What I Should’ve Said
Chapter 36

Bennett

With my handcuffs locked in place in front of me, I make the walk from the parking lot of the sheriff’s department into the building with Pete’s hand on my shoulder. I don’t ponder and I don’t look around, instead using my time to figuratively stoke the fire now burning inside me.

I’d be pissed about all this shit on a good day, but today is not a good day. Summer’s time is dwindling by the minute, and Norah and I have hardly had a chance to breathe in the exchange of I love yous.

I want to be at my house, with my girls, making sure I’m doing everything in my power to make them feel loved.

But I’m not, and it’s all because of that motherfucker who dared to think he was good enough for someone like Norah Ellis.

Stomach hot and throat tight, I make my way through the main lobby of the station and around into the small bullpen with the sheriff, where I instantly recognize the back of Thomas Conrad Michael King III.

Black slacks and a finely pressed gray-check shirt camouflage his altogether slimy character, but I know what he is, and I know it well. The truth is, I used to be a version of him—rich, conceited, careless with other people and their well-being—but I’m not anymore. I left that man behind a long time ago, and these days, I wouldn’t even recognize those parts of myself.

A primly dressed woman with an overbearing but small stature stands next to him, her red-nail-tipped fingers draped over his shoulder proudly. There’s a commotion as they turn in excitement to see my march of shame, but when they finally get turned around, I understand who she is right away.

The similarity of looks is undeniable, even with the sour expression on her face. It’s Eleanor Ellis, Norah and Josie’s mother, and it’s a real mystery how two women as amazing as them came from something as snaky as her.

Figuring I don’t have a hell of a lot to lose, I open my mouth to ask Thomas if he’s here to get his ass clocked again, but Sheriff Peeler stops me with a hard nudge to the shoulder and a shake of his head. “Be smart, Ben,” he whispers then.

I don’t want to be fucking smart. I want to let loose on these assholes with everything I’ve got. Generally, I would never even consider hitting a lady, but Eleanor Ellis, with the history I’ve heard, is so far removed from that title it’s not even funny.

I sigh heavily but comply, keeping my mouth shut in the interest of getting back to my daughter as soon as possible.

Being robbed of these final moments with her is worse than any hit to my ego could be.

Sheriff Peeler keeps walking past Thomas and Eleanor, straight to his office, surprising the shit out of me. I was expecting some kind of confrontation or, at the very least, for the duo to attempt to put their two cents of jabs in.

But for all intents and purposes, they’re left behind with their dicks in their hands.

Pete opens the door to his office, instantly revealing the back of a blond woman and a man in a suit. The man—whom I don’t recognize—stands at the sight of me and then taps the woman on the shoulder to get her attention. The first glimpse of her face knocks my world on its side.

No fucking way.

“Jessica?”

She shakes her head as she looks at me, her mouth turning up in disgust. “Well, well, Ben, you sure have changed. You tight on money these days or something?”

My anger flares. “I should ask you the same thing, Jess. Because that has to be why you’re here…to beg for more. What’s the matter? The first twenty-five million I gave you wasn’t enough?”

Her eyes sparkle, her gaze jumping from me to the fancy suit guy and back again. “So, you admit it? You bribed me to leave our daughter behind?”

“Ben, don’t answer that,” Pete advises before taking a seat behind his desk and staring the two of them down. “Now, I’ve done what you’ve asked and brought him in, but we’re not trying this thing like it’s a court of law. If you’ve got something to accuse this man of, you can do it through the proper channels and take it to trial.”

My whole body shakes as I try to control the rage inside me. Norah’s mother and her motherfucking ex had the nerve to dig up Jessica from whatever hole she’s been hiding in and convince her it’d be a good idea to fleece me for more money—or whatever the hell this is—just so they could have the upper hand.

Fuck. That. They don’t have it. No matter how much they think they do. And I sure as shit know someone who has the ultimate upper hand over them. “Pete,” I say, steeling my voice to keep it from thundering. “Call Norah, please. Tell her I need her to come down here with her letter. Tell her I need her to do it now. And tell her…I’m sorry.”

“Ben—”

“Just do it, Pete.”

The sheriff picks up the phone on his desk, scans through some of the phone numbers written on his calendar, and then starts to dial. While I wait, the reality of what I’m asking of Norah sits heavy on my shoulders. I know I shouldn’t ask her to do this.

I hate that I’m asking her to do this.

My stomach churns over the fact that I’m robbing Norah of her choice—something that’s been done to her her whole life—but when it comes to Summer, I don’t have one either.

