Page 111 of Irons

I pulled out my phone and dialed Creed as I walked outside.

“It’s not bath time yet, she hasn’t had dinner and she’s drawing a picture for Weston. I think he might have a broken leg in it though. Could be a threat, not sure. So, it’s early, what’s up?” Creed asked.

“We have a big problem.” I warned him.

“No, Melissa has a big problem. Drakos proposed and he’s her problem now.” He chuckled. “Felicity’s girls are already planning the celebration, I mean bridal shower.”

“Listen Creed, I don’t have much time.” I told him everything that happened today. I went more in depth about Brock and practically recited the entire conversation with my mother. I didn’t leave anything out. Not even my huge fuck up by blurting out that Bobby was in the ocean.

“Jesus Irons, you’re not going to tell her anything are you?”

I paced on the back porch. “What if it were Addie and I knew what happened to her but wouldn’t tell you? She is a horrible mother, but she’s still a mother.”

“We could lose everything Irons. That includes my kids.” He warned me.

“She knows he is dead. We can either trust her or she will go to the authorities or even someone more powerful to get the answers out of us. Don’t doubt her, she has dedicated her life to get these answers, and she has very powerful friends.”

“She’s married to the fucking detective on the case!” He reminded me. “How will she explain her new lack of interest to him?”

Good point.

“Fine, I’ll figure it out.” I had no idea how to get that woman out of Clint’s house.

“Good, and don’t do anything without contacting me first.”

I ended the call then grabbed three beers and took them with me to the family room. I handed a beer to Wrenly.

“Thank you.” She accepted it.

I tried to hand one to mom, but she shook her head. “No thank you.”

“Suit yourself.” I took a seat on the sofa and set the extra beer on the end table.

“Did you have time to make your decision?” Mom asked.

“There’s nothing to tell you. I know this hurts to hear but I don’t have the information you are seeking. My organizationis just now dipping into private investigations. We don’t work like Deacon Alexander. That’s right, I know which organization you were speaking of because he’s the only ambulance chaser, or Amber Alert chaser if you will, that preys upon the vulnerabilities of desperate parents. We don’t work that way, and we don’t chase down cases. Our contracts are presented to us by the very people that have the power to protect us. Not all of my business is contract work. We are not the organization you need for Bobby’s case.” Surely Wrenly knew I was lying through my teeth.

My mother sat back and studied me. Not in a negative way, but something else. She eventually leaned forward. “I know you have to protect yourself and your business partners. I also know you have the information I’ve desperately searched for all these years. You’re under no obligation to tell me anything. I’m also intelligent enough to know you’re between a rock and a hard place. You want to tell me, but you don’t trust me. That’s understandable with your step father being who he is, but you can trust me. I’m not the woman you believe I am, Travis. There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, your step father, your Uncle Tony.” She paused and looked at Wrenly. “Or Clint. Things Heather doesn’t even know.” She looked back to me. “I have a meeting in the morning, a lunch date, and another meeting in the afternoon. Your sister gets home from school at three thirty. Allow me to get her settled then you can meet me at this address.” She pulled a slip of paper and a pen from her purse and wrote it down before handing it to me. “Your step father is not your enemy. I’m prepared to show you all my cards in exchange for anything you have on Bobby's disappearance, then I hope we can find some common ground as mother and son.” She dabbed her eyes with a tissue then threw it in her purse before she stood. “I will meet you at that address at fivethirty, join me and learn just what kind of woman I am, but do not breathe a word of this to anyone, not even Clint. He doesn’t care much for me because of my treatment of you, but we do have common interests. If he needs to be consulted, I’ll do that myself.”

Too Much

Wrenly

His mind was working on overtime and so was mine. He experienced so much in one day and I wasn’t sure how he was keeping his thoughts straight. I felt guilty for begging him to come home for me. He was facing everything he avoided for all those years. He was brave to face it all, just so that we had the peace we needed to grow our relationship. He knew there was a chance this would happen, but he came home with me anyway.

Paula left before the pizza arrived and Travis didn’t take one bite. I managed a couple of bites, but I learned quickly that my stomach was in knots and wanted nothing to do with food. My family wasn’t home yet when we climbed into bed. It was quiet for a while as Travis laid on his back with his hands behind his head. He stared at the ceiling for a very long time.

I cringed when he opened his mouth and didn’t speak a word yet, but I knew it was coming. “Is my mother blackmailing us or someone else?”

I scooted in closer then curled into him. My head rested on his shoulder, prompting his arm to wrap around me. “I don’t think it’s blackmail, but I do think she has something important to hide and she’s willing to give you leverage with it.”

“Should we meet with her or just let it go?”

“I’m not going to pretend that it was hard to put the pieces together. I heard everything the two of you said, especially the part about Bobby being in the ocean. You were about to say something to incriminate yourself so that’s why I flew into the room to stop you. Am I wrong in my presumption that you eliminated Bobby’s killers?”

He didn’t allow himself to answer quickly so I waited. “You know I can’t answer that, Wrenly.”

“That’s one way to confirm it without actually confirming it. Just so you know, I would have done the same thing. I know how things work at Creed’s Lake.”

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