Sweet Retribution (Rydeville High Elite #3)(53)
“Maybe, we won’t ever know,” Rick says.
“We all know he’s a twisted fuck,” Kai adds, as we start walking along the hallway toward the elevator. “So, maybe, it was just a mindfuck to him. Maybe there is no reason for it.”
There’s no denying Father is cruel for cruelty’s sake, so Kai’s assertion could very well be the truth.
As we drive back to Rydeville, my mind churns endlessly, trying to figure it out. Something the doctor said has stuck with me, and I can’t get it out of my head. Something is just out of my reach. Something poking and prodding at the back of my mind, silently screaming at me to wake up and realize it. It’s frustrating the hell out of me, and I’m wracking my brains to work it out.
“You okay?” Kai asks, tilting my face up to his, and a ping echoes in my mind as it finally dawns on me.
I twist in the back seat, glancing between him and Drew, as I scramble to decipher my thoughts. “I’m trying to figure it out,” I admit. “And I’m wondering if Father was telling the truth.”
“I’m not following,” Kai says.
“What if he said it because he genuinely believes it to be true?” Drew’s eyes widen as his train of thought aligns to mine. “What if he demanded that of the doctor at Parkhurst, but instead of fulfilling his wishes, the doctor didn’t perform the surgery and implanted the birth control implant in case I accidentally got pregnant, to hide what he’d done?”
“Why would he do that?” Kai asks. “They are all monsters.”
“Maybe this guy has a moral compass. Maybe not all of them are monsters.” I sit up, poking my head through the gap in the two front seats. “Maybe we’ve just discovered a way to identify the ally in the medical facility we’ve been looking for.”
There’s a new spring in my step the next morning, and I can’t describe how ecstatic I am to know I haven’t lost the ability to carry children. That I can someday look forward to nurturing Kai’s baby in my belly. That I can experience pregnancy with all its pros and cons, just like every other woman.
I’m also buoyed by the thought there might be someone with a conscience in the Parkhurst medical wing, and if we can find out who this person is, he may be willing to tell us whether our mother is incarcerated there or not. I remember a couple of male doctors attending to me, but it might’ve been the same guy. So much of those first few weeks is a blur because I was doped up, and we can’t rely on my memory.
Xavier and Sawyer are already on the case, because Drew and Kai met with them late last night. I wanted to be there, but I had to get home before Charlie sent out a search party. He was waiting up for me, and he gave me his version of the Spanish Inquisition, but I got out of it by letting him sleep in my bed and spoon me under the covers.
Shaking off that gruesome memory, I switch back to last night’s meeting and the subsequent messages Kai sent me after. Xavier and Sawyer are working to infiltrate the IT system in the medical facility to see if they can find any records of doctors who treated me. If that information is not on file, they can pull up a list of all the doctors listed as employees at Parkhurst, and we can start checking their backgrounds.
It’s a hell of a lot easier than doing background checks on every single employee who works in the building, and it should deliver more immediate results.
So, yeah, I’m in a good mood.
And Charlie notices.
“You seem happy?” he asks, sipping his coffee and eyeing me circumspectly over the rim of his mug.
“Is that a crime?” I tease, pouring a cup for myself while I wait for my toast to pop.
“Not at all. I’m just curious what’s put that big smile on your face?”
“I’m going wedding dress shopping today,” I say. It’s not a lie. While I was waiting on the guys to pick me up last night, I asked Shandra to come with me after school. She attends yoga downtown at the same time I attend ballet, so it suits both our schedules. We also discussed meeting up after our respective classes, as a standard agreement, to get to know one another better. It was her suggestion that we remain aloof at school, so Trent doesn’t suspect we’re talking behind his back, and I liked it, because it’s exactly what I would do.
Charlie stands, walking to my side with a huge smile on his face. My toast pops, and I yank it out of the toaster, yelping as the heat singes the top of my fingers. He presses his body up against me from behind, and I force myself to remain relaxed. Brushing my hair aside, he plants a kiss on my cheek. “I’m happy you’re happy.” He runs his fingers down the side of my neck, and my breath stutters in my chest. “And I can’t wait to see you in it.”
“I asked your mom if she wanted to come,” I truthfully say. “But she passed.”
He sighs, stepping away from me, and I release the breath I was holding. “I’m worried about her,” he says. “It’s been almost two weeks, and she’s getting worse.”
“There’s no time line on grief,” I say, buttering my toast and taking my plate and mug with me to the table. “And she’s hurting. You need to be patient and gentle with her.”
He takes the seat across from me. “I know. But I’m worried about Lillian. She’s floundering too. And she needs someone. I wish I had more time to spend with her, but I can’t leave the business until it’s on a more secure footing, and things are still a hot mess.”