Page 125 of Family Bonds- Garrett & Justine

“The camera locations?” Jordan asked.

“Yes,” Karly said. “From what we can gather, there were a lot of conversations from the tapes going back over a year. You can hear fights about her drinking. That she was sneaking it when he wasn’t around, hiding it in other drinks. There are several fights where Elise has been physically abusive to your father and he never once fought back. He walked away.”

Justine nodded her head. “He’d be embarrassed for people to know he was subjected to that.”

“But he wouldn’t give in and fight back,” Jordan said. “We know that and you know that. Even if you had your doubts.”

“I hated having doubts,” she said, sniffling.

Garrett grabbed the tissues on the table and moved them toward her. “It’s only natural to have them and the strongest people do at different times in their life. Never think otherwise.”

“Thank you for that,” she said. “I’m ready. I think we need to get this over with.”

“First,” Karly said. “Did you know your father had a gun in his office?”

“No,” she said. “That came as a shock to me and to find out that it was registered to him more so.”

Which she knew was part of Elise’s defense. That her father had this planned all along.

Maybe it was her father who had it planned for his defense more than anything.

No one would know the reasons now.

“Can you see the screen?” Karly asked after she hit a few buttons to share what they were going to watch.

“I can,” Jordan said.

“I wish I was there with you, Jordan,” Justine said.

She had Garrett next to her, but her sister was alone.

She closed her eyes and took two deep breaths.

“Let us know when you’re ready,” Karly said. “It’s graphic and we can stop at any point.”

“Don’t stop it,” Jordan said. “I want to see it. I need to. Justine can leave the room if she changes her mind.”

“I won’t,” she said. She turned to Garrett. “Don’t let me leave. Please. I need to do this.”

“I’ll be right here,” he said, reaching to hold her hand.

Karly hit the button and they watched Elise in the kitchen with a bottle of what looked like vodka that she was pouring into her coffee, then hiding the bottle way in the back of a cabinet where no one would think to look.

Then Elise went about cooking dinner as if she wasn’t secretly getting drunk.

Karly paused it. “I fast-forwarded to spare you, but she’d been drinking for hours at this point.”

Justine snorted. “She doesn’t even look drunk.”

“No,” Roark said. “She obviously has a high tolerance of it.”

Her father walked into the kitchen after Karly fast-forwarded the video of Elise cooking for ten minutes.

She felt the tear roll down her cheek when her father’s voice was heard. “What’s for dinner?”

“What I feel like cooking on the budget you give me for food,” Elise said sarcastically.

Her father shook his head, didn’t say a word, and walked out of the room.

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