One Step Closer(66)

Macy sighed. “That’s too bad.” Even she had to admit the situation sounded overly harsh.

Caleb’s mind flashed back to a painful memory. “Yeah. I almost got arrested for assault once. Veronica went into Wren’s room and hacked a big chunk of her hair off. Can you believe that shit?” The fingers of his left hand grazed his strong chin as he rested his elbow against the door. “It was gorgeous and she f*cking cut it off.”

“What did you do?” Macy asked softly, watching the emotion cross his features as he drove.

“I f*cked her up. When I heard Wren crying and I went up there and saw what had happened; I lost it.” He could remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday.

“Wren!” Caleb ran into her room at the sound of her sobbing. It was those harsh, wracking sobs that you feel in your chest, even if they aren’t your own. “What the hell?” he asked in shock as he looked down upon her.

She was on the floor, leaning on her bed. On one side of her head, her hair was wacked off at the shoulder and he saw it, even though she had buried her face in her bent arms. Next to her on the carpet was a big chunk of her hair and a pair of scissors lying side-by-side. Seeing it, Caleb didn’t need to ask what happened.

“That cunt!” he had bellowed. “I’m going to f*cking kill her, Wren!”

He fell to his knees and gathered her close; her small form melting into him as she cried. His hand cupped her head and his other arm pulled her into the cradle of his arms. “I’ll take care of this, Bird. I swear to God, she’ll never touch you again.”

After a couple of minutes, Caleb cupped her cheek with his palm. “Stay here, and lock the door when I leave.”

“Caleb, don’t get in trouble,” Wren pleaded in a sad voice, her hand feeling at her head to assess the damage. Her chin started to tremble again. She’d have to get it all cut off if it was going to look like anything.

“Just stay here.”

He grabbed the scissors by the blades and shot out of the room like a rocket, slamming the door behind him.

“I had the scissors in my hand when I went to find my stepmother.”

“Oh dear God! Did you stab her?”

Caleb grunted, and shook his head with the start of a devious grin. “No. I got my dad’s electric beard trimmer out of his bathroom, then found Veronica, backhanded her, and sent her flying to the floor. It’s the only time I’ve ever hit a woman, but it was so I could pin her down and mow a strip down the center of her head.”

Macy couldn’t decide if she was horrified or if it was funny in some twisted way. “What happened?”

“She screamed like a banshee and I went back upstairs with Wren and waited for the cops to show up. Veronica called them, and they hauled me to jail, but my dad posted bail a couple of hours later and Jonathan got the charges dropped.”

They arrived at the law offices and Caleb pulled into a parking spot near the door. It was Sunday and the lot was completely empty except for Jonathan’s BMW. When Caleb put the car in park, he glanced at Macy. “After that, my dad and I had an understanding that he’d keep Veronica away from me and Wren, or I was going to beat the shit out of her, and f*ck the consequences.”

“So, your dad was better after that?”

“He was less in my face, but he got back at me when he shipped me off to MIT.”

“Why, if you didn’t want to go?”

“That’s another story. I have to go inside.” He shut the car off, but left the fob in the middle console for her. “It’s nice, so you might enjoy having the windows down, and of course the stereo. This shouldn’t take long.”

Caleb left Macy in the front seat of the car and walked into the elegant building that housed Jonathan’s law firm. It was in an older part of Denver, and his offices were in an old Victorian house that had been renovated. The interior was indicative of Jonathan: elegant and majestic, with rich furnishings, fine wood and leather, with bookcases lining several of the walls.

Caleb knew the old house well, and had spent a lot of time in Jonathan’s office when he was younger. He made his way through the halls to the back, past several other offices, to the largest one at the end.

Jonathan was in a dark suit sitting at his desk, with two sets of papers sitting in front of him. He looked up when he heard Caleb approach.

“Hello, son.” His voice was warm and welcoming as he indicated a one of the two chairs in front of his desk he wanted Caleb to sit in. “Take a seat.”

Caleb sat down, only nodding to the older man.

“There are a couple of things to go over, Caleb. Normally, the will would be sealed until the reading, but this isn’t a typical situation and your father asked me to go over it with you to make sure you are fully aware of the choice.”

Caleb’s elbows were resting on the arms of the leather occasional chair he was sitting in and he opened his hands, palms up. “You don’t need to. I get everything, or we split it. What’s to go over?”

“He just wanted to make sure you understood the five-year provision, and that I explained a couple of other things.”

Caleb felt impatient. It was warm in the office and he had the urge to loosen his tie and unbutton the top button of his shirt. “You told me the other day. We can’t sell for five years. If we walk, we can’t give it to charity because of the implications to the stockholders. Both of us have to commit to the five years or we lose everything. Am I missing anything?”