Tangle of Lies, page 12
“Daddy’s just being awful, and I know he’s not telling me something.” She gestured to Jeff. “I know Greg and Brent did something, but he won’t tell me what.”
“He doesn’t want you to worry.”
“Daddy wants me to get rid of it, but I just can’t,” she gasped through her shuddering tears.
“I know. I promise you it’s going to be all right. You two are going to stay with us until we get you settled in your new house.”
“Mrs. Vindico, we can’t put you out like that,” Jeff argued.
“You’re not putting us out. We have a guest bedroom, and I love to cook. That way we can all get to know each other better.”
“Daddy won’t even let me back in to get my stuff unless I break up with Jeff.” She shuddered against Fionna.
“Your father will come around when he sees that you’re going to stick to your guns,” Dan promised her and then immediately decided that he was going to have a little chat with Governor Sapman.
After Fionna repeatedly insisted that Jeff and Becca were staying with the Vindicos, they left to get ready for their next class. “Fi, baby, that’s really kind of you, but are you sure about letting them stay over?”
“They are sweet and he adores her. And she adores him. I could feel that from both of them. He was going to let her sleep on the couch, and he was going to sleep on the floor because he’s a good guy, but he can’t go to school all day, then go work at Iodex, then go home and do all of his homework over and over until the end of the year sleeping on the floor. They can just stay with us. He’s still exhausted from what those horrible Sapman boys did to him.”
“They cracked his ribs, so I’m certain he didn’t sleep all night. He didn’t tell his mom how bad he was hurting.”
Fionna shook her head. She was on the verge of tears. “You know Spencer could learn a great deal from Jeff.” She narrowed her eyes in disdain but then shook her head. “If you can’t fix the wrongs of the world, create love in it,” she spoke almost to herself. Dan’s brow furrowed. “We can help them and make their lives a little easier. We can love them and accept them, and they both desperately need that, so that’s what we’re going to do. I’ll pick up a few things for dinner and then I think I’ll go by and get Aida. If they tell me I can’t have her, then I’ll cry.” She giggled.
“Let me know if that works, and if they try to do a body scan or they come at you with some sort of probe, I’m going to make them cry,” he informed her.
“Aida will be thrilled. She loves to take care of people.”
“She gets that from her incredible mother.” Dan pulled Fionna close to him, allowing himself just a moment to cast his shield around her and hold her inside of his protective embrace. He needed the world to exist for the two of them alone, even if only for a moment.
“All right, if you’re sure you want to do this.”
“I really do. This is the right thing to do. I can feel it.”
“Yeah.” Dan smiled. “I feel it too.” He surprised himself. Ioses Predilects didn’t feel much of anything. They were driven to protect with every ounce of their energy. But being intertwined with a Receiver had made Dan a better person. She’d taught him to feel not just to think.
“Do you know what Jeff might like to eat?”
“He’s a twenty-year-old guy. He’ll eat pretty much anything as long as it’s supplied in mass quantity.”
She chuckled. “Got it.”
“I have the next period off if you want to stay.” Dan hadn’t intended to sound as pleading as he did.
Fionna gave him his smile. “I need to go get everything ready.”
“I guess I should probably see what I can find out about Chancellor Wilshire, and I need to call my dad about what just happened. Something’s not right with the drug tests.”
Fionna looked crestfallen once again. “I don’t know what’s going on with the drug tests, but Chancellor Wilshire did it. He’s having an affair.”
“Oh honey, I know,” Dan assured her. “I knew as soon as he got within ten feet of you, but they have to have more evidence if they’re going to suspend him.”
“Well, good luck, I guess. It really shouldn’t take more than a Receiver telling them something.”
“I know, baby doll. I just don’t know how to change it.” He squeezed her tight again. “I love you…so much. I would never ever do something like that.” He sensed the plaguing murmurs in her mind.
“I know. I’m the luckiest woman in the world. I have a real man.”