I don’t have time to mess around. I don’t have time to fight this any other way. I need to be with my girl, and I need these assholes gone.

“Norah, honey, it’s Pete… Uh-huh… Listen, I need you to come down to the station. Ben says you’ve got some sort of letter he needs you to bring… Yep… Okay, darlin’, see you soon.”

As he hangs up, Jessica’s face turns bitter. “Who’s that? Your newest whore?”

“Ben, don’t say it.” Sheriff Peeler stands up and throws a finger toward me, already anticipating the worst.

I close my mouth and sigh again. Evidently, Pete is bound and determined to keep my foot out of my mouth today. I’ll have to remember to thank him later.

“Look,” the man in the suit says, speaking for the first time. “We’re here because my client was coerced, bribed, and extorted into signing away her parental rights so that Mr. Bishop could have full custody. My client was desperate at the time, but she’s had time to consider how wronged she was and, further, has shared with me that Mr. Bishop is not, in fact, the biological father. We move to submit for DNA testing immed—”

“Bullshit!” I snap, Sheriff Peeler’s advice wearing off in a blink. “Summer is my daughter.”

“Ben, calm down,” Pete coaches, rounding the desk to put a hand on my chest. I glance through the glass on the top half of his door as he spins me around and replace Thomas and Eleanor smiling. “You getting riled up is exactly what they’re after. Now, Miss Norah says she’s coming with the letter, whatever that means, and she says your sister is on her way too. Evidently, she’s spoken to your lawyer. So, just stay calm, all right?”

“I’m not calm,” I reply instantly. “I’m not calm at all, Pete. Summer’s…time is running out, and I’m here. Do you understand me?”

Pete nods, the motion jerkier than usual. “I understand, Ben.”

Gently, he urges me out the door of his office and over to the other side of the empty bullpen. He pulls out a chair, and I sit in it, facing out the window rather than wasting any of my precious sight on the clowns and their puppet Jessica.

Time feels like it takes forever, but in reality, the clock on the wall only moves forward twenty minutes before I see them coming, dust kicking up from the gravel lot as they slide into a space in Breezy’s rental. Clay’s truck is right behind them and pulls into a spot with a skid of his brakes. Norah jumps out of Breezy’s passenger’s seat, still wearing my T-shirt but having added a pair of pants. My sister folds out of the driver’s seat, and Josie climbs out of the back.

When Clay is out of his truck, he and Josie walk into the police station right beside each other without their usual anger-fueled tension. If anything, the four of them appear to be a single unit, ready to come to my rescue together.

I guess my being taken in to the police station brings even the most unlikely together.

Spinning my chair, I stand and walk toward Thomas and Eleanor, concern for Norah when she sees them my primary concern. Thomas’s eyes widen at my approach, and he scrambles back, bumping first into a desk and then into an empty chair.

I smile at his fear.

“Sheriff!” Eleanor yells, pulling Thomas to her side. “Your prisoner is approaching us!”

Pete actually laughs. “I can see that, Mrs. Ellis.”

“Well, then do something about it! And it’s Mrs. Ellis-Prescott!” She smirks like that means something to Pete, but New York society last names mean fuck all in Red Bridge.

Pete just shrugs. “Ben, step back, would you?”

I sigh and step back a foot or two, just as my crowd of protectors comes barreling into the bullpen.

Breezy is first in line, her face a harsh mask of New York Fuck You.

“What the hell is going on here?”

“Thomas…Mom?” Norah cries as soon as she sees them. “This is your doing?”

Clay comes to my side. “You okay, man?”

I nod. “Just want to get home.”

Clay slaps me on the shoulder and nods. “I know.”

“You’ve truly lost your mind, Eleanor,” Josie spits unchecked. “Siding with an abuser?”

Eleanor snorts. “Thomas is hardly an abuser, Josie. Be serious.”

“I am serious,” Josie snaps back. “He put his hands on Norah and left a mark. Nearly dragged her out of my shop and would have if Bennett here hadn’t stopped him. He’s a piece of shit, and everyone here knows it.”

“Folks, folks,” Pete tries to interject, but the train has already left the station.

“He’s a lot more than that,” Norah cuts in, pulling a manila envelope from under her arm. Her voice is shaky and nervous, and I hate that I’m the reason for it. “I have evidence here of blackmail and coercion and a pretty good feeling that there have been multiple girls the two of you have forced into abortions and other things.”

