One of Six (Den Hollows #1)

30. Beatrice

30

BEATRICE

When David shows up, he is dressed casually in jeans and a blue t-shirt. He looks tired as he joins us on the boat.

Essex offers him a bottle of water, which he accepts with a nod of thanks. "It's been a hell of a day and it's not even noon."

I wince and ask, "Why are Richard and Judge looking for me when Richard gave me the documents?"

David grimaces. "Judge is the driving force behind those documents. Richard didn't know about some of it...or so he says."

I move closer to David and say, "Richard knew what was in them, even if he lied to me about it so I would blindly sign them. I won't."

He nods.

Ed clears his throat to get our attention. "What happened to the gun?"

Essex chuckles. "Blunt and to the point. I like that." He slips an arm around my waist and pulls me against him.

This man makes me feel safe and secure in his arms. I hope that feeling never leaves me.

"I have the gun. I switched it with another one and threw it in the river with Judge by my side."

Ed nods. "Before you got here, I made a connection with the names Elise had on her phone."

"I know them. I don't recognize the earlier names. The one that really stands out is Deedee."

"Did you know her?" I ask.

"I did. Smart woman. Could have worked anywhere with numbers. Didn't need a calculator, but she chose Lincoln Construction." He pauses and looks in my direction. "She had an affair with Richard."

"Holy shit!" Essex blurts out.

I add, "She was pregnant when she died." I let the statement hang in the air.

"I investigated her disappearance and death but found nothing. Richard swore he knew nothing. I never believed him, even though I wanted to." He runs a hand over his face. "Both Richard and Judge are getting suspicious with you around, Ed. We need to end this soon."

"What have you found, Ed?" Essex asks.

"They all have some connection to Lincoln Construction and a huge development called Green Oaks."

I feel a reaction in Essex as he catches his breath. "That's where my father died."

Ed and David both freeze and stare at Essex. I spin in his arms and cradle his bristly jaw. "I'm so sorry," I whisper.

Essex kisses me gently and says, "You have nothing to be sorry for." He holds me close and says over my head. "We have to go to Green Oaks."

"People live there now," David says. "I'm not even sure where to start."

"We need a timeline," Ed adds. "I need something more visual than the laptop."

"Moms got a whiteboard and markers." He shrugs. "She teaches cooking with Daisy and helps with a new mom’s group."

"Let's go," Ed says, closing the laptop.

"He seems eager," I comment, chuckling as Essex groans.

"Atilio can handle Ed and Mom."

Laughing, I step out of his arms. "How old is your mom?"

His eyes narrow as he holds my gaze. I raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to finish.

"Forty-five. She was nineteen when she had Atilio."

"Surely you don't want your mom to be alone for the rest of her life. I mean, it might not be Ed, but one day she might be ready to move on."

Essex swallows hard. "I agree with all of that. It's just hard to imagine her with someone who isn't my dad."

I lean over and kiss his cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too, babe." He plants a kiss on my lips. "We better go, Mom might not be too happy that David is here."

"Oh no! I didn't think of that."

After taking a picture of the whiteboard, Maggie wipes it clean while exchanging glances with Ed.

I glance over at Essex to see if he's noticed, and he has. I catch his eye and he rolls his with a grin on his handsome face.

While they're getting organized, I know what I must do. I join Essex. "I'm going to sit out front and read my mom's letter."

His eyes fill with concern, so I give him a gentle smile. "Give me ten minutes, then come find me, okay?"

"I can do that." A gentle hand caresses my cheek, and then he nods.

I squeeze his hand and walk out. I bypass the table and chairs and very gently settle into the hammock. I retrieve the letter and drop my backpack on the wooden deck.

Tears well in my eyes as I run my fingers over my name on the envelope, written in Mom's unique handwriting.

I swallow hard and open the envelope, surprised to see another envelope appear along with my letter. The other one is addressed to David. I frown, wondering why Mom would leave a letter for David with mine. I put it on my stomach and slowly open mine, my hands shaking.