Chapter 13
Admiration and Accolades
Jeff met him outside of his office. “Mentor Vindico, really, you don’t have to put us up. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve already done.”
“If I go home without you and Becca, my wife will be thoroughly disappointed, and here’s a piece of advice if I may—if it is at all within your power not to disappoint your wife, don’t.”
Jeff offered a chuckle. “Are you kidding me? I’ll take your advice all day long. Keep it coming, please.”
Offering him a half grin, Dan tried not to be flattered. “Just let me grab my stuff. Do we need to go by your mom’s and get your things?”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind. I told Bec she could just wear my T-shirts. Her parents won’t even let her come get her clothes. She only has the stuff she snuck out with this morning.”
“I plan to have a little chat with the governor.”
“Do you think you could get through to him?”
“If I can’t, I’d be willing to bet the Haydenshires could.”
“I hate that I’m doing this to her.” Jeff sounded utterly heartbroken.
Dan offered him a kind smile. “You aren’t the one that won’t let her back in her house. If you want to make something better, then fight for it.”
Determination set in Jeff’s eyes as he gave a single nod, but he also looked overwhelmed and exhausted. Becca appeared, glowing crimson and biting her lip nervously. Jeff immediately relieved her of her backpack. “We’ll just follow you. I can get my stuff later. I don’t want you to have to go out of your way.”
Becca shook her head. “I’ll go by your mom’s and get your stuff. Riding in his Ferrari is the only thing that’s actually made you smile in, like, two weeks,” she whispered.
“Where’s your mom’s apartment?” Dan asked.
“It’s way out.”
Dan wondered if Jeff didn’t want him seeing where he lived.
“In Triangle,” he explained uncomfortably.
“If you don’t mind my taking you, it’s only a half hour,” Dan pointed out. “Fi and I live in Arlington.”
“You’re sure?”
“Becca, if you want, I can give you directions to the house and you can go on, or you can follow us.” Dan led the kids toward his car.
“I’ll follow you,” Becca assured him.
Dan didn’t point out that it was a waste of gas, and he was beyond certain that she had a gas card that her daddy paid the bill on. If the governor was determined to break Jeff and Becca up and to get rid of the baby, he’d probably canceled all of her credit cards. Dan decided to keep his mouth shut. They didn’t need any more stress at the moment.
He unlocked the doors and withdrew his shield cast. Jeff walked Becca to her car in the student parking lot and then returned. He couldn’t quite hide his grin as he eased into the passenger seat.
Chuckling, Dan backed out and waited on Becca. Uncomfortable silence drowned the car momentarily.
“Uh…so…how’d you meet Fionna Styler?”
Figuring that was as good a place as any to jump off, Dan smiled. “She attended Venton with me, so we knew each other. But I officially got together with her at an Angels’ after-party at Anglington’s Bar the last challenge of the season.”
“Cool,” Jeff offered distractedly.
“Yeah, it was that.” Dan smiled. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“What do you think of Mentor Sherman?”
“Honestly?”
“I won’t say anything. Just tell me the truth.”
“My God, he is such a loser.”
Dan cracked up. “I knew I liked you.”
“He’s the mentor’s aide in my Energies of Physics class, but he has no freaking clue what he’s doing. Half the time I teach the class for him. And he’s always like, ‘I’m best friends with Rainer Lawson and Logan Haydenshire,” Jeff continued. Dan had struck upon something. “And I’m like, dude, I was friends with Rainer and Logan before they graduated. They were friends with you because Logan’s, like, a really, really nice guy. They are cool. You are not.”
Still laughing, Dan could hardly believe that it had only been a year since Logan and Rainer had graduated. “I’m sorry they couldn’t come out today.”
“It’s okay. We hung out a lot when they were in school. Rainer was the Head of Ioses, so I worked with him a bunch. He was always with Emily though.”
“Yeah, well, they’ve sort of been attached at the hip since they were toddlers.”
“Yeah, I know. I was supposed to go to their wedding with Bec, but I took a subcontracting job on the weekends, so I had to miss it. You and Mrs. Vindico were in the wedding though, right?”
