Ch. 20: Harsh Truth

"Hi Dad."

I throw in an awkward wave for good measure, not really sure how to approach this correctly. I'm not exactly sure what the plan was when I came down to the station. Even if I had been given a detective that gave a shit, they would still have told my dad. He's their Lieutenant; everything goes through him. Char waves to my dad too. He takes notice of Char and offers her a smile and a quick hello, before turning his attention to Asher. My dad looks him up and down before looking back to me with concern. I feel Asher tense next to me; without even thinking, I grab onto his hand. Why I thought that was a smart move in this particular moment is beyond me. My dad's eyes follow my movement and stare at me and Asher's intertwined hands. I see my dad raise his eyebrows before turning his steel gaze onto the boy standing next to me. I can hear Asher physically gulp and I fight the urge to laugh. Char can't help herself and lets out a laugh before trying to cover it up with a cough. I shoot her a glare before hearing my dad speak.

"Makayla! What are you doing here? Not that it isn't good to see you, but you never visit me at work. Not that I don't want you to visit, it's just surprising and a little out of character." My dad rambles, seeming to be just as nervous as I am. Uncle Matt laughs and slaps my dad on the back.

"I think she gets it, Derek." He shakes his head at my dad before making his way over to me. "Hi kiddo. It's good to see you again." He smiles before opening his arms up for a hug. I roll my eyes teasingly before walking into his embrace. While Matt isn't my real uncle, he's as close as it gets. I leaned on him for support plenty over the years; he was the one who got my dad to quit drinking and pull himself together for me.

"It's nice to see you too, Uncle Matt." He smiles one last time before looking back to my dad.

"Makayla, honey. You still haven't answered my question." My dad speaks up.

"Umm, right. Can't a daughter visit her dad at work?" I play dumb. His eyes narrow, clearly noticing that I'm full of shit.

"She was here about Macy, Derek." Detective Cox decides to grace us with his presence, inserting himself into a conversation he wasn't invited into. My dad sucks in a breath before looking over at me. His face falls when he hears my mother's name.

"Oh, so now you want to act like you care? Unbelievable!" Char throws her hands up in exasperation. Asher's glare is intense, like he's trying to burn a hole in Detective Coxs' head.

"Makayla, is this true?" My dad asked. He and Matt share a sympathetic look, which makes me scoff.

"Not entirely, no. Detective Dick over here jumped to conclusions before hearing all the facts. All the good detectives must have been busy." I fold my arms defensively over my chest, shooting daggers at the detective.

"It's Detective Cox, actually," he corrected me, clearly offended.

"I'm sorry. Did she stutter?" Char asks cooly. Uncle Matt stifles a laugh, but my dad isn't as amused.

"Why don't we all talk in my office, yeah?" I reluctantly nod before following my dad. We all make our way into the room and take a seat. I turn my attention to the door and see Detective Dick making his way in, as well. "Umm Harry, if it's all right with you, I think Matt and I can manage it from here." My dad politely says to the other detective.

"Wait? Your name is Harry Cox?" Asher remarks, while laughing. "God, your parents must have hated you." Char and I crack up, while Detective Cox's face turns bright red from anger and embarrassment. My dad shuts the door before he can get another word in.

"Okay, so you want to tell me what's going on, Makayla?" My dad's serious tone breaks up our laughter. I send a look to Char and Asher, who nod and send me small smiles of encouragement. I take a deep breath in before finally speaking.

"The last few months I've been looking into mom's case." I start. My dad and Uncle Matt's eyes widen, but they don't say anything. "I was hoping to pick up on something that the cops missed. Something big enough that would get the department to reopen her case, at the very least. Then, this past spring, I started receiving these vague texts from an unknown number. After showing them to Char, we both agreed that I should block the number. I stopped looking into mom's case after Charlotte's pleas, but I started up again this fall when Asher and I got assigned a class project researching inactive criminal cases. Then, all of a sudden, the messages started up again, except this time, the person called me love bug." I stopped to take a few breaths, starting to feel more anxious as I retell the last few months.

"Lovebug? They specifically said lovebug?" My dad asked, his voice breaking on the familiar nickname. Uncle Matt put a hand on my dad's shoulder, trying to calm him down.

"Yeah. In the text message and in the flowers that were sent to the apartment." I confirm.

"Oh my god... is that why you called and asked me if I had sent you flowers a few weeks back?" My dad's face is starting to lose all color, as he is seeing where I'm going with this. "What kind of flowers, Makayla?"

"White roses." I say quietly, watching his eyes close.

"Your mom's favorite," he weakly replies. I sigh, feeling a huge pit in my stomach start to form. This is why I didn't want him to know. I'm ripping apart old wounds he has worked years to heal from.

"Dad...." I trail off. He shakes his head before lifting his gaze back to me.

"Has anything else happened since then?"

"I... guys I can't do this." I look at Asher, my eyes pleading at him to take over for me. He seems to understand and clears her throat before telling the rest of the story. My dad's face turns white as a sheet as he listens to Asher tell him about the new threatening texts and about the stranger who chased me down the street outside dad's house. Char gasps when she hears about the incident, not knowing that part of the story yet. I'm sure if we were anywhere else, Char would be giving me a lecture for leaving that out. When Asher mentions the near-miss with the car tonight, my dad drops his head into his hands.

Uncle Matt pulls out a notepad and asks Asher to list all the details he can remember. Asher tells them it was a black van, but everything happened so fast, he didn't get the license plate or any key details on the driver. He tells them the car's glass was tinted, making it impossible to get a view of the person behind the wheel. Asher mentions his suspicions that the black van was the same vehicle I saw parked outside dad's house. When he gets to the part of the text message sent to me right after the driver took off, I pull my phone out and hand it over to my dad. He starts to cry when he reads the threat before shooting out of his chair. He rushes over to me and pulls me into his arms, hugging me so tight it's hard to breathe. I let out a few tears, as I hold onto my dad for a few seconds before letting go. He holds my face with both hands before speaking.

"If I hadn't dropped the ball as a parent the last few years, maybe you would've felt comfortable to come to me sooner." My dad sighs, as he lets go of me, hanging his head for a moment. A look of realization appears on his face, as he looks at me. "You did try to tell me, didn't you? The night I told you about me and Melanie. You asked me about your mother that night. Makayla...." I look up at him and he frowns. "Did you think it was your mother this whole time?"

"Up until the last few messages, I did. I guess I just didn't want to let the idea of her go." I say, choking back on a sob.

His shoulders slump, as he finally understands. I couldn't explain what happened tonight because I would have to voice my own sadness that this isn't my mother reaching out. My mother is gone. She's really gone. I've spent years wanting answers, and this isn't the one I hoped for. It's not the answer I needed.

"Honey, I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you when you were younger, but I'm here now. We're going to figure this out," he assures me. I look up at my dad and finally get a look at his face. I don't think I have seen my dad this terrified since the day my mother died.

"I'm really scared, Dad. I'm not okay. I think whoever killed mom is after me now. I don't know what to do." I voice my concerns, more tears threatening to spill. My dad's entire face changes, looking more determined and surer of himself than he was before. He exchanges a simple nod with Matt before turning back to me.

"I'll tell you what we're going to do. We're gonna get this son of a bitch."

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Author's Note:

Well, things have taken a turn.

Hope you all liked this chapter! As always, thank you for reading! ❤️