My darling Beatrice,

If you are reading this letter, then I have left you alone with that monster. That wasn't my intention.

When I began this journey with David so long ago, I had no idea of the depth of Richard's actions. Even though I suffered his beatings over the years, I never imagined what he had done with his father.

One thing I need you to do is give my secret phone to a man named Edwin Carter. His details are in the note’s application on the phone. I will let Edwin tell you who he is to me. Trust him, Beatrice.

Now that I am gone, you must not trust Richard or Judge. They will try to manipulate you. Be strong, my dear girl.

I have loved you since the day you were born. I know I haven't made things easy for you, but please believe me, I've only ever done it to stave off your father's wrath. I saw this whole marriage thing as a waiting game for you, which is why I pushed so hard. It breaks my heart to push you into something neither of us want. I hope you can forgive me.

My wish is that you take the money I left you and go out into the world. Live your life to the fullest with a man who will love you with all his heart. Have a wonderful life, my daughter.

Please don't be angry with me when I tell you that David is the one I should have married. I have loved him since I was a girl of sixteen. Judge had other ideas. Please, Bea, trust David. He would die to protect you because you are his daughter.

With that in mind, I want you to know that I am so proud of you and will always love you. Now dry your eyes and allow David and Edwin to guide you. They love you too.

Be brave.

Love always,

Mom x

Shock runs through me as tears fill my eyes. I stare out over the ocean, the view blurry. So much pain and heartache has been going on around me since before I was born, and I had no idea. None. I never even suspected about Mom and David.

His reaction to Richard killing Mom makes more sense now. I thought he was angry about the mess he'd been left with. But it wasn't. He loved Mom. Is that why he's always been single?

I muffle a sob that turns into a full-blown cry when Essex gently joins me in the hammock and takes me in his arms.

I feel my loss even more now. All this time David knew I was his daughter, and he did nothing. This makes me angry.

My sobs subside and I hand the letter to Essex to read. He rolls out of the hammock and takes me with him. We hit the ground, Essex breaking my fall.

"We're going to the table." He helps me up, grabs some Kleenex, then sits us down at the table.

"Read the letter, please." I don't take my eyes off him as he reads. "Holy shit," he mutters when he gets to the end. "This is fucked up."

"I hate them, Essex. Richard and Judge. They manipulated Mom's life and mine. David's, too. Even though I'm angry at David for not telling me, I can't bring myself to lump him in with them. They screwed up his life too."

"What are you going to do?"

I hold out my hand for the letter and stand up. "I'm going to ask David about everything."

I take a deep breath, feeling Essex behind me as I walk into the office. David and Ed are staring at the board but stop when they notice me.

I stare at David, and he frowns. His eyes drop to the letter in my hand, but he doesn't react. "What is it?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"That I'm your daughter!" I snap. "And that you and Mom loved each other. That's why you're single, right?"

David pulls back and falls into a chair, tears in his eyes. "You're mine," he whispers. "I didn't know." He blinks and the tears fall. "I loved Elisabeth, Beatrice. From the moment we met, she was the only woman for me.

"But Judge interfered, promising to protect her younger brother if she married Richard. The bastard always wanted what I had."

Essex urges me to sit with David and Ed joins us. "My brother Bea was with a bad crowd and would have been sentenced to a long prison term if his case had gone to trial. Judge prevented that. Patrick died of a drug overdose five years later."

"I fought hard to get Judge and Richard to let me marry Elise," says David. "Judge was furious and said that Patrick would only be protected if she married Richard.

"Not a day went by that I didn't love her. But she didn't tell me." David puts his head in his hands and weeps.

My own tears fall as I drop to my knees and move toward David. I pull his hands away, and when I see his devastated face, I know the truth. "You really didn't know."

He shakes his head. "I wondered when she got pregnant. She denied it was possible. Why wouldn't she tell me?"

"Maybe she does, though eighteen years later." I hand him the letter that had been in mine. His hand trembles as he takes it from me.

Essex helps me to my feet as David walks silently out of the room. Through the window I watch him walk to the end of the dock where he sits.

