Page 28 of Destiny

“But I don’t understand something. If she was kept under sedation at her own request, how could someone else make these decisions for her? And how does someone get to decide to stay under sedation at her own request, anyway? Any hospital worth anything wouldn’t—”

“Ava”—Mom gestures to me to quiet down—“if there’s one thing Dad and I know about his mother, it’s that she can get things done that others can’t. She somehow managed to escape lockdown in a mental health facility twenty-five years ago. No one knows how she does it. She gets people on the inside to trust her, and she waves money around. That’s my theory, anyway.”

I lock my gaze on the tiled kitchen floor. “I can’t help it, Mom. I’m still kind of disgusted about the wayourfamily throws our name around to get what we want.”

“We do what we have to do.” Mom sighs. “It’s not always pretty, Ava. We have to protect our own.”

“From this woman? This sickly old woman?”

“Yes. Absolutely. You’ve heard the stories.”

She’s right. I have. But it’s so far removed from me. The stories were horrendous. I cried. But still, it’s difficult to believe that the frail old woman in that room is the same person responsible for so much horror.

“Yes, she was obviously awful in her day. But she’s no threat to anyone in her current state. When I went to see her in the hospital—”

“Youwhat?”

“Yes. I went with Brock.”

“What the hell does Brock have to do with any of this?”

“He has everything to do with it, Mom, and you know it.”

Mom sighs again. “You’re right. I suppose we all allowed ourselves to become complacent. It’s been clear, ever since Talon got shot, that things aren’t over for the family. That the past is coming back to haunt us.”

“Yes. And that trafficking ring… Brock and Uncle Joe may have gotten it off our property, but it may still be operating.”

“I know. We’ve got our investigators looking into it.”

“Well, you guys have the best.”

“We thought we did. But then again, we had to change our security company. In fact, that’s another long story, Ava.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know you’re not, but I am.” Mom pours a cup of tea, dips the tea bag. “I’m going to bed. It’s time for this day to end.”

I regard my mother—her pretty face, her beautiful blue eyes…and the dark circles under them.

She’s tired. Tired and worried. Her brow is wrinkled, and her normally rosy cheeks are pale.

I lean toward her, give her a kiss on her cheek. “Go to bed, Mom. Try to get some sleep.”

“I don’t sleep well without your father next to me, but I have to try.” She takes her tea and walks out of the kitchen.

I pour myself a glass of water, add ice, and then I head back down the hallway to the room where my grandmother sleeps. I walk through the sitting area and into the bedroom.

“Anything?” I say to my father as I enter.

He’s sitting in a recliner next to the bed where his birth mother sleeps. “She’s still out. I told Jemima to get some sleep. She and Dr. Parks are in the rooms across the hallway.”

I nod. “I think Dr. Parks and Mom are right. I don’t think Wendy’s going to wake up. Not until morning at least.”

“I know they’re right, but I’m not leaving her side.”

“Dad?”

“Yeah?”

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