Page 68 of Mr. Bad News

"Ian, I'm not really in the mood for jokes so unless you have something that you need to say I'm going to call you later." As I get ready to hang up the phone he clears his throat.

"Well, yeah, I did call you for something. our father called me and asked me to come over. He says that he may have a way for all of us to come out of this unscathed. He said there was a way for me to help save the family. That he'd be forever grateful. He seemed so different than usual but I still don't know what he has got planned." Ian says and I instantly sit up straight.

"You want me to come with you?" I ask trying to gauge what he's calling me for.

"Yes." He answers quickly on a forced breath. "I don't know what's going on but I just don't think I should be alone with him right now not after how hostile we were to each other the last time we saw each other. Something seems really off about all of this."

I don't know what my father has planned but if it has something to do with saving our legacy I should be a part of it too. After all it's actually my fault that all of this is going down in the first place. "Give me a few minutes and I'll meet you at your house."

"Okay, also I'm not meeting him at your parent's house. He gave me some house at a farm? It's one of the reasons I'm so pensive about the whole thing." Ian admits and I can here the suspicion through the phone.

"Wait, you don't think Dad's going to whack you or something... do you?" I try to stifle my amusement but I can't keep the laughter away.

"Fuck yes I do." Ian says forcefully through the phone and I burst out laughing for the first time in days.

"Ian, our father isn't in the mob or some big crime lord or anything like that." Putting my feet on the floor, I stretch my legs before I get up and go to my dresser to pull out some clothes.

"It's not like I'd know that besides, what the hell is the point of making me come all the way out to a farm that no one knows about if not to kill me and hide the body." Ian's voice is going up a few octaves and I can do nothing but shake my head at the ridiculousness of it

"Ian, he's not going to kill your. Relax.. I'll be there to pick you up in a few minutes." I hang up the phone and walk into the large bathroom to get myself ready for the day. As I wash the grunge away from my skin I think about the situation that Ian just described to me. It is a bit strange that Dad would call him to come to the farm house. I know which one it is before even finding out the address. It's an old farm that belonged to my mother's mother. Nana left it to my mother when she passed away but dad thought it was too far away from the city to be practical. We got rid of all the animals but my mother could never get rid of the farm itself. Once a year she sends someone out there to perform the upkeep on the place so it's still livable if we ever wanted to go and spend some time there. No one knows it's there which is probably why my father is there in the first place. No reporters.

But why wouldn't he call me to come along too? Why just Ian? Unless he is going to... Nah. There's no way.

I push the thought out of my head and continuing getting ready for my day. The first one on the road to the rest of my life.

* * *

The drive to the farm is a lot longer than I remember but I'm happy to be moving instead of just sitting there in the house thinking about Ella. Now I can think about her while trying to control a few thousand pounds worth of metal.

"So what happened after Camille left? Did you and Ella talk?" Ian asks, completely invested in the story that I've been telling him. I explained to him how Camille came to the house trying to console me and at the same time Ella came to talk.

"No, did you not hear what she told me. That was the last contact that she and I had. Hopefully, it's the last contact we will ever have." I grip the steering wheel hard.

"Hmm." Ian leans back in his seat but doesn't say anything besides that cryptic as fuck sound.

"Hmm? What the hell is Hmm? What do you want to say Ian?" I cut my eyes at him slightly before I focus on the road again.

"It's nothing. I'm already on fucked up grounds in the family. I don't need everyone to hate me." He shrugs and looks out the window.

"No fuck that, say what you have to say. I'm not going to hate you." I turn to look at him again for a longer second and he tilts his head slightly before turning back in my direction.

"You say that shit now then tomorrow I'll never hear from you again but whatever here it goes. None of this shit sounds like something Ella would have done. I didn't think so when you said it in the office the other day but I let it go because you know more than I do when it comes to her but for her to be so adamant that she needs to talk to you after she would have done something like this just doesn't seem like it's something she'd do. When she was at my place that night after Dad and I had our big blow up, I knew within minutes that she was in love with you. I can't see how someone who is that in love with someone can go from that to just fucking them over the next minute." Ian shrugs and I smile at his naivety.

I wish I could still believe in people the way he does but I can't. "You'd be surprised just what kind of fucked up shit people will do if it meant that they'd be able to get ahead in this world. There is no other option. Ella is the only person that knows all this stuff. The only one I've ever told. There's no other way that it come out if it weren't for her." I quickly go through the rolodex of people that know anything about Ian being my brother and again I come up with the same conclusion. It's Ella.

"If you say so brother. I hope you're right because if your not, you just ran off the best woman I've ever met." He huffs a breath through his nose before he turns and looks back through the window.

Ella is the best woman I've ever met if only she was the woman for me. Pulling onto the farm I only see one car behind the old run down barn. It's my fathers truck, a gray off road vehicle. I remember seeing him working on it when I was a young kid but we never used it to go anywhere.

"Wow what is this place?" Ian asks looking around in amazement.

"It's my grandmother's farm. I've only been here a few times but every time we've come I always leave much more at ease than when I left. I'm not sure it'll happen this time.

Ian and I get out of the car and walk into the house only to see my father sitting in the main living room with a pair of khaki's and a T-shirt pulled on. It's been such a long time since I've ever seen him so dressed down. The man wears dressing gowns to sleep.

"Percy, what are you doing here?" My father glares at me for a second before he smoothes the lines out of his face so it seems like he's not as upset as he truly is. I guess me being here with Ian is going against what ever plan he had.

"Ian needed some support so here I am." I keep my eyes glued on him in hopes to telepathically tell my father that I'm not going to let him get away with whatever he plans on doing to my brother. Not any more.

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