There Is No Light in Darkness (21 page)

“I brought photos to show you. It’s ... It’s very complicated, and we can’t tell many people about it,” I explain.

Maggie turns off the stove and sits down. “Photos of what, exactly?” she asks while wiping her hands on her apron.

I ask Cole to run upstairs and get me the envelope I brought. When he comes back, he hands it to me with a kiss and sits beside me. My chair squeaks loudly on the hardwood floors as he pulls it closer to his.

“Photos of my childhood ... our childhood,” I clarify, looking at Cole.

“Both of your childhoods?” Maggie asks with a frown. “Your Aunt Shelley didn’t bring you here as a child.”

“Maggie, that’s why I said it’s complicated,” I interrupt as I hand her one of the photos of Cole and I standing next to each other by some chickens in the barn.

She gasps loudly and places her hands over her mouth, her brown eyes looking at us in complete shock.

“Holy mother of pearl, that’s Cole,” Maggie says as she gapes at me. “Is that you, Blake?”

“Yes, that’s what we’re trying to tell you. We knew each other before we met here,” I start. “We need to know. Who brought Cole here? You said it was his father, but we’re pretty sure it wasn’t.”

She sighs and closes her eyes. “I got a call from a man that said he knew me—or of me—I can’t remember which. It was around 4:00 in the morning, maybe later, when he called. I thought it was a prank caller because I’d been getting a lot of calls from teenagers that used to mow the lawn here. Anyhow, I hung up twice before he called back again and begged me to listen to him. He sounded like he was crying, so I stayed on the line. He said he was a friend of Liam’s …” she pauses and gives me a pointed look that I don’t understand. “And Cory’s, so I stayed on the line. He told me that he was going to be dropping off a four-year-old boy. He said he’d explain everything to me when he got here. We hung up, and I still wasn’t sure if it was a fib or not—until I heard knocking on the door. The young man was dressed in all black. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him. He had the clearest blue eyes. I just couldn’t get over how young he was. He looked so scared and terribly sad. When he saw me, he started to cry. Really cry. I held him for a bit.

“He told me that he didn’t know where else to go. He’d gotten my phone number from his mother, and he needed to separate the two children. He didn’t give me too much information. Really, he was just upset and rambling on about needing to keep them safe. He left Cole with me. He told me his name was Cole Murphy and that his parents left him for dead. I didn’t think to call the police. Well, I did think of it, but the man told me that Cole would be in danger if I did that. He gave me information to a bank account and told me that he would deposit money in that account and in my own until Cole turned eighteen. That was it.”

Cole and I look at each other for a long time, our mouths hanging open.

“Well, Cole is his middle name. Murphy is his mother’s maiden name. You said the man was young. How young?” I ask.

“I don’t think he could have been older than twenty. He was a baby himself. He looked so scared,” she replies sadly.

“Is it this man?” I ask, pointing at a picture with my Uncle Michael in the background.

She shakes her head but wrinkles her forehead. “Where did you get these photos?”

“Shelley left them to me in a box. Why?”

“That kid—that’s Mark,” she says confused as she points at another one of the photos of a little boy—photos of Shelley’s family, not mine.

“Really?” I ask shocked. “How do you know?”

“He’s Shelley’s son. I met him when he was about that age. That was the last time I saw him, too,” she says sadly.

I know that Shelley knew Maggie, but I didn’t know how well they knew each other.

I frown and look at Cole as he holds my hand tightly in his.

“Are you sure that’s him?” I whisper.

“I’m positive,” she says without doubt.

I let out a breath. This shit is exhausting ... and confusing ... and crazy.

Tuesday creeps up on us and I’m kind of freaking out about Mark seeing Cole and vice versa. I told Cole that Mark was the one who took us that night, mainly because I was scared of Cole remembering him and getting physical with him.

When we step into the building, I stop walking and hold on to his arm until he faces me. “I need you to behave,” I say seriously.