Thomas’s voice is seething. “Where the hell did you get that?”

Norah shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter where I got it. What matters is that I have it. And I’m going to pursue it to the fullest extent of the law, even if that means a long, drawn-out trial against you.”

Josie wraps an arm around Norah’s shoulders in comfort. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that this is the very last thing Norah wants to do.

As the commotion picks up, Jessica and her lawyer come out of the sheriff’s office, and as soon as Breezy spots her, her eyes go round. “What the hell is she doing here?”

“I’m here for my daughter.”

Josie and Clay gasp. Norah turns tearful eyes to me.

Breezy, though, she’s not having any of it. “Don’t give me that bullshit, Jessica Folger. That girl is not your daughter. Your role was giving birth, and that was the extent of it.”

“Because he paid me to leave!” she shouts.

“He paid you a generous sum of money, yes, but you didn’t need any convincing to leave, Jess. You and I both know you didn’t want anything to do with that baby.”

“She’s saying I’m not the biological father,” I choke out somehow, causing another round of gasps that suck almost all the air out of the station.

Breezy, though, she doesn’t even blink. “Is that right? Well, I guess it’s a good thing we did a DNA test before Bennett ever left the state with her, then.”

“You have DNA?” the lawyer bumbles, an instant fool.

“Yes,” my sister declares. “We have DNA, a signed affidavit swearing the money was not a bribe, and a signed transfer of full rights to Bennett for Summer. I don’t know what you think you have, but you don’t have jack shit.”

“You signed an affidavit?” the lawyer questions Jessica, his eyes widening in incredulity.

“I signed a lot of things, but I was coerced!” Jessica wails at the top of her lungs.

“Exactly!” Thomas shouts, and Breezy turns on him like a mama bear.

“You stay out of this!”

I chuckle without humor. “He’s having a hard time staying out of it because he’s the one who convinced Jess to come. Right?”

Thomas and Jess are both silent for a long moment, and Eleanor sees fit to fill it. “This is preposterous. Sheriff! This is all lies, every bit of it!”

Josie guffaws. “Don’t act like you’re innocent, mother. You’ve had your hand in all of it.”

“Listen, folks, from what I’m hearing, Bennett is free to go,” Sheriff Pete interjects, coming toward me to take the cuffs off. “If there’s anything else to be settled, I suggest you file suit with the appropriate court.”

“This is bullshit,” Jessica cries, pointing at Thomas. “You said I could get more money! That’s the whole damn reason I even came!”

Her lawyer, mind you, is already packing up his briefcase.

I shake my head at her antics and run my tongue against my teeth as Sheriff Peeler frees me. I rub at my sore wrists lightly. The only thing that keeps me from regretting ever knowing Jessica is the daughter I got out of it.

“The money’s gone, Jess,” I say as simply as I can manage. “All that’s left is the daughter you never wanted. The daughter I would give anything to keep. So, I suggest you go back to wherever you’ve been because the only place you’re going in the company of this guy is prison.”

The entire time she’s been here, not once has she asked to see Summer. Not one single fucking time. She has no idea what her daughter has been through. She has no idea that Summer’s life is hanging by a thread. She doesn’t know and she doesn’t care, and the tragedy of that scenario makes me thankful my daughter has a lived a life without this woman.

Thankful that the only maternal figure she’s experienced in her life is Norah.

I seek out Norah, ignoring the bullshit Eleanor and Thomas are still spewing into the air. She’s standing there, her shoulders sagging, her mouth set in a firm line of discomfort.

She looks destroyed, and I hate myself for it. Hate myself for what I pulled her into. For what I asked her to do. But I can’t change any of it. The only thing I can do is get the hell out of here and go to the one place I need to be. The one place I should’ve never been forced to leave—Summer’s bedside.

I step through the crowd. “Pete, I’m leaving.”

He doesn’t stop me. “Okay, Ben.”

“I’ll drive you,” Clay offers, already pulling his keys out of his pocket and heading toward the exit door.

Norah can’t look me in the eye as I approach, and my chest burns with the loss of her trust. I stop in front of her, lowering my voice to a whisper. “I knew it wasn’t fair, what I was asking you to do. I knew it would damn near ruin you.” Her eyes shoot up to mine. “But I did it anyway.”

“I know.”

God, I don’t deserve her. I never did.

Norah watches me silently as I leave with Clay, but I don’t look back. Because time is a thief, and the chunk of it I’ve spent here at the station has already taken more than enough that I won’t get back.