Redemption (Book 3) The Fixer Series (17 page)

I ran back to the truck, dropped the gun on the seat and grabbed the matches I'd picked up from the gas station.  I stood away from the house as I lit several matches and threw them where
I'd dumped the gasoline.  The fire started and I ran to the truck, put the gun in my bag and drove to the dirt road that led to the house.  I sat and watched as everything I once knew and loved, burned to ashes. 

CHAPTER 17

Dylan

I finally had a break in between meetings and tried calling Brooke.  There was no answer.  I left her a voicemail, thinking she was probably still at lunch Alexi and Mandy
, having a good time.  There was no cause for concern on my end.  That was until, I opened my briefcase and found an envelope addressed to me in Brooke's handwriting. 

I immediately opened it and began reading.  Nothing
, and I mean, nothing could have prepared me for that.  I sat in my office chair, looking out the window, trying to piece everything together.  She had known all along what I'd done for her and yet, I was clueless as to what she had been through.  I looked down and continued reading.  Her words, her emotions, they cut right through me, and I had the sudden urge to kill every one of those fuckers that had hurt her. 

I picked up the phone and called Tristan.

"It's your dime," he answered.

"Where's
Brooke?"

"In your room
, sleeping.  She wasn't feeling well earlier, so she had Alexi bring her home early.  Why?  What's up?"

"She's  not there.  Trust me.  Remember earlier
, when you thought she was up to something?"

"Yeah."

"She was."

"Oh shit!  Wait.  Are you sure?  Her car is still here."

"Are any of the others missing?"

"I don't think so, but let me check."

"Tristan, go into the garage and look."

"Alright."

"Are they all there?"

"Son of a bitch!  Your truck's missing and it looks like she smashed the tracking device."

"She's in terrible danger, T.  I know where she went."

"Well
, if you know, then why aren't you going after her?"

"Because she told me in a letter, but I don't actually know where she is.  Tristan, she went to find Thomas."

"Oh shit.  Stephanie doesn't even know where he is, I've asked her several times."

"I'm on my way home
, now.  I'll have my secretary drop me off.  You stay there, in case she comes home."

"Will do, D."

I was out of my mind with worry, not knowing where she was.  There was nothing I could do, but sit and wait, wondering if she would return home. 

Tristan met me at the door and we headed to my office to brainstorm.  We came up with nothing.  He had called Stephanie several times to see if she could think of where Brooke might have gone.  Again...nothing. 

I placed a call to her mother and Robert, but neither answered their phones. 
This day just keeps better and better,
I thought to myself. 
Think, Dylan, think.
  Paper.  She wrote the letter on paper from here in your office.  I started going through my drawers looking for any clues that she may have left behind, and then stopped.  I looked up at Tristan.  "Fuck!" I yelled. 

"What is it?"

"My gun is missing."

"I thought you locked that drawer."

"Normally, I do.  But I was in here the other day, and forgot.  She must have found it last night and took it with her."

"This is not good, Dylan."

"No shit!  I don't even think she knows how to shoot a gun, Tristan."

"Alright, calm down."

"Fuck you!  Don't tell me to calm down.  She's fucking crazy out of her mind, and running around with a loaded gun in my truck!"

"Listen, you're not doing yourself or her any good by freaking out like this.  I know you're worried, but let's not assume the worst."

"Stop being so damn rational, Tristan.  If it were Stephanie, how calm would you be?"

"Point made.  I'd be out looking for her."

"Exactly.  Now, imagine not knowing where the fuck she is!"

"I'd be pissed."

"Where the fuck is your buddy, Alexi?"

"He took off for the night
.  Dude, this isn't his fault.  I'm just as responsible for her leaving as he is."

"I don't care.  He has to know something, he spent the entire day with her for fuck
's sake."

"Dylan, he doesn't know anything.  If he did, he would have told me.  I promise you, he never would've let anything happen to her."

"I still don't like him."

"You don't like anyone, Dylan."

"You're right!  I don't.  And, do you know why?  Because shit like this happens!  I can't even go to work without shit hitting the fan."

"Dylan, you need to calm the fuck down.  You're
gonna have a heart attack, if you don't."

"Good.  Maybe then
, I'll die and I won't have to deal with anymore bullshit."

"Hey, let me pour you a drink.  It'll help relax you just a bit."

"Fuck drinking!  Damn it, Tristan, do you know what I'm dealing with?  I've been looking into the company's financials and my dad was funding that human trafficking shit through several different accounts.  I have spent the last couple of days with attorneys and accountants trying to clean this shit up, so if we go through an audit they won't link us to any wrong doing.  It's a fucked up mess and I don't know how to fix it.  Isn't that funny?  I can fix the fuck out of a crime, but I can' t fix the fucking books for a major corporation."

"Dude, I think everything is just finally catching up with you. 
You have people that will be able to help you sort through the mess, I wouldn't worry about that."

"Right.  But tell me
, Tristan, who can I trust?  Hell, for all I know, the people that are helping me could be involved in that shit, too.  Did you ever think about that?  Because I think about it every fucking day when I'm talking to them, showing them confidential shit."

"So
, let them go and hire a new team."

"I can't do that
, right now.  Do you have any idea how much time it's taken to go through all of that bullshit?"

"No,
I don't."

