Keep It Simple (MMG Series Book 4) (17 page)

“Y
ou ruined it,
not me. From this point forward, you get no say in who I see or what I do, because you are no longer a part of my life.”

Sarah’s parting words haunted me all week. I felt as if I was balancing on an emotional tightrope. One wrong move and I was going to fall off, and I had no idea where I would land. This scared the shit out of me.

She is better off without me.

A lot had gone down since Sarah’s middle of the night visit. The last time I saw her was at MMG two weeks ago, when I blasted her in front of the guys. That same morning, Alexandria called and told me she was thinking about signing herself out of rehab early. I’d spent an hour on the phone convincing her it was a bad idea. She only agreed to stay for the rest of the program after I threatened her with calling my lawyer. After the meeting at MMG, I was supposed to go to lunch with Isabella and Amelia and was feeling lukewarm about it. When Sarah popped into the room looking beautiful and acting as if she didn’t have a worry in the world, I snapped. I was an asshole and lashed out at her. Although I wanted to apologize, that would require tracking her down. Most likely we would end up having sex again, and I’d have to blow her off again.
Not a good idea.
I’d made a point of staying away, but never dreamed it would be so hard to do. I missed her.

Thank God work had been crazy busy. I was on Isabella and Amelia duty, while Dillon was trying to get a grip on a bunch of personal shit. Isabella’s ex-boyfriend Jimmy, meanwhile, had been threatening her. Garrett, Bobby and I had been worried he was going to pull something without Dillon there to protect her. It turned out we were right. Jimmy, at least we suspect it was Jimmy, tried to run Isabella over outside Amelia’s doctor’s office. Shortly after, Dillon was jumped outside Dragonfly. He was now in the hospital recovering from a mild concussion and various other minor wounds. One of the guys who attacked him was stupid enough to tell him the hit was from Jimmy. Garrett and I put Bobby on it in hopes we could take Jimmy down. As we hoped, the South Carolina State Bar opened an investigation into Jimmy. If we could prove Jimmy had Dillon attacked, we could put him behind bars for good.

My mind drifted to Isabella. The woman had been through hell and back. She reminded me a lot of my little sister, which brought out my protective side. Her baby, Amelia, was such a doll. However, being around her was killing me. Memories of the night Kalen died haunted me and made me think about where my life would be if he had lived.

As instructed, Sterling’s jet was waiting for me on the tarmac. The fifty minute flight to Wilmington seemed much longer. All I could think about was my son, and how I hadn’t spent enough time with him. I was always making excuses to get out of the house and away from Xandria. I knew she had a problem with pills and alcohol, but as long as Vicky was there to watch Kalen, I didn’t care what she did.

If Kalen dies, it’s on me. I should have been there to protect him, not Vicky.

A car was waiting for me at the airport in Wilmington. It took us fifteen minutes to get to the hospital. One prayer repeatedly ran through my head on the way to the hospital; please let my son be alive.

As I entered the Emergency Room, I spotted my mother and sister. They both looked like hell.

Please let him be alive.

Bypassing the waiting room, I made a bee-line to the front desk. “I’m Kalen Ashford’s father,” I announced to the nurse behind the desk. She asked for ID and then told me to follow her. We went down a long hallway into a room with a crib. In the middle of it lay my son. Two days earlier I had said goodbye to a rambunctiously happy boy. What lay before me was a tiny, fragile child, who looked…broken. Tubes extended from his mouth, nose and arms. Monitors beeped in tandem. The room smelled of disinfectant.

“Please tell me he’s going to be okay?” I wasn’t sure if I was asking or begging, probably a bit of both.

“I’ll send the doctor right in,” she responded.

“Wait! Can I touch him?”

She smiled. “Of course you can. The machines are there to monitor his vitals and help to pump oxygen through his little body.”

Her kind voice brought tears to my eyes. As I sat there holding my son’s little hand, I thought back on his life and all the things I would do different if he made it through this.

