Page 77 of (Un)Rivaled

“Is that what you do?” I asked. My dad’s work fascinated me, and I loved to see him in his office, crafting arguments for court. He didn’t work a lot of cases that went to trial, but he always acted like he was heading into battle, wanting each of his clients to get the best of his abilities.

“Sometimes,” he chuckled and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Lately, it feels like it’s all I’ve been doing. There are a lot of people in this world who think they can use their money and power to hurt others.”

“That’s messed up.”

“Yeah, it is,” my dad agreed. “And as an attorney, it's my job to make sure that doesn’t happen, to make sure everyone is held accountable to the law.” He motioned for me to stand, and he grabbed a stick from the ground. “So right now, I’m working with someone who’s going up against a giant.” As he spoke, he drew images in the dirt. “And he tried for a long time to get someone to believe his story. Butthe problem is, he’s going against someone who’s very rich, and everyone believes he’s the good guy.”

“But he’s not?”

“Not at all, Dev.”

I frowned, staring at the drawing in the dirt. I glanced up at my dad, who was watching me with a keen eye. “But you believe him?”

“I do,” he said. “I think it’s my job to make sure his story gets told, that he gets justice.”

I scrunched my nose. “How are you going to do that, Daddy?”

He chuckled and pulled me into a hug. “Good question, Devyn. Honestly, I’m not really sure. But I’m going to figure it out, no matter what it takes.” As I stared up at him in admiration, he continued, “It can take one person to change the tides, Devyn. Just one person standing up for what’s right to make lasting change.”

By the time I come out of the memory, my face is drenched with tears. They streak down my face in waves, and as much as I dread what I look like, I feel free, like the ties of grief and doubt are no longer holding me down. These tears are the last ties to that broken little girl.

My father was my hero, and his quest for justice stayed with me all this time. I ignored its call for years, but Gray helped pull the veil away from my eyes. What had started as an inkling was now a call to action. It would be a shift, definitely a change in the way my life used to be, but I was no longer afraid; instead, I was honored to step into his footsteps.

As I thought back on that memory, something tugged at the back of my mind. I pulled out the journal in my bag, the one he’d written right before he died. I scanned through the journal, hoping the dates aligned. My thumb slowed, and Ilet out an excited chuckle as I found the same week as the camping trip, the one when my dad talked about the case he was working on. Playing back his words, I scanned the page again, searching for any hint of familiarity. There wasn’t much, but one of the meeting notes called out to me. I stared at them harder, trying to match the symbols to the rest on the page. There were only two—likely initials, if my instincts were correct.

“Wait…” I said as I dug my phone out of my pocket, searching Morse code guides in my web browser. We’d eliminated that from the rest of the words; there weren’t enough characters to make up all the dashes and dots needed to create a message. But the symbol for the initials seemed to be made up of just that, the code reimagined into two distinct characters. I could’ve been completely off track, but after days of staring at the pages and getting nowhere, I was willing to try anything.

“B…..G….” I said as I tried to match the symbols. It wasn’t exact, but they seemed pretty close. Maybe everyone else would think I’d lost my mind, but in my gut, I knew I was on to something. As I squinted at the symbols, I noticed a few more lined up in the margins. They were so faint, I’d brushed them off before as stray pen marks. I held up the book, following the dots and dashes until a pattern started to emerge.A date.

I shook my head. The pieces were there, waiting for me, but I wanted to check with everyone else before I continued down this path, wanted Gray at my side if this helped us turn the tides against David. I snapped a quick picture on my phone and sent it off in a group text before getting ready to leave.

As I stood, I placed my hand on top of my dad’s grave. “Thank you, Daddy. For loving me and showing me theway. You’ll be happy to know I found someone who loves me just as fiercely, who encourages and supports me, just like how you would have wanted. I’ll visit again soon and bring him with me.” I chuckled as I imagined my father’s face if he knew I was married to Grayson. “I think you’ll be a little shocked, but I promise, he’s the very best man for me.”

With one last goodbye, I put the journal back into my purse and started walking over to my car. But as I stepped closer, my blood ran cold, meeting the eyes of the last person I expected to see.

“Jack?” I called out, searching over my shoulder for anyone else in the area. My ex-fling was the last person I ever expected to see again, especially after our last meeting. Gray had threatened him into leaving town, and I thought Jack took that message to heart. I hadn’t heard from him since he got me fired, and I had no idea what he was doing here now.

I meant what I told Gray at the time—I could handle Jack. At least, I used to think I could. At the time, I thought he was harmless, just another spoiled, rich man throwing a temper tantrum. But seeing him now, there was no sign of the slick executive I met last year. There was something about the way he was watching me that set me on edge. His appearance was disheveled, his eyes wild, like an animal that had just been let out of its long-term cage.

“Surprise, Devyn,” he said as he stepped closer. “I think we need to have a little talk.”

“Not interested,” I scoffed as I stepped around him.

But before I could get to the safety of my car, he grabbed my arm and slammed me against the passenger side door. Jack snarled as he held my face in one hand, fumbling through his pocket with the other. “You seem to thinkyou’re in control here, Devyn, but it’s about fucking time you shut up and listen.”

“Fuck you,” I snarled as I lifted my leg and tried to knee him in the crotch. Before I could make an impact, Jack twisted, turning so my knee slammed against the car. Pain radiated along my leg, but I bit it down, refusing to let him see any fear in my eyes.

“Here’s how this is going to go, Devyn. You’re going to take a little nap, and when you wake up, we’ll talk.” He pulled a rag out of his pocket, and I shifted, trying to break his hold on me. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get away. As the cloth covered my mouth and nose, Jack whispered, “That’s good. Just like that, Devyn. And if you even think about giving me any trouble, I’ll make Calla pay the price.”

FORTY-THREE

Later that afternoon, after my mom headed to the Lost Tavern, I sat with my dad in the living room. With a college baseball game in the background, it felt like a regular weekend, one we used to have all the time before he got diagnosed. If it wasn’t for his moments of confusion, we could almost pretend everything was just as it was supposed to be.

Looking over at my dad as he shook his head at the umpire’s call, guilt swept through me, hating that I was about to bring up his past. He was happy, happier than I’d seen in a while. But I’d made a promise to Devyn, and honestly, I needed to know for myself. After spending so much time investigating David, I was ready to be done. Ready to start my life with Devyn without his presence hanging over us.

I stood, grabbed one of the journals from the kitchen counter, and walked back into the living room. “Hey, Dad?” I said as I sat next to him. “Take a look at this for me?”

“I’ll be damned,” my dad chuckled as he thumbed through the pages. “Where the hell did you find this old thing?”

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