“Yeah.” Dan got onto the interstate and made certain Becca’s car was behind him. “And my daughter was their flower girl.”
“Aida, right?” Jeff quizzed. Dan nodded. “Oh and hey, you don’t have to worry. I’ll just sleep on your couch or whatever. I’m used to it. We won’t do anything at your house.” Jeff’s cheeks blazed red.
Assuming that Aida was Jeff’s concern, Dan shook his head. “You’re not sleeping on my couch. We have a guest bed in the guest bedroom. You desperately need a good night’s sleep. You’re marrying her tomorrow, right?”
“Yes, sir,” Jeff pledged. “Becca’s actually really excited despite everything.”
“This might not be how she had it in her head, but women tend to like knowing that you’re going to be there no matter what, just like we like knowing that.”
“I’m going to be there. My dad never wanted to have anything to do with me. He stopped even paying child support when I was, like, four. I’m not doing that. I’m not making Becca go through this alone, and I’m gonna be there for my kid. I love her.” He sounded almost shocked by his own determination.
“Then you’re already ten times the guy your father is. And I really don’t care what you and Becca do. I’m pretty sure she can’t get more pregnant,” he joked. “I mean, I’d rather not hear it,” he offered wryly, making Jeff glow purple.
Dan pulled into the ancient apartment complex and drove to Jeff’s mother’s apartment in the very back.
“I’ll hurry,” Jeff assured.
“I’m good.”
True to his word, Jeff returned less than three minutes later carrying two duffle bags. He offered three times to drive Becca’s car for her, but she insisted that he ride with Dan.
“He’s like your biggest hero. Ride with him. You’ve been the best guy ever with all of this. You were so brave to talk to him and to my parents, and they were so mean to you, and then my stupid brothers. I love you. I want you to smile again. You were so bummed when he resigned, and now you get to hang out with him.”
They hadn’t realized that Dan had lowered the windows. He wasn’t supposed to have heard that.
“Hey, you said you’d marry me, so I’m the happiest guy around.”
Dan stared down at his phone. Watching them made his heart ache.
“Let’s go,” Becca urged. “Maybe I can help Mrs. Vindico do something. I want to help however we can.”
Jeff walked her back to her car before returning to the Ferrari. He was silent for a minute, and Dan debated asking him about Chancellor Wilshire.
“I read online about you taking down Wretchkinsides’s son in Paris.” His energy was frantic and nervous as he broached the subject.
“Yeah.” Dan nodded. “That was pretty much the worst vacation ever.”
The tension in Jeff’s energy strains eased. “What an idiot. I mean, messing with Mrs. Vindico and your little girl. He had to have a death wish or something.”
“I assured him when we arrested him that if he ever tried something like that again, he’d get his wish.”
Jeff looked deeply impressed. “It’s okay if my mom comes to the wedding thing tomorrow, right?” His thoughts appeared to come in confusing bursts.
“I’m sure.”
“I need to get Becca a ring.”
“Do you have any money?” Dan hoped he wasn’t being nosy.
“A little. I’ve been saving for a ring for a while. But I also tried to help my mom pay the bills so… I hate to get her something from a pawn shop, but that’s really all I can afford.”
“My ring came from a little open-air market in Kauai. I think we paid around seventy-five dollars for it, but I’ve never taken it off. And Fi has her mom’s wedding band. Just like the wedding, it’s what it means to you not how much you paid for it.”
Jeff studied Dan for a long moment. “Yeah, I know, but that engagement ring you gave her had to cost you a bundle.”
Dan couldn’t deny that. “Okay, so life’s a little easier if you get your girlfriend pregnant in your thirties than in your twenties, but doesn’t mean this can’t be done.”
“I couldn’t have done any of this without you. I really can’t thank you enough for the appointment.”
“I really am happy to help. Fi and I would like to be there for you and Becca. This is going to be a long, hard year,” Dan explained though he knew that Jeff was aware of that. “Can I ask you something and you keep it between you and me?”