"
Too much fucking time, that's how much.  And then today, I get a call from my mom.  She wants me to come over and finish going through all of my dad's shit with her.  Apparently, she and Luke didn't get through all of it.  But the real kicker and the icing on the top of the cake, was the letter that Brooke wrote me.  Yeah, I fucking sat in my chair and cried like a little bitch today, Tristan.  That fucker, Thomas, did a real number on her.  Not once, but twice.  And I say twice, because he joined forces with my asshole Dad and the Governor.  Tell me, Tristan how can one hate a human being so much, that they'll do everything in their power to destroy them?"

"I don't know.  I can't answer that. 
Look, Dylan, that's some pretty heavy shit you're dealing with.  I never, ever, in a million years would have thought that your dad would be involved in the shit that he was.  And I know that you are really worried about Brooke, but she made a choice, man.  She obviously felt that this was something she needed to do.  Maybe you should trust her.  She's not a fragile, little doll that's going to break.  She's been through a lot, yes, but...she always comes out swinging.  Give her the benefit of the doubt, for once."

"Since when do you side with my wife?  Didn't you just tell me a couple of weeks ago that I should reconsider my marriage to her?"

"Yeah, I did, and now look at you.  Was I so wrong?  I can answer that for you.  No, I wasn't.  I understand why you put up with what you do.  I get it.  And after spending some time with her, I realized that she's a very strong, independent woman that needs to be heard and trusted.  Dylan, you have been smothering her since the day you decided you were in love with her.  She isn't going anywhere, all she's asking for is a little bit of your trust.  You ask her to trust you all the time, and now she's asking you to trust her.  The question is, can you do it?  Can you trust her to take care of the things she needs to do on her own?"

"I would like to say
'yes', but I honestly don't know."

"Well, she's kind of forced your hand this time, hasn't she?  She holds all the cards and you hold none.  She's not stupid or naive, Dylan.  She's made it this far in life, and might I remind y
ou, she's much older than you."

"But what if something happens to her?  What if I'm not there to protect her?"

"What if?  What is it that you think you're going to save her from?  Herself?  Bad guys? What?  Because, Dylan, you can't save her from anything.  All you can do is love her, respect her and show her how much you value her.  That's all she wants from you."

"I guess you're right.  I hadn't looked at it that way
, but that doesn't mean I'm not fucking worried about her."

"Dude, I'm worried about her
, too, and I'm not married to her.  I'm not saying you should stop giving a shit, but I think you need to loosen the reigns a bit.  And as for your mom, what did Brooke say?"

"What?"

"What did Brooke say about how you should handle telling your mother?"

"That's an odd
question," I said, giving him a surprised look.  "Did she let you read the letter she wrote me or something?"

"No, I just know after spending the last couple of days with her, that she'd have an opinion about it.  So...what did she say?"

"She said I need to be honest and tell her the truth."

"See, she's a smart woman.  You should listen to her
.  Trust her."

"I think you're pussy
-whipped!  You've been spending too much time with Stephanie, apparently."

"Fuck, don't I wish.  I spend more time with your wife than I do my own girlfriend.
"

We both laughed.  "Alright, I
'll lighten up, but don't expect me to handle over total control."

"I told you to trust her
, not turn into a complete pussy."

"Good, just checking to make sure we're still on the same page."

I heard the elevator doors open and hoped like hell it was Brooke.  It was.  She had on a long, blonde wig and looked beat.  I could tell she had been crying and as I walked closer to her, she wreaked of gasoline.  I went to say something, but she held up her hand, "Don't. You won't like the answer."  Then she went to our room, stripped off her clothes and stood in the shower and cried. 

I thanked God for bringing her home safely to me, then stripped and joined her in the shower.  I held her tight, never wanting to let go and cried with her.
I knew what she had done,  and understood the guilt and fear she was feeling as we clung to each other.  It was a secret bond that we would share together...forever. 

When the water finally ran cold, I dried her, then myself and went to bed.  We didn't bother putting clothes on as we were both exhausted from the events of the day
. The emotional turmoil was a bitch, but we had a new understanding of one another.  Neither of us said a word, we didn't have to.  We silently felt each other's pain, knowing that the crimes we had committed were to save the other.  It didn't feel good, it wasn't something to be proud of, but it was our truth.  I held her close against my naked body as we both cried until we fell asleep. 

CHAPTER 18

Dylan

I knew the day would come
, when I would have to finally face the awful events of what happened in Prague.  My mother had been calling and bugging me, since the day my brother left to go back home, to come over and help her finish going through my father's belongings.  It wasn't something I was looking forward to, but it had to be done.  There was no way that I could leave her alone to sort through all of it on her own. 

Brooke and I never spoke much about the day she had gone missing for several hours.  I never had to ask about the gun or the truck, because everyth
ing had been taken care of, carefully cleaned and placed where it had originally been taken from.  I was beginning to wonder if my wife was really a
fixer
herself, or if she was just that smart.  I figured it was the latter, since I knew how she felt about the whole
fixing
business. 

The only thing she would tell me about that day was that any evidence that could have been left behind, went up in flames with Thomas.  And
after the investigation was over, the fire department deemed it was just another old, rundown farmhouse that had caught on fire, due to its owner's drinking problem while pouring gasoline around the perimeter to kill ants.  Yeah, my wife was a pretty, fucking brilliant woman.  The way she covered it all up, was an indicator that she'd been researching and plotting for years as to how she would one day kill Thomas.