennedy, I didn’t hear you come home,” he says, tucking his phone into his back pocket.
“No, so it seems. But, you know, don’t let me get in the way of your conversation with Jonathan, was it? Sounds like you two have quite a lot to discuss.”
“Kennedy, I don’t know what you think you heard, but—”
“But what exactly, Stu?” I say moving further into the room but keeping the desk between us. I might be mad right now, but I haven’t completely lost my mind. If Stu is involved with Titan, then I need to be careful. “While you’re explaining that, maybe you can also explain about the man you met at the lake the other day, and the one you were seen exchanging an envelope with.” This is dangerous revealing my hand so early, but something tells me it’s the right thing to do.
His eyes widen as exactly how much I know is revealed. Then he sighs, a look of defeat taking over his face. This is not the reaction I was expecting and takes me by surprise.
“Do you know how long your father and I were friends, Kennedy?”
“Since high school. But I don’t need a run down of your life story. I just want to know what the hell is going on.”
“And I’m going to tell you, I just wanted to make sure you know how much your dad meant to me first.” He pulls the chair out from behind the desk, and despite the fact it’s dad’s chair, I keep my mouth shut. He points to one of the others, but I shake my head and remain standing. “How much do you know?”
“Nah-ah, I’m not giving you anymore, Stu,” I tell him straight. I’m not giving him more room to make his narrative fit mine.
“Smart, Kennedy.” He places his elbows on the desk in front of him, resting his chin in his clasped hands, looking right at me as he as he begins. “When Titan first proposed their development here, they approached me to help with persuading the residents and any paperwork. Nothing underhanded. They gave me all the information, how it would benefit the town etcetera. It was a solid proposal, and the development, in theory, would have been great for Silverbell. So, I helped as much as I could, but then when your father came on board as the project manager, he started to question things. At first it was just to do with their work practices, how they would cut corners here and there, but like most big construction companies and developers they wanted the job done with as little expenditure as possible but the biggest profit.
“Just before the night he…died, he told me to distance myself, to keep out of it. He wouldn’t explain, said he didn’t want me knowing anything, that way I wouldn’t be implicated. I didn’t know what was going on, Kennedy. After that, all I knew was that my best friend and his son were dead.” His voice wavers a little, and I feel his pain. After all, it’s my pain too.
“So why didn’t you call them out when I did? I don’t understand, Stu.” My words are accusatory but layered with emotion, losing their harshness. I’m struggling to understand how he could have known my dad had suspicions about Titan and not say anything after he died, especially when I was practically shouting it from the rooftops.
He hangs his head for a moment before lifting it back up and looking me right in the eye as he says, “I don’t have an excuse, Kennedy. Part of me wanted to believe you, but I had no proof. Everything your dad told me, which wasn’t much, was verbal, there was no paper trail, no evidence of foul play. When the fire was ruled an accident, I let it go. After you left, several of the investors from town pulled out, and eventually Titan dropped the development all together. I thought it was over.”
I swallow down the anger, the betrayal, I feel coursing through me and focus on getting answers. “What do you mean you thought it was over?”
“That seed of doubt your dad and you planted about Titan never went away, so when their name was mentioned in connection to the Tungsten Bay development, I researched previous developments, went to visit a couple as I know you did” I baulk at that, and am about to ask how he knows when he stops me. “The man who handed me an envelope works for an agency that have been investigating Titan for some time. They have been looking at Preston Thomas too. From what I know, there is a connection to Preston and the anonymous owner of Titan.”
“Okaaaay,” I say, drawing the word out to give myself a little more thinking time. “I…shit.” I turn away and pace a couple of steps, finding it incredibly difficult to process everything Stu just told me. It’s not like any of this is news to me, except the part about them being investigated, although it shouldn’t be, but I have no words right now. My emotions have been more up and down than a damn yoyo in the last twenty-four hours. Pulling out a chair, I drop down into it and look at Stu.
“Does mom know any of this?”
“God no, your mother has no idea about any of this. And I want to keep it that way. I think you and your mom should take a vacation,” he blurts out.
“Hell no. I get you want to keep it from mom, for now, because there is no way she’s not going to find out, especially when what I know comes out,” I tell him, then something occurs to me. “That’s what you meant about getting rid of us just now on the phone, isn’t it?”
“Yes, not what you were thinking, Kennedy. Although I can see how it might have sounded like that. Look, I don’t know what you already know but—”
“How do I know I can trust you? How do I know you’re not working with Titan?”
Stu offers me a sympathetic smile before picking his phone up from the desk. Ringing fills the room before a man answers.
