Page 32 of Our Lips Are Sealed
Yes, but by how much? Ben had hidden the death of the woman he loved, making one wonder what else he was capable of doing.
“Let’s go back to the girl. Why did Charlie bring her to Haven House?” Liam asked. “Or is that just the place where all the Fairweathers stuffed their pregnant mistresses?”
Samuel stilled, watching Liam with that preternatural stillness of his. “Take some advice, Cohen, and don’t piss me off,” he said in a low voice. “I’m here, willingly speaking to you without a lawyer, but if your stupid fucking snide comments continue, I can change that.”
“If you feel as though you need to call your counsel, I encourage you to do so,” Liam said, calling his bluff. “I can wait.”
“Bringing a lawyer into this discussion will only stall the investigation further.”
“It will,” Liam agreed. “Is that what you want?”
“What I want is for this to be over, and for you to go back to Missouri.”
“Then continue.”
The lack of apology over the mistress comment didn’t go unnoticed, and Samuel stared at him, waiting. If Liam had learned one thing about the Fairweathers, it was that entering a battle of wills with them was pointless. They weren’t the type to bend, and trying to make them do so would waste about as much time as bringing a lawyer to the table.
Liam raised his hands in surrender. “Please continue.”
“My dad fought hard to keep Rebecca out of Haven House,” Samuel said, satisfied. “But Charlie threatened to tell their father about Selah.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Charlie would have exposed his own secret if he did that.”
“You’re still not getting it,” Samuel sighed. “Charlie thought his child was in a safer position because Rebecca was white. He was too stupid to realize that neither woman would be considered suitable mistress material in their father’s eyes. They were a threat to the business, and James would have disposed of the women, black or white, the same way.”
“What do you mean, disposed of?”
Samuel glanced down at the phone to ensure the recording remained paused. “Use your imagination.”
“Is that who killed these people?” Liam asked. “Your grandfather?”
“No, I just want you to understand why my dad let Rebecca come to Haven. He was trying to protect Selah,” Samuel told him. “In the beginning, everything was fine. My mom said Haven House was an amazing place, especially once Laura Jean came to live there. The four women were best friends. Until they weren’t.”
“What changed?”
“Rebecca had two more children with Charlie. Their names were Toby and CeCe. But it was after CeCe’s birth that she just kind of gave up on being a mother and let Charlie get her involved in all kinds of shit. Drugs, gambling, stuff like that.”
Samuel picked up Olivia’s death certificate, holding it in front of him. “In the summer of ’99, construction on my dad’s beach house was complete, and we were all going to spend our first night in the house after we watched the Fourth of July fireworks.”
“Your dad and Laura Jean were taking Rebecca’s kids with them to the beach house, weren’t they?” Liam guessed. “Rebecca couldn’t care for them, and they were going to take them from her.”
“Things were at their worst by then. Rebecca was living out in her cottage full time, hardly coming to the main house. She never saw her kids, and when Vivian kicked Charlie out, he moved in with her and things got even worse,” Samuel explained. “The plan was to break them apart and get Rebecca into a rehab. Once she was clean, the women were going to get her and the kids settled somewhere where they could build a life together without Charlie. Toby was to go with Laura Jean and my dad, while CeCe stayed with Simone and Devon since they’d practically raised her as their own, anyway.”
“And what about Olivia?”
The lines around Samuel’s mouth deepened. “Livy was coming to live with me at Parkland Grounds,” he said, softly. “The three of us were so excited. Mom and Josie always wanted more kids, but for me, it was going to be nice to have someone else my age in the house. Parkland can be a lonely place, and Livy and I got along well, which was rare for me. I wasn’t what you would call a pleasant child.”
Liam didn’t exactly think he was a pleasant adult, either.
“How did she die, Samuel?”
Rolling his shoulders like he needed to break up whatever was going on inside him, Samuel’s hard gaze met his. “We were in the ballroom, listening to music and waiting for everyone to get ready to leave for the fireworks. Evie was there with Toby, Livy, and Jamison. Dad came in with me, and I remember Laura Jean tried to get him to dance. Jamison wanted to dance too, and I picked her up.”
Rising, Samuel went to stand before the glass wall, watching life on his beach being lived in the simplest of ways. Families in all different shapes and sizes gathered together in the sand, creating memories they would hold dear for a lifetime.
“I didn’t see Rebecca standing in the doorway until the first gunshot went off,” he said at last. “She shot Laura Jean first, and then aimed the gun at Jamison.”
Liam’s gut squeezed at the thought of a gun pointed towards a baby Jamison. “Keep going.”
