Indulgence (207 page)

“I’ll be fine.”

I walked to her and gave her a hug. She hugged me back, but
her embrace lacked its usual vigor. Kissing her temple, I gathered my things
and headed out the door.

I felt incredibly guilty leaving her and I stood at the
bottom of the porch, pacing the short path for several minutes. My gut was
telling me there were more details that dealt with Cassidy directly; Cal
wouldn’t be so concerned for her if there weren’t. Maybe
he
was who I
needed to talk to. She would kill me if she found out and I couldn’t go behind
her back like that.

My phone alerted me of a text. Smith and Annie were at my
office waiting for me and I couldn’t keep them waiting any longer. I hopped in
the Rover and headed back downtown. The office appeared empty when I arrived,
but I recognized the voices of Smith and Annie coming from my office. I closed
the door for ultimate privacy.

Annie was looking over some files at the table and Smith was
at the wet bar. I dropped my bag on the couch and removed my jacket before
joining Annie at the table as Smith handed me a bottle of water before taking his
seat.

“Did you have any luck finding out who provided the story to
the paper?” I was looking at Smith.

He sighed, “I’m still looking into it. The editor isn’t
revealing his source.”

I slammed my fist on the table.

“Dude, I’m not done. I’ve done a background check on all the
employees. Turns out one of the copy editors had a kid in the same rehab
facility with Dan over the summer.”

“That’s got to be it.” Annie agreed and I thanked Smith.
“That douche bag. What is the point of all of this?”

Annie and Smith both dug through their files and each pulled
out folders. I set the other files aside as we started thumbing through Dan’s
files again. After a good hour or so we were about to go through the files for
the third time when Annie gasped.

“Son of a bitch!” Annie started ripping some papers out of
Smith’s folder and comparing them to hers.

“What is it? What did you find?”

“Mayor Calhoun had a sister, Hilary Young, who was in rehab
when he had the affair with Abigail Charles.”

It only took me a second to register the connection, “Jesus
Christ.” I dropped my head in my hands and rubbed my scalp vigorously. “This is
beyond
fucked up.”

Smith looked confused for a moment then asked, “Are you
saying that Dan Young was Mayor Calhoun’s nephew?”

Annie started to talk and I stopped her. “Mayor Calhoun was
more than his uncle; he was his guardian and had been for years. Hilary was in
and out of rehab programs, all paid for by Calhoun. After Abigail’s death,
Calhoun died a few months later by accidental overdose if I remember correctly.
I remember Dan bragging about all the money he was getting, left to him by his
uncle. Well, the joke was on him. Calhoun was in so much debt that his estate
was worthless. There was only enough money left for Dan and his Mom to afford a
tiny apartment on the other side of town. With Dan’s mom back in the picture,
he started using alongside her. I forgot about all this because Jason died a
month later.”

“Damn, that’s messed up. But why torture Cassidy?” Smith
asked what we all wanted to know.

Annie chimed in, “My guess is he wants to be paid off. He
must have known you’d put it together. Or he’s just cruel.”

Annie might’ve been right. Maybe this was all about money,
but I was worried that it was more than that. “Dan isn’t logical and he has a
nasty streak. Let’s hope I can talk some reason into him.”

“James, should we be looking into Calhoun’s death?
Accidental overdose sounds suspicious to me.”

“Smith is right, James. We need to tread lightly. Her
brother is a cop, right? Why don’t you start there, maybe he can have some pull
to get the case reopened.”

I felt sick but agreed with them both. Cassidy wasn’t going
to handle this very well. There was no telling when Dan knew who Cassidy
really
was. Either way, she would feel like a fool. I would have to talk to Calvin
to get his opinion before we made any moves on Dan. Though, I preferred to kill
Dan. God help him if he was ever in my presence again. I pulled out my cell and
called Cal.

“Cal, its James. Are you free? I need to see you. No, my
office would be best and the sooner the better. Thanks, man. See you soon.” I
set the phone on the table. “He’s on his way. Smith, can you let security know
he’s coming?”

“No problem. Be right back.”

