Page 48 of Tear Me Down
“Yeah, baby, but not for long. Let Zeke take you home, and I’ll be there as soon as I can. Don’t start the movie without me, okay?” I hold her a little tighter as she turns in my arms, looking up at me with those delicious brown eyes and nodding delicately. Her lightly sunken features and the dark circles under her eyes don’t evade me, and the way her eyes don’t shine as much as they normally do weakens me.
As I walk her out to her car, a part of me wants to think that after a few weeks, she’ll be better. That after the initial shock wears off, she’ll push through and be back to herself, but I know that’s not true. Serena holds such a large piece of Ashia in her hands that she could destroy her in an instant, and while I know I ultimately own her heart and soul, I do unfortunately share her with that traitorous woman.
I kiss her softly as we say our goodbyes, and as I hold the door to her car, I can see the disappointment in her body language. The way her head hangs subtly, and the urge to wrap her arms around her stomach for comfort, doesn’t go unnoticed.
My protective instincts urge me to tell Carter to fuck off and climb in the car with her, but this is obviously important, somehow needing so much of my attention that Ashia can’t be involved—which worries me even more. I’ll find a way to let her in the loop, no matter what information comes to light, and I’ll just be sure to make it up to her once I get home. Once they drive down the way, I head back inside, stepping confidently through the groups of my men training and walk straight to Carter’s lair.
This better be good.
I walk into his set up, that he’s already clearly made a home out of, and step deep into the room. There’s not as much trash and laundry in here as there was in the Basement, but it’s quickly piling up in the same way. Serena hasn’t spoken to him either in her ‘need for space’ and while it hasn’t affected him quite as much as it has my little wolf, it’s definitely still messing with him on some level. He’s been quiet, too quiet, and even though before it seemed he rarely left his cave, it’s more so now. He’s become a recluse the past week, and though I keep trying to get him to talk to me about it, he’s refused. How is Serena having this effect on the people I care about? I need to try and be patient with him if this doesn’t turn out to be important.
“Has the lab come back with anything yet?” We sent the drugs Ashia found to a trusted lab to be tested, so we know what it’s made of and can track local productions better. Not to mention, if we know the exact components, Carter will have an easier time finding the manufacturing location. “Or do you need help with the USB drives?”
“No, I’m still trying to crack into the security so it doesn’t immediately delete upon entry, and the lab hasn’t come back with anything yet, but there’s something else you need to see.” I walk up to his wall of computer screens and focus on the middle one to see half a birth certificate showing. As I analyze itclosely, a hatred spreads through my chest at the parental names, Mark and Jenny Carpenter.
“Why do you have Ashia’s birth certificate up?” I ask, no longer feeling the need for patience.
“It’s not Ashia’s,” he whispers in disbelief, and I snap my head to him, matching his distress. He points to the screen and scrolls up to show the name of the child, Micah Carpenter.
“Who the fuck is that? Ashia doesn’t have any siblings.”
“Not that she knew of anyway. I was looking up some info on Zeke after he asked to find his birth parents…and D, I'm almost positive this is Zeke’s original birth certificate.” He finally looks at me, and while I see how this discovery is weighing on him, I can also see the certainty in his eyes. “It even has his birthday correct.”
“Are you saying Zeke is her brother?”
“If this is the right Mark and Jenny Carpenter? Yes. That’s exactly what I'm saying.” A loaded silence takes over the room—a looming ghost waiting for this to explode. It’s as if the rotten souls of her parents are lingering and watching, waiting to see their triumph in ruining her from beyond the grave.
“Is there a paper trail on her parents in Tennessee?”
“Yeah. They were both born there, and then starting in nineteen-ninety-two they had a shared address somewhere about an hour outside of Knoxville. Now, that address didn’t change until April of nineteen-ninety-seven.”
“Ashia was six months old then.”
“Right. That’s when they moved here.”
“Have you gotten any information from the hospital in Tennessee?”
“Well, Ashia and Micah, possibly Zeke, were born at different hospitals, and at first I thought that was weird, but then I read the hospital files on Micah Carpenter. Take a look.” He pulls it up on a different screen and I start to read. With every word, the uneasiness in my chest intensifies, creating pressure that makes it hard to swallow.
“So, they found drugs in his system when he was born, and then he was abducted from the hospital nursery?”
“Yeah, technically it’s abduction because they weren’t supposed to give him back to Mark and Jenny. My guess is they took him and ran, but then when he started to detox and they couldn’t handle it, they brought him here to town and dropped him off so they wouldn’t get caught.”
“Which is why they used a different hospital when they had Ashia.”
“Exactly. Now look at Ashia’s birth records.” He pulls them up, and I start reading with sheer focus, afraid of what I’m going to uncover. Though, I release a relieved breath when everything appears normal.
“There weren’t any drugs in her system when she was born,” I say softly, the reprieve apparent in my voice.
“Nope.”
“So you're saying that after they had Ashia, they moved here? Where they abandoned their son?”
He shrugs his shoulders, not quite understanding either.
“Maybe they felt guilty. They were sober when she was born, or at least her mom was.” He gestures to the records.
“Yeah, right until she had her. Then she was cracked out of her mind in the parking lot their whole hospital stay,” I add with a smartass tone, and he shoots me a look of confusion and disgust. “Don’t ask me how she knows that, it’s not a good story.”
