Page 32 of Absolute Valor

If you tell the truth, it becomes part of the past. If you tell a lie, it becomes part of your future.

“Ihave a daughter, with Lucas. He took her away to make sure I didn’t run off and quit giving him money to make meth. I thought if the electric was off, he would have to stop and bring her back. But he refuses and has only gotten angrier when the company refused to turn it back on in his name.” Finally telling the truth behind everything I’ve done in the past few weeks, is cathartic and the words won’t stop, as the hurt and frustration is released along with the tears. With nothing left in me, I fall face forward onto the seat beside me and Chase’s lap.

Cell phones are now ringing all around me, but still I feel the shock from everyone. Chase pulls me up, wrapping both arms around me as I hear Dylan tell someone we’re headed to the shop, and then the sound of the engine starting up again. Chase holds me, but says nothing, even long after the tears have stopped and the conversations failed to resume, he held me close with his fingers buried in my hair.

Sitting back up, I push myself against the side of the passenger door. Chase, ignoring my need for solace, pulls me back into his embrace. “When I first met Lucas, he was the sweetest guy. He did everything he could to get me to smile and, ultimately, into his bed.” I scoffed at the memory, all the lies he’d told me, and the idiot I was, believed every one of them.

“I held out until he told me he loved me, thinking he was my knight in shining armor, riding in on his big horse to take care of me. What I learned, a little too late, was that not all love ends in forever. Sometimes the knight turns into the villain when he gets what he was after.” Shaking my head, I remembered being both scared shitless and excited, when the nurse at the clinic told me she couldn’t give me birth control because I was already pregnant.

“When I found, what I thought was, the perfect moment to tell him about the baby, he found it was time to tell me about Amy, his wife.” I felt Chase flinch as he kissed the top of my head. “I thought about leaving, but Amy made it sound like we would be this big Brady bunch type of family.” I laughed, mostly at myself, and the stupidity I showed in falling for the con.

“Amy couldn’t keep herself out of trouble, it wasn’t long after I started to show, she had a court appearance where she met Ginny, who was there to bail out her brother, Cash.” We pulled into the driveway of the shop and I knew I was going to be fired, there was no doubt in my mind.

Dylan turned off the engine and then turned to look at me over his shoulder. “Hold that thought, let me get the ‘rents out of here and we’ll continue this inside.”

Chase takes my hand, confusing me more than anything. I’d given him his ticket to run, a green light to bolt like he was on fire. “C’mon, we will talk more inside.”

I owed this family the truth, considering everything they had done for me; not arresting me for trespassing, for one. As I got out of the SUV, I stepped to the right to grab my bags from the back, but Chase pulled my hand in his direction. “This way, Sweetness, you’re not staying here tonight.” Of course, he was right, I would be tossed out onto the streets. I’d hidden all of my money inside the closet, figuring it was the safest place I had available.

Dylan smacked the top of the SUV his parents were in. I had no clue what he told them about why we were here. He waved one last time, and then turned in my direction, his crassness from earlier gone now. “Miss Audrey, how about we go have a little chat about a big prick?”

Walking across the white cement of the driveway, I recalled the first time I pulled up. Lucas had said he would drive me over, but once again, had found something better to do. I’d managed to scrounge up enough change to call a taxi, only to come up short and Dylan coming to my rescue.

How often can you expect a hero to come out from behind his nerdy glasses and save you? Does generosity come with a punch card? Limiting you to a predestined number of crises and second chances you can receive?

Lainie and Claire were already sitting on the leather sofas, Austin looked strange setting behind my desk with his phone plugged into one of the USB ports on the side of my monitor. Dylan brought in his favorite rolling stool, steering it to rest at Claire’s feet. Chase carried out two chairs from the kitchen table, setting them side by side as he took the one closest to Austin.

“Okay, you had Amy and Ginny getting to be friends, continue,” Dylan instructs, his tone softer but I can feel the interrogation side of him slipping into place.

“Y-yes.” I stuttered as Chase reached out and took my hand in his. “She brought Ginny around, had her coming and going as she pleased. When Amy would get locked up, which was quite often, Lucas would turn his attention to whatever she was interested in at the time. As much as he loves Amy, he is obsessed with Ginny. If he knew I was talking bad about her, I would pay dearly.”

“What kinds of things was Ginny getting Lucas into? Did she get him started making Meth?” Dylan leaned in my direction, his forearms on his thighs.

Shaking my head, I tucked my skirt around my knees. “No, his dad got him started making meth. Said it was easy money with a constant supply of customers. His Dad was frequently in and out of jail. Now that I think about it, Lucas and Ginny were the only ones who stayed out of jail.”

Dylan looked to Austin, who began typing on my computer. “Already looking,” he responded, not bothering to wait for information on what Dylan wanted.

“Why do you think that is, Audrey?”

“Why did Lucas avoid jail?” I clarified.

“Yes. If he was making, and selling dope, why was he never caught and arrested?”

“I never said he didn’t get arrested, I said he never went to jail.”

Dylan tossed me a confused look, and I really worried about how he would react when I told him what his fellow cops did when the public wasn’t looking.

“Explain.”

“Well, right before I went into labor with Grace, I had been to visit my Granny. On the way to his Dad’s house, where they all lived, a police car went rushing past me. I didn’t think much of it, as the neighborhood wasn’t the best. When I finally pulled up, I saw the car parked in the driveway. As I was about to go inside, I looked in the window on the side of the house and saw Ginny on all fours. She had one officer going at her from behind and the other in her mouth.” If Dylan was angered by my accusation, his face never showed it. For a little while, he looked at me, raising his feet up and down as he studied my face.

“Austin?”

“March of last year, there was a complaint of strange odors coming from the residence belonging to a Clifford Campbell. Responding officers, Willis and Verner, reported it was an accidental mixing of cleaning products and no arrest or further investigation was noted.” Dylan leaned back in his chair, crossing his massive arms over his chest. Claire leaned forward, placing her lips to his ear as she squeezed his shoulders, he nodded his head in agreement to whatever she said.

“They were involved in the prostitution sting over on the north side six months later.” Austin added, leaning back in his chair as well.

“When they were both arrested, the mayor took a lot of heat for his own men being involved. I remember them now.” Dylan surmised, a resolved look on his face. “So the cops are paid in pussy, Lucas and Ginny stay the hell out of jail, and the cooking continues.” Dylan rolls his hand, his eyes to the ceiling as his frustration rises. “Keep going, Audrey. There are still dots I need to connect.”

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