"I'm staying here," I announce. To Essex, "Your mother asked me to move in here, right? If you don't want me, say so now."

"Babe, I still want you anyway I can get you." He grins. "What changed your mind?"

"All the lies. I'm done in Mount Sterling. I belong where you are, and that's here."

"Too right!"

"Hmm, that's all well and good, but I need to set up this timeline. I'll get a colleague at the office to dig deep. My boss has okayed it and is sending two more agents down here because we don't know who Richard has in his pocket. I do know that David is not behind the deaths."

"Which means someone else is," Nico says, coming into the room. "That's fascinating, brother." Eyes narrow on Essex. "You want to fill me in on this shit you're up to?" Pause. "It isn’t optional."

"Essex, maybe you need to fill your family in on everything, and while you're doing that, I'll help Ed set up his timeline... Then I'll go check on David."

"Wait! What? David Lincoln is here?" Nico looks ready for blood.

Fortunately, Essex grabs him. "I'll fill you in and you'll see David in a different light."

"Tell them everything, Essex." I hold his gaze for a moment, then he drags his brother out of the room.

"I need food. Soon," I say, my stomach growling.

Ed doesn't listen as he draws a line across the board. "Read me the year and the names along with the information we have."

"I can do that." I get comfortable with the laptop on my lap and start with Steven Gibbs. By the time I finish with Joshua Redd, forty minutes have passed.

The board is full of Ed's scribbles, and now he switches to a red marker. "Can you print out a map of all the places these people were last seen?"

"I think so. What do you think?"

"All of these people worked for Lincoln Construction in some capacity. They also had some involvement in the Green Oaks project. Green Oaks was huge and took years to complete. It's central to all these places, which means we need the employment records for these people. We know that Deedee worked in accounting. Joshua was a carpenter and contracted by Lincolns. We need an actual paper trail to prove that they all worked at Green Oaks."

"But what would that mean?"

Ed stands with his hands on his hips and his focus on the board. "That's what we have to find out. I need the plans for the project."

"Richard will have a copy in his office at the house. I can look for them."

"No!" He turns. "I'll get a copy. All the locations will be online with the planning office. You stay out of Richard's office."

"I can get Evelyn to be the look out."

"No. I mean it, Bea. It's too risky."

"Okay," I huff.

"Bea?"

"I won't snoop."

Ed rolls his eyes. "Don't think I don't know you're crossing your fingers."

I grin. "Oops." I move the laptop to an end table. "I'll go check on David."

"I'm going to kill them," David says as he senses my approach. "They took everything." He looks devastated as he turns to me.

I feel overwhelmed. What do I say to this man, my father? I don't say anything, but I sit down next to him, wrap my arms around one of his and rest my head on his shoulder. We sit in silence for a long time before he rests his cheek on my head.

"She didn't tell me about you because she was afraid of what Richard and Judge would do to me if she did." He sighs. "All this time, Elisabeth gave me a daughter and I didn't know it."

I want to cry with him. I say, "We know the truth now. When this is over, we can spend time together. I know we have over the years, but I don't know you. I want to, Dad ."

David cries and I stay close to him until he calms down. "Did Ed do the timeline?"

"With my help, yes." I pull away gently and add with a smile. "He's in the kitchen flirting with Maggie."

He groans. "That's not going to go down well with her six sons."

"Essex is more than happy to leave that to Atilio."

He grunts and gets to his feet. He holds out his hands and takes mine, pulling me to my feet. "We're going to get them good, Bea. I promise you that."

"You have to promise me you won't do anything stupid. I need you."

Watching me carefully, he pulls me into his arms. "I promise. I need you too. I'll teach you to fish."

"Um, is that optional?"

He chuckles. "Still don't like bait, huh?"

"That'll never change."

I'm about to step into the house when David stops me. "I meant what I said before. The only time I ever killed anyone was a drug dealer who tried to shoot me. Luckily, his aim was bad. Mine wasn't."

"I believe you. I did before, too."