The doctor arrived shortly and gave me the news. Kalen was in the water too long. They couldn’t detect any brain function. His body was starting to shut down and it was unlikely he would make it through the night.

I did not fall apart, like I wanted to. Instead, I kissed the top of my son’s head and went in search of my mother. I needed answers.

The sound of a phone interrupted my trip down memory lane. I saw it was Bobby calling and answered it, “Talk to me.”

“Found it,” he said. “Jimmy wrote a personal check to Ray Gleason in the amount of five thousand dollars.” Ray Gleason was the name of the guy who whispered in Dillon’s ear before trying to take him down. “For such a smart guy, Jimmy sure is a dumb motherfucker.” Bobby said.

“No, he just thought he wouldn’t get caught. Are the police getting him?” I asked.

“Yep, they should have him by now.”

“Good deal. What about Dana? Do you think we have enough dirt on her to hand over to the police, yet?”

We not only discovered Dooley had Dana on his payroll, but also that she was most likely the person who told him where to find Piper the day she was kidnapped.

“I’ll put the call in to the police right now,” Bobby said, “Go ahead and fax the files over.”

“I’m on it,” I told him.

“Are you going to MMG’s Fourth of July party?” Bobby asked.

In truth, I hadn’t really given it much thought.
I bet Sarah will be there
.

Just the thought of seeing Sarah lifted my mood a little. “I was thinking about it. Are you?”

“Yeah, I would bring a date, but Sally wants to hang out.”

Sally and Bobby had been hanging out quite a bit lately. “Sally Wilder will chew you up and swallow you whole, brother,” I teased.

Bobby laughed. “You ain’t kidding. Sally’s fun to hang with and all, but she’s not really my type, if you know what I mean.” I thought of Bobby’s latest conquest, Bubbles, and had to agree. He liked giant breasted bottle blondes. Sally was tiny, tatted and tricky… not his type at all.

After we hung up, my mind drifted to the thought of seeing Sarah again. I missed her. I wanted her, maybe more than I’d ever wanted anything. No, that’s not true. I wanted the divorce from Alexandria and for my son to still be alive more than anything, even Sarah.

Sarah would have loved Kalen
. My phone rang again. I checked to see who was calling and when I saw it was my mom, I sent it straight to voicemail. I wasn’t ready to talk to her. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be ready.

“What the fuck happened? I was gone for two days! Two days!” I shouted at my mother.

“Don’t blame this on your mother,” my dad growled.

I glanced around the room. Where the hell was everyone? “Where is Alexandria? More so, where the fuck is Vicky? I told her not to take her eyes off of Kalen while I was gone! What the hell happened?”

“We are not a hundred percent sure,” my sister answered.

“I didn’t know,” my mother whispered. “Why didn’t you tell me how bad it had gotten?”

I sank into the closest chair and dropped my head to my hands. “I tried, Mom, but you didn’t want to hear it. No one did.” Taking a deep breath, I said, “Please, somebody please tell me what happened.” I felt a presence next to me, but didn’t bother to look up. My mother’s pungent perfume gave her away.

“I phoned Alexandria and asked her to lunch. I told her to bring Kalen, but she said he was cutting teeth and was cranky.”

I didn’t know he was cutting teeth.

“We had a late lunch at the Palm,” she continued. “Alexandria seemed a little edgy, but otherwise fine. When I asked her about it, she said she hadn’t been sleeping well. She claimed it was due to you being away on business.”

Yeah right. Xan and I hadn’t slept in the same bed ever, and hadn’t had sex in too many days to count.

“When I took her home, I asked if I could come in and see Kalen. At first I thought she was going to tell me no, but she saw how excited I was, and reluctantly agreed to let me come in.” Her voice cracked with emotion. “He had just woken up from a nap and was sitting in Vicky’s lap drinking a sippy of milk. He was so happy to see me.”

Kalen loved my mom. She doted on him like a grandmother should and he ate it up.

