I smile. “Not a butt dial. Sorry, I forgot it was so early.”
“It’s fine. I was already awake and trying to figure out how to shove this boy off my body.” She groans and I hear a series of doors opening and closing on her end. “There, I escaped to the bathroom. What have you been up to over break?”
“A lot. I’ll tell you about it if you’ve got a minute to talk.”
“I have lots of minutes. Kent will probably sleep until noon. What’s up?”
I wrap myself in a blanket and stretch out on my bed. I’m still aching to hear any news at all from Ben but in the meantime no one should ever underestimate the healing power of pouring your heart out to a friend.
“Well, for starters I’m completely in love with Ben Beltran…”
Ben
The Devil Valley PD doesn’t quite know what to make of all this excitement. A drunken New Year’s brawl between cousins would have been their speed but a high stakes business world scandal is a little out of their league. After they take statements there’s no talk about any charges for the assault on Angus since it was self defense in my own house. They seem eager to turn the case over to the authorities in the state where the real crime occurred.
The murder of my father.
When my mother arrives she looks like a basket case and she weeps as she clutches me and then exclaims over my bruises. Then a sudden shift occurs and she becomes steely eyed and begins making demands. She wants a lawyer. And she wants to make some phone calls. She still has a direct number for Reginald, my father’s old friend, the former federal agent who helped us get new identities and a new beginning in Devil Valley. Within hours he arranges for us to be put on a flight to Coral Beach.
The original responding officer is still on duty and offers to drive us home. He goes off to get his car and my mother dashes to the rest room while I wait outside. The last time I looked at a clock it was ten a.m. That had to be at least an hour ago. I know Camden is waiting to hear from me but my phone battery has been dead for hours.
I’m watching the cloud covered sky and wishing for the moment when I get to hold my girl in my arms again when a sleek black car pulls up. Two serious looking men emerge and walk right into the police station without glancing at anyone. They kind of look like secret agents, sunglasses and all, but I’m not thinking that their presence has anything to do with me. Not until the back passenger door opens and my cousin Grey steps out.
I’d like to punch him in his puffy, pathetic face. “What the hell are you doing here?”
He holds up a leather gloved hand. “My lawyers needed to have a word with the police chief.”
“Those guys are your lawyers?”
“They are.”
“Figures.” I exhale with disgust and glare daggers. “I wish he was dead.”
“He’s not.”
“I know.”
“He does have a severe skull fracture and perhaps some brain damage.”
“Bound to be an improvement.”
“I’m flying him to a real hospital as soon as the paperwork clears.” Grey says this with annoyance, as if he’s discussing a parking ticket. “I suppose the press will pick up the story.”
“I suppose they will.”
He looks at me. “Look, I know you hate my guts but I just want to tell you that I came here only planning to do right by you. And you can say whatever you want but it won’t stick. Whether anyone believes you or not, in the end it won’t matter.”
He’s saying that he has every confidence in the Drexler money and connections to make all this ugliness go away. That may be true. But I’m stepping up anyway. In what might be my last conversation with my cousin I render my final judgment.
“You believe me, Grey. You know what he is. What the family is. I wonder what kind of lessons you’re going to teach your own son.”
He flinches at that. I take some satisfaction in knowing that every word will stay in his head forever.
Grey ducks back into the car. “Good luck to you, Ben.”
I do not wish him the same.
The car is still there when my mother joins me but I say nothing to her about who is inside. For the second time today I climb into the backseat of a police cruiser. I’d like to ask to be dropped off at Camden’s, however the sight of a cop car in front of her house will only bring neighborhood gossip and I’ve already caused her family enough grief for now.
The cop turns onto our street and pulls up to the curb. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt glad at the sight of the slate colored house we’ve occupied ever since arriving in Devil Valley. Plenty of times I’ve been guilty of thinking of this place as a dump. I was comparing it to my old house, my old life. I’ll never do that again.
Last night’s trauma combined with a lack of sleep is catching up to me and I need a shower before I can think straight and go to Camden. When I emerge I find my mother seated at the kitchen table, still in her party dress, staring out the window.
She sighs when she hears my footsteps. “I called for a car to the airport. It’ll be here in two hours.” She swallows hard and turns painful eyes to me. “Bennet, I’m so sorry.”
She could be apologizing for the fact that I can’t hide from being a Drexler. Or she could be talking about the unpleasant chore facing me in Coral Beach. Or maybe she’s sorry because in a moment of weakness she obviously confided in Dirtbag.
“I don’t blame you,” I tell her. “I don’t blame you for anything.”
“You should. You were just a boy and you wanted to tell the truth. You wanted justice for your father. I took that opportunity away from you.”
“You were being a parent. You did what you thought you had to.”
“And look where it got us.” She takes a long, bitter look at our surroundings. “Look at the kind of life I gave you.”
I slide into a chair and wait until I’m sure I have her attention before I tell her the truth. “Mom, I like my life here.”
“No, you were supposed to have better than this. The best schools, the right connections, the nicest things….” She puts a hand over her mouth.
I gaze out the window and I’m thinking of Camden and her family. I’m aware that the people I knew back in Coral Beach would have laughed at Camden’s house. They would have turned their nose up at Devil Valley. They never would have associated with people like the Cushings. They would have assumed they were too good for everything and everyone around here. They would have been so very wrong.
“We’re lucky. We have everything we need.” I stand up. “Look, I need to go out for a little while.”
She frowns. “You should pack. I’m not sure how long we’ll need to be there.”
“I’m going to see Camden. I can walk.”
She touches my arm. “Ben, take the car. Please.”
“I will. Thanks.”
“What are you going to tell her?”
“Everything.”
She looks down and nods. “Yes. You should tell her everything.”
“I’ll be back before the ride to the airport shows up.”
“Bennet?” Her eyes lift and now they are full of tears. “I want you to know that you are the best part of my life. I’m so proud of you. He would be proud of you too.”