Once Smith left the room, Annie placed her hand on mine and
said, “You love her.”

I turned to look at her. She was smiling broadly while
studying me. I ignored her remark and started asking her some legal questions
about restraining orders and such. We discussed those issues for quite a while.

“James, you love her.”

“What is your problem?”
Why did everyone keep saying
that?
I’d never been in love and probably wouldn’t have known it if it had
smacked me in the face.

“There’s nothing wrong with it. She must be pretty
spectacular if she’s managed to tame the beast.”

I sneered, remembering her nickname for me.

“Have you told her?”

“Annie, how do you know?”

“That you love her?” She waited for my nod. “Does she
consume your thoughts, night and day? Would you walk on broken glass if she
asked you to?”

“I’d kill for her, lay down my life if it meant she was
safe.”

“You love her.” She patted my hand and smiled, “I’m so happy
for you. You need to tell her.”

There was a knock on the door and Cal walked in. He looked
at Annie’s hand on mine and raised his brows.

“That’s my cue. I’ll be in touch.” She smiled at Cal before
gathering her things and walked out the door.

Cal gave me a questioning look. “She’s my attorney and a
friend. Nothing to worry ‘bout.” I sat down on the couch and he did the same on
the opposing one.

“Dude, what’s going on? You’ve got me all suspicious.” He
was trying to smile while wringing his hands together.

I puffed out my cheeks as I exhaled. “I need you to think
like a cop and not like a brother.” He processed my words before nodding in
understanding. “You’ve seen the papers.” He nodded. “You know Dan.”

“I know of him and his record of drug abuse. Of course I
didn’t find out until
after
the shooting. Cassidy wouldn’t have been
dating him had I known.”

“I’m partly to blame there, too, man. Anyways. This is where
it gets messy. Dan is the nephew of Brent Calhoun.” I paused to give him a
minute and I saw the change come over his face when he put it together. His jaw
clenched as his eyes grew dark. “Calhoun had custody of Dan when this all went
down fifteen years ago.”

“Custody? Wouldn’t Dan have been an adult?”

“I believe he was seventeen at the time, a year younger than
me.”

He got up and started pacing my office. I understood his
frustration completely. “What the fuck? You’re sure about this?” I confirmed.
“Is this some revenge plot?”

“Not sure, but it seems that way. There’s more.” His
shoulders sagged visibly. “I’m not sure if you know or not that Calhoun died a
few months later.” He said he knew. “Did you know his cause of death is listed
as an accidental overdose?” That was news to him.

“Holy shit. You think he killed his uncle.”

“
Suspect.
I’ve known Dan since we were kids. He’s
never sat well with me; there’s always been something off about him. Calhoun
gave Dan a life of prestige and privilege. I wouldn’t doubt that if he felt
threatened by your Mom…”

We both paled as my words resonated with us both. This just
got worse and worse. Cal grabbed a bottle of water and started guzzling it
down.

“Cal, I’m sorry. I didn’t think this through.”

“No. It’s fine. You think he killed Calhoun
and
my
mother?”

We sat in silence and I could see the cogs turning in his
head.

“Cassidy needs to know. As much as I want to keep this from
her, she has to know.”

I began to object.

“Dude, you don’t know everything.”

Now I was the one chugging down some water. How could there
possibly be more?

“How much did she tell you about Mom’s death and what
happened after?” I told him all the gory details as he dropped his head and
tilted his neck from side to side eliciting a few pops and cracks.

“It broke her. She blamed herself for Mom’s death for a long
time. It was the most vulnerable time in any girl’s life, but to have that
guilt on her, too, destroyed her spirit. She was in therapy for years.”

“Nothing wrong with therapy.”

“Did you try to kill yourself?” I was speechless. “She
swallowed half a bottle of pills, James. Dad found her just in time. Another
ten minutes and she would’ve been gone.”

“I had no idea. I never…”

“Don’t hold it against her. She was so young and lost. She
worked really hard for a long time to overcome those demons. If she finds out
what we know now about Dan…well…I…she has to hear it from us sooner rather than
later. The more prepared she is, the more proactive she can be in dealing with
it.”

