Hellion, a New Adult Romance Novel(72)
“You don’t need to worry about that part of it. Just do your job. Please.” I pull Teagan the rest of the way out of the conference room and stride down the hallway, dragging her along next to me. I have to put my shoulder into it because she’s turned into a human sandbag.
“I can’t believe it,” she says, her voice mostly a whisper. “I can’t believe she would do something like that.”
We are out the front door before I feel comfortable answering. I stop and look her in the eyes. “What I said in there about your dad, I believe. But they can’t just pull stories like this out of their assholes without some kind of evidence. This isn’t television. Judges don’t fall for that shit. Something was up with your dad, so we just have to find out what it is.” We start walking again.
“My dad was healthy and smart and totally with it,” Teagan says, her tone defensive.
We reach her car in the parking lot and I stop with her at her door. “You don’t believe that one hundred percent,” I say, testing the waters. I don’t want her flipping out on me, but I need her to be truthful.
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you don’t. I heard you hesitate in there and here now, too. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
I put my hand on the door so she can’t open it.
She sighs heavily and swipes the back of her hand over her eyes. “Fine. The last time I talked to him he sounded weird.”
“Weird how?”
“Weird weird. Like, not confident anymore.” She shakes her head in frustration. “Never mind. It’s stupid.”
I turn her by the shoulders to face me. “No, it’s not stupid. It’s your dad. Tell me what happened.”
Tears come out and slide down her cheeks. She doesn’t bother to wipe them away this time. “He was just … out of it. He’s never out of it.”
“Details, Tea-Tea. Details.”
“When he called me, he sounded drunk. But not drunk, you know?”
“No, I don’t know. Explain.” I feel like I’m talking to my brother right now. I try not to get mad at her for it.
“Just disoriented. Frustrated with himself. And he told me he loved me.”
“You didn’t tell me that before.” I know how weird that must have been for her. “He’s never said that, has he?”
“No, not that I could remember. I didn’t say anything about it because it was embarrassing. My dad never lost his cool, never drank more than one drink, never said anything at all mushy. He was just … him. The boss. The guy who paid the bills and made me come home every summer to be bored out of my mind. He wasn’t a mess, which is what he sounded like that day. I just wrote it off as a bad dream or something.”
I put my hands on her cheeks. “You are not responsible for what happened to him.”
She bursts out bawling.
Crash! Hammer goes boom on that nail head.
“I should have called a doctor!” she wails. “I should have gone to see him! I should have called him back!”
“Stop it!” I shout in her face. And then I continue more calmly. “Stop freaking out over something that’s not your fault. When did he call you? Can you remember?”
She shakes her head. “It was weeks before he died. It wasn’t just before it happened.”
I grab her by the shoulders and squeeze, giving her upper body a little wiggle to get her attention back on me. “Listen, there’s nothing you could have done. He had a heart attack and he passed away, which is awful, I know that and you’re right to be sad. But if there’s anything that they did, those ass-munching company stealing I-don’t-want-to-say-the-word-I’m-thinking kind of people, we need to figure out what it was.” I can’t say the word murderers in Teagan’s presence. She’ll lose what little cool she has left and probably run out into traffic.
She nods through her tears. Again, I’m reminded of Jersey.
“Come on. Let’s go talk to Rebel.”
I take her keys from her and put her in the passenger seat. Once she’s buckled, I drive back to Rebel Wheels, keeping one eye on the road and the other on my friend. She’s fallen into a trance.
I text Rebel at a stoplight just a few blocks away from our destination and tell him to meet us outside so at least I won’t have to try and carry her in. I’ve never seen her look so devastated. I’m worried sick by the time we get to the Rebel Wheels parking lot.