He chuckles and dips his head to kiss me. “Baby, I’ll be fine. Even if he is the guy, I’m fine. Right now, I don’t care about any of it, Blake. If this wouldn’t have happened, we might not be together,” he murmurs against my lips.

“Cole,” I say through gritted teeth. “My mother is dead. My father is dead. I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. Besides, we might have still ended up together.”

He gives me a long, lingering kiss and a smack in the butt before we get in the elevator.

We arrive on Mark’s floor and Office Barbie greets us with a real smile as she blatantly checks out my boyfriend. My mouth pops open in disbelief, and I turn my head to look at Cole, who’s watching me—with a smile on his smug face. I narrow my eyes at him and dare him to say anything to her. He chuckles lightly, reading my expression correctly, and gives me a loud kiss on the lips. I look back at Office Barbie and tell her we’re here to see Mark and watch as she calls him, never taking her eyes off Cole. It pisses me off, but I decide not to push it.

When Mark steps out to greet us, his eyes are nothing short of surprised. He frowns at me, and I shrug at him in response before he introduces himself to Cole and leads us to his office. I look at Cole, but his smooth expression doesn’t give away what he’s thinking. I’m not sure if he recognizes Mark or not.

Suddenly, he says, “So, Blake tells me she trusts you for whatever reason. I personally don’t understand how she can—knowing who you are and what you did.”

Mark shakes his head slowly, chastising. “You two really are meant for each other. I already told Blake that if I wanted to harm you, you wouldn’t be here. What I did was help you. I know you don’t see it that way, but that’s the truth.”

“Finally,” I deadpan.

“Yeah, well, two against one,” Mark says, cocking his head to one side. “Are you here because you remembered and wanted to drill me for answers? I told you that you’re better off not searching for trouble.”

“Maybe, but now I know who my parents are,” Cole says in an even tone.

Mark’s eyebrows shoot up, and he looks at me for an answer.

“I went to Aimee’s house after I had gotten pictures from Shelley. Aimee let me look at pictures of her dead brother.” I emphasize the last part. “You can imagine how I felt when I saw Cole ... or Nathan ... looking back at me.”

“Does Aimee know?” Mark asks concerned.

“Yes, but she’s not going to tell,” I say.

He looks at Cole. “You better hope not. Your father is a very public figure, and you’re popular in your own right. If people find out, it’ll be a circus—and when the wrong people find out, it’ll be a bloodbath.”

I feel my eyes pop out of their sockets. “What?” I ask horrified. “What do you mean a bloodbath?”

Mark takes a deep breath and perches up on the corner of his desk. “Blake, everybody thinks Nathan and Catherine are dead. If people find out they’re not, it’s not going to end well.”

“Who are we?” I ask horrified. “Oh my God, are we related?”

Mark laughs shortly. “No, not at all.”

“Why did they want us, and why are we so important?” Cole asks.

“They wanted you as warnings and as bait. I can’t tell you why you’re so important,” Mark states. “Trust me—you don’t want that kind of information weighing on your shoulders.”

“Was Shelley your mom?” I ask quietly.

Mark snickers. “You’re quite the detective, Blake. Let me see those pictures. Our time’s almost up.”

I show Mark the pictures I brought and let him sort through them. I’m too preoccupied with his evasive answers to examine his face as he looks at them. He asks me to sign the deed of the land over to the buyers and tells me that my money will be wired by the end of the week.

Thinking about my parents, Cole’s parents, and our kidnapping is exhausting. Cole and I decide to put it behind us unless something else comes up. We say this—but I know we’ll both be silently brewing.

I put my focus on school, even though this year of law school seems much easier than the last two. Maybe it’s because my life is a little more hectic and it makes school work seem stupid. I see Russell every day, and now that he’s dating another student, we’ve become friends again. Cole doesn’t mind that he’s in my study groups as long as he “doesn’t try anything”—his words, of course.