“Okay, that makes sense. Shit, I wanted to keep this from
her.”

“I feel ya, dude. Is she home? I can follow you. Afterward,
I’ll call Dad to fill him in. God, this timing sucks; the wedding is less than
three weeks away.”

“She should be home.”

“You need to be prepared for firestorm Cassidy. You got a
glimpse last weekend, but she’s got one hell of a temper.”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

He laughed, “Dude, I’m telling you. Prepare yourself.”

I simply nodded before gathering my things.

Firestorm

~ CASSIDY ~

I was numb and pissed off. Mom was
pregnant
? I guess
she really
was
planning on leaving Dad,
and
us. I didn’t
understand and I couldn’t wrap my brain around it. I didn’t think I wanted to
understand. James must’ve thought I was a total basket case. After checking my
cell phone and seeing I had no missed calls or texts, I decided to bake some
brownies; chocolate would help. I cranked the stereo, grabbed my laptop and
started browsing aimlessly while waiting for the brownies to finish.

The brownies were cooling on the stove when I heard the
front door open. I watched as James walked in followed by Cal.
Lord help me.

“Ever hear of knocking?” I looked back and forth between the
two of them and they both looked guilty. “What the hell is going on? I know
what this is and I’m not in the mood.”

“Cass, we need to talk to you.” Cal walked over to the
couch, sat down on the end with his body turned toward me and put his hand on
my foot.

“About what?” Looking to James, who was being too quiet and
eyeing me suspiciously, I grew nervous.

“I didn’t want to tell you, but Cal said its best that you
know and I’m starting to agree.”

“You guys are scaring me. Just spit it out.” I set my laptop
down on the coffee table, placed my feet on the floor and started ringing my
hands in my lap.

They told me everything they knew about mom, Dan and any
other information they had at that moment. I was speechless.

Comatose
.

After several minutes, all I heard was the gravely drone of
their voices. James was kneeling in front of me with his hands on my calves. I
stood up and his hands fell to the side as he let me pass. Cal grabbed my wrist
as I tried to walk past him.

“Cassidy…”

“Don’t.” I jerked my wrist violently out of his hand and
looked to James, “How long have you known this?” He looked to me and back to
Cal. “HOW LONG?”

“I’m not sure what you’re asking. We just put the pieces
together today. If you’re asking how long I’ve known Dan is bad news, the
answer is since we were in high school together.” He looked as distraught as he
sounded.

“That’s what you were trying to tell me that night wasn’t
it?” I started pacing between the living room and kitchen. “What did I do to
deserve this, what did Holly do? I don’t understand. If you had said something
sooner maybe Holly would still be here.”

“Cassidy, he had no way of knowing.” Cal came to James’s
defense.

“Cassidy, you have to know that if I could change what
happened that night I would.”

Cal was right and I
knew
James would change it if he
could, but I was unraveling, losing control. I was so God damned mad at the
universe, Dan and my mom. My blood was on fire and I could feel my body shaking
as the anger took over.

~ JAMES ~

She was devastated, again, exactly what I didn’t want. All
of it was my fault. I couldn’t bear to look her in the eyes, knowing the pain
that would be on her beautiful face. Before Cal and I could take cover she
started screaming and throwing everything and anything at us, the wall, and the
floor. It was a hail of glass and knick knacks and throaty screams.

The shattering stopped as she walked toward the mantel and
grabbed the beloved picture of her and Holly, examining it. Just when I thought
she was about to throw it she put it back in its honorary spot. I looked to Cal
and nodded. He seemed to understand.

“Cassidy, I’m going to go now. I love you. You’re going to
be alright.” Looking back to me he said, “Please stay in touch. I’m not working
tonight. I’m going to go see Dad and Lisa and fill them in.”

Cal was gone and her shoulders were heaving as she tried to
get her breathing under control. I walked toward her as glass crunched under my
shoes. For the first time I noticed she was barefoot and there were spots of
blood on the floor. I reached my arm out and gently took some strands of her
hair between my fingers and she shuddered in response. Then, like a chain
reaction, she started sobbing.