Page 86 of Behind These Four Walls
Victor paid Bennett and Brooke no attention. He was fixated on the recorder in Isla’s hand. He repeated his question, a tremor in his voice.
“It’s Eden,” Isla replied. “A recording she made the last day she was seen.”
“What do you mean it’s Eden?” Victor said, flustered. “What’s the meaning of all that?”
As quickly as she could, Isla told them what she knew of that day.
“Edie was here? She came to see me?” Victor asked, stricken.
“This is the real reason why I came here and deceived you. I came here for the truth about what happened to Eden. I had to know if you or anyone else had anything to do with her disappearance.”
“You think I had something to do with Edie being gone? You thoughtIcould hurt her?” His anguish cut through Isla. She’d wounded him, and it was only going to get worse.
“That’s ridiculous,” Dixon snapped. Another first Isla was seeing from him. “All you had to do was tell us the truth from the start.”
Isla laughed bitterly. “I doubt even you believe what you just said. I’m a nobody to you all.”
Victor looked as if years had been taken from him. The vibrant business magnate who commanded any room now looked older than his sixty-nine years as the reality of what had happened to Eden hit him. He had no more hope or fantasy to hide behind.
Isla had waited for this big reveal till she could put them all in one room unaware and see who reacted and how. She’d chanced everything on finding Eden tonight, but time was of the essence, and if they took any more, they might miss their opportunity to end a decade of uncertainty.
She made eye contact with Myles.
She’d rather have been anywhere else, but she had to finish what she’d started. She owed them all that much.
Victor roared, regaining some of his former self. “Bennett, explain this goddamn recording now!” He twisted in his seat, but Bennett wasn’t there. Neither were Brooke and Jackson. “Where the hell did they go?”
Isla pulled out her phone and turned on the tracking app. “I can show you.”
Chapter Sixty-Four
Bennett
Present Day
The woods felt more ominous than they’d ever been in his whole life. Bennett had a bad feeling. A very bad one.
He parked. Brooke shifted in the passenger seat, peering through the windshield, her fingers playing with the hem of her dress. Bennett tapped a restless rhythm on the steering wheel, his nose still throbbing from Myles’s sucker punch. That would be the last time Myles ever laid a hand on him. He was glad to be out of that room and away from the goddamn recording of Edie that Isla had played.How?He needed time to think of a recourse. Instead, here he was, summoned like some errand boy by Jackson, of all people. Bennett hated it most when someone told him what to do.
He exhaled sharply. “We need to be talking to Dad, not playing hide-and-seek in the woods with your goddamn lover.”
Brooke stiffened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Jackson works for us and the Foundation. Nothing more.”
Her response was too asinine to answer, and Bennett didn’t have the time or patience for her games now. He pressed his fingers to his temple, anger clawing up his throat. “How the hell does she have that?” he muttered. Had Isla been there with them?
He gestured to the darkness outside. “Why are we here instead of with Dad? There’s no telling what she’s saying to him after all that other shit.”
“You know Jackson,” she interrupted, forcing a brittle laugh. “He takes care of things for us. It’s always been that way. He’ll definitely come up with a fix for this and that woman.” She spat out the last word.
That was Brooke’s problem. She’d become too reliant on Jackson. She’d become complacent and blurred the lines of employer and employee, giving Jackson all the power. Now they had to suffer his ego.
“What was that recording Isla played, Bennett?” his mother asked cautiously. “Why is your voice on it?”
Bennett let out a primal yell, striking at the steering wheel with his fist, startling her. She called his name, the fear in her voice bringing him to his senses.
He put his hands back on the steering wheel and tightened his grip because there was nothing else to take his anger out on. Jackson used to ask. Now he acted like he was in charge. Like he was more than just the help.
A sharp rap at the window made them both jump. Jackson stood on the other side, a flashlight in one hand and two shovels in the other. Gone was the tuxedo from earlier. Now he was in dark gear, looking like he was about to go hunting—or worse. Bennett’s bravery betrayed him just a little.