“Was she drinking during lunch?” I asked.

“No, she wasn’t. That’s why I agreed to let Vicky go.”

My eyes shot up and connected with hers. “What?” I whispered. Pain and guilt radiated across her face.

“While I was there, Vicky got a call. Her mother had fallen and needed help. Alexandria told her to go, but Vicky said you would be unhappy if she left and she would lose her job. Alexandria got angry with her. I saw how upset Vicky was and then Kalen started crying. Alexandria was fine. I swear it. Otherwise, I would never have agreed with Alexandria.”

“What happened?” I pushed her to move forward with the story.

“Vicky left and I went home. A few hours later, Vicky called. We were on our way home from dinner. She was hysterical. S-she said Alexandria was passed out in one of the pool chairs and Kalen…Kalen was nowhere to be found.” She let out a sob. “She found him while she was talking to me on the phone. H-h-he was in the pool. She tried to save him, Caswell, I swear.”

Oh God. My worst nightmare had come true. Alexandria killed our son.

“The police?” I asked.

“By the time we arrived, Sterling had taken care of everything. Alexandria was upstairs in the bedroom and Vicky had gone home.”

Of course Sterling took care of it. Sterling took care of everything Xan did. I searched around for Sterling, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Mr. Ashford!” A nurse called. “Come quick!”

I was up in a flash and running for Kalen’s room.

Please no!

For the next hour, I held my son’s hand and talked to him. I told him how much I loved him and how proud I was to be his dad. I made sure he knew he would never be forgotten. As I watched my son take his last breath, I finally let go and cried.

I drove straight from the hospital to Vicky’s house, where I made her tell me what really happened.

The day I buried my son was the worst day of my life. I kept thinking it should be Alexandria in that hole, not my little boy. I couldn’t even look at her, much less be in a room with her. I didn’t know who I hated most, me or her. Kalen’s death was just as much my fault as it was hers.

I knew Alexandria had a problem. I knew it was getting worse. In her own way, I believe she loved our son, but she loved her drugs and booze more. Without Kalen, Alexandria had no reason to stay sober and hit rock bottom. Booze, pills, pot, you name it, she was doing it.

Then I moved to Charlotte and met Sarah.

Sarah
.

From top to bottom the woman was sheer perfection. She would never understand about Alexandria. I’m not sure anyone would.
Once my divorce is final, all ties to Alexandria will be gone. Then, and only then, will I be able to think about moving on with my life.

*     *     *

“Have you found
Dana yet?”

Bobby and I were on our way to MMG’s first annual Fourth of July party. Dillon was out of the hospital and he and Isabella were back together. Jimmy was in jail. That left one loose end: Dana. The police were looking for her without any luck. She should have been behind bars by now.
What the hell was taking so long?

“I called earlier. They gave me the same song and dance. Only, today, they added a new tune about it being the Fourth and how all their manpower was tied up in check points and fireworks. My guess is the bitch caught wind they were looking for her and hauled ass,” Bobby answered.

“Let’s hope they find her, and soon.”

“They will.”

I could hear music blasting from the parking lot of MMG. It was a country song about girls, beer and partying.
Aren’t they all?
Bob and I grabbed the cases of beer we’d bought on the ride over, and made our way around back to where the party was in full swing. I immediately spotted Sarah in the crowd. She had on a pair of white short shorts and a tight red top. She bent over to pet the dog at her feet and I thought about the last time we were together. The image of her long legs wrapped around my waist as I pumped in and out of her tight little pussy ran through my head and I had to look away.
Great, everyone will now see me sporting a boner. Just what I need.

I dropped the case of beer off in the kitchen and waited a few minutes before going back outside. Through Herculean effort, I managed to stay away from Sarah most of the afternoon. I made sure to use the upstairs bathroom in order to avoid running into her. It was just my luck she had the same idea and we ended up exactly where I didn’t want us to be; alone together.