“Of course.”
“I know you heard the rumor about Chancellor Wilshire.”
“Becca was in one of Mentor Bryant’s classes last year. Trust me, it isn’t just a rumor.”
Stunned disbelief rocked through Dan. “They were messing around at the school?!”
“Not really, but I knew. He was always coming in at the end of Bryant’s classes. She was always up in the admin office. They were just a little too close, you know. I could tell something was up.”
Dan offered Jeff a smile. “You’re gonna make a great detective and an excellent Iodex officer.”
“That’s what I’ve wanted to be forever.”
Dan understood that. It was all he’d ever wanted to do right up until he’d walked out of Anglington’s Bar with Fionna Styler.
“Thanks, but that stuff with Wilshire, that’s not cool. I know I’m only twenty or whatever, but when you marry someone, it seems like that should be forever.”
“Good man.”
Jeff visibly hemmed for a moment. “Hey sir, could I ask you something about the lecture this morning? By the way, that was awesome. I learned more today than I have in the last five years at school. But this has to do with Chancellor Wilshire.”
“Ask.” Dan already knew what was coming.
“Why do you think the chancellor decided to have an affair? It’s against the law in the Realm even though it’s not prosecuted much, but for him it could lose him his job.”
“What you just said is along the lines of what I was really hoping someone would ask. Not about Wilshire necessarily, but about why the consequences aren’t a deterrent. It could and most likely will lose him his job, but consequences very rarely outweigh the underlying reason that someone does something wrong. The knowledge that someone could end up serving time rarely makes them stop and think.”
Intrigue lit in Jeff’s shield. “Okay, so why did Chancellor Wilshire and Mentor Bryant do what they did? Power?” he guessed.
Dan nodded. “And privilege and a whole lot of position. Anyone involved in an affair quickly decides that it is within their power to indulge their lust, and in doing so, they feel more powerful. That can quickly become an addiction. Then they tell themselves that they are powerful enough to keep other people from finding out, so what’s the real harm.” Dan shook his head in disgust. “But in this case, their positions played a big part. He is in authority over her. That can be very compelling from both parties, and again with position, if you’ve indulged once, it’s very easy to keep going because you’ve already broken all of the barriers. There’s always fear that if you’re the one who calls it quits, your partner in crime, quite literally, will then have power over you. They could always tell people. You’ve enslaved yourself to the lie.”
Jeff shook his head. “The whole thing is sick.”
“That it is.” Dan pulled into the garage and Aida appeared. Becca pulled into the driveway.
“Daddy!” She raced into his arms.
“Hey, baby girl.” Dan scooped her up in an exuberant embrace. Jeff carried his duffle bags along with the few items Becca had snuck out of her house that morning. Aida smiled at them. “Aida, this is Jeff and Becca. They’re students of mine and friends of mine and Mommy’s.”
Jeff looked thrilled, and Becca grinned over his exuberance.
“Hi, I’m Aida.”
“Hi there.” Becca beamed at her. They entered the house through the garage. Jeff looked deeply impressed with his surroundings. Becca seemed much more comfortable.
“Mommy said you’re going to spend the night, and that I get to help,” Aida explained.
“Oh, we can help,” Becca leapt. Fionna appeared in one of her many aprons. She loved creating aprons from vintage fabrics with her own design flare, and she was wearing one of her favorites.
“Hey, sweetheart.” Dan relaxed as soon as he saw her.
“Hey.” She brushed a kiss on his cheek. “Well, come on in. Aida, why don’t you show them the guest bedroom so they can put their things away?”
“Okay.” Aida wiggled out of Dan’s arms. “It’s this way.” She pointed up the stairs. Jeff and Becca shared an uncomfortable glance but followed Aida. “This is baby Halia’s room,” she gave them a guided tour. “But mommy’s sewing machine won’t still be in here when Daddy takes baby Halia out of her tummy,” she explained, making Dan and Fionna chuckle. “And this is the guest room.”