Chapter Sixteen

Past

I had been in the University of Chicago for a month before I started to get used to the ever-present knife that gutted my heart every day. I had spoken to Cole a handful of times after our breakup, and he sounded like his normal self. I knew better than to think he was fine though, and Aubry reminded me of it often.

“He feels like shit, Blake,” Aubry said whenever he hung up the phone with Cole.

I knew Cole did—he had to if he felt half the pain that I was feeling.

“Aubry ...” I said one particularly gloomy morning.

“Yeah, Cowboy?” he replied as he poured our coffee.

“Do you think ... Do you think if I were to ...” I took a deep breath and buried my face in my hands.

“Spit it out!” he said exasperated.

“Okay, do you think if ... AH! What do you think would happen if I were to visit him?” I asked, cringing.

He stood there with a mug in one hand and the coffee pot in the other. He was totally frozen. “Do you mean if you asked him to get back with you?” he asked cautiously.

I looked down and started chipping my nails. “Yeah?”

He laughed once. “Fucking-A, Cowboy. What the fuck do you think would happen? He’d probably fucking propose to you on the spot!”

I looked up smiling. “You think so?” Not that I wanted Cole to propose to me or anything, but the fact that Aubry thought he’d want me back for sure spoke volumes.

“Do I think so?” he asked, rolling his eyes. “Let’s go see him tonight.”

Aubry had been dying for an excuse to visit Duke University, so of course he’d jump at this opportunity.

I smiled widely. “Alright, let’s go!”

We booked our flight, but I begged Aubry to keep our trip a surprise. He somehow got Cole to tell him what party he’d be at that night, so we were going to go from the airport to the hotel and straight to the party. I was so excited—and nervous at the same time. I kept wringing my hands together and biting my lip as I paced the room while I waited for Aubry to get out of work so we could leave. I took a deep breath when I heard Aubry get home and off we went.

“Calm the fuck down, Cowboy! You’re making me nervous,” Aubry said as he stilled my bouncing leg when our cab was pulling up to the frat house where the party was taking place.

“Oh my God, I think I need a drink ... or five,” I said as I clutched my stomach.

“I think if you drink now, you might puke,” he said, looking amused.

“You’re probably right. Let’s just go inside,” I said and plastered on my best smile.

My stomach was flip-flopping and my hands were shaking as we knocked on the door. A short guy with beautiful aqua-blue eyes opened the door for us and gave Aubry a confused look before he checked me out slowly.

“Who are you?” the guy asked Aubry a little rudely.

“I’m a friend of Cole’s ... and Warren’s,” Aubry said confidently, and I smiled up at him. I’d heard of Cole’s friend Warren, but I knew for a fact that Aubry didn’t know who the hell he was.

“Oh, cool,” the short guy said as he stepped out of the way. “And what’s your name?” he asked me when I brushed past him.

“Blake,” I said with a smile.

He checked me out again. “Blake, I’m David. If you need anything, I’m your man.”

“Thanks,” I replied while grabbing on to the back of Aubry’s shirt so I wouldn’t get lost in the crowd.

We walked around without spotting Cole, but we did see Sarah, a girl from our high school. She looked more than a little surprised to see us there. She was nervous as she greeted us, and I figured she probably felt bad for ganging up on me with Sasha-the-Slut one time after school. She looked like she wanted to tell me something—probably apologize—from the look in her eyes, but I smiled and waved at her as I walked away with Aubry.

“That was awkward,” Aubry said, leaning down to my ear.

I shrugged. “Whatever. Old news. I’m gonna go use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

He laughed. “First of all, hell no. I’m not letting you run off by yourself at a frat party in a frat house. Second of all, how the fuck do you know where it is?”

I laughed back. “Umm ... there’s a huge cardboard sign that reads ‘bathroom’ over there,” I said, pointing. “But yeah, maybe you should stay close to it. Look, there’s a keg right by it. I’ll go to the bathroom, and you get us some beers.”