38. Kavanaugh

38

KAVANAUGH

“That one,” Tish nodded to the shipping container straight ahead of us.

It was at the ass end of the shipyard where it looked like no one ever came. Containers could sit here for an entire year without anyone looking at them. We skidded to a stop and I jumped out of the vehicle, racing to the doors. Red was one step ahead of me, busting the lock on it, then grabbing the handles and yanking them up. I grabbed the other side and did the same.

Light flooded the containers and the first thing I noticed was IKE lying on the ground next to a piece of wood, his shoes missing and his hands bloody. I stepped right over him and raced inside, my heart stopping in my chest as I saw the bundle laying on cardboard, rolled up in what looked like a Christmas skirt.

“Isla!” I shouted, falling to my knees beside her.

She was so fucking cold and I was afraid to touch her, afraid to see if she was still alive. My fingers skimmed over her throat as I closed my eyes and prayed. A faint heartbeat thumped against my fingers and I cried out in relief.

“I’ve got a pulse!”

Medics were there in an instant, loading her up on the stretcher and strapping her in. I was shoved back, pushed out of the way when all I wanted to do was hold on tight and never let her go. I shoved my fingers through my hair as I watched them speaking quickly to each other, racing out of the container to the ambulance.

I wasn’t sure if my heart started again after what I just saw. My eyes wandered around the shipping container, taking in the busted pallet further into the container and the Christmas decorations strewn all over the floor. I walked over to the garland against the opposite wall and picked up the tea light that was tucked inside it.

“She’ll make it,” Red said, but his voice was gruff and unsure.

I nodded, not able to say anything else at the moment.

“What is that?” he asked, jerking his head at what was clenched in my hand.

I opened my fingers, showing him the tea light. “She was trapped in here. I can’t…She only had tea lights and then they went out. How fucking long was she in the dark?”

“She had IKE with her, at least.”

Yes, by some small miracle, she wasn’t alone, but some perverse part of me wished that she had been with me, that it wasn’t IKE trapped in this container with her. I knew deep down that nothing happened. Why would it? But jealousy still consumed me that he had been the one with her in her darkest moments.

“I need to get to the hospital.”

“Uh…” He scratched the back of his head. “Not to bring up the senator, but…”

Shit. “Yeah.”

“Maybe she’ll wait.”

“I doubt it. She came through on her part. Now it’s time for me to honor my end of the bargain.”

So, as much as I hated leaving Isla right now, I had to follow through on my deal with Tish. I was a man of my word. Besides, there was nothing I could do for Isla, and I doubted there would be anything for me to do but pace the hospital waiting room.

Rae set everything up, calling a press conference that would shock the senator when he heard of it. I didn’t bother changing into a suit or shaving the scruff on my face. For once, I was going out in front of the world as myself—not as the man the senator always molded me to be.

As soon as I stepped out onto the platform for news conferences, the blinding lights from the cameras sent me back into those moments that had me running when the senator thrust me onto the stage. I swallowed down the urge to run as the reporters stared at me, wondering what I had to say that would warrant a news conference, sans the senator.

I stepped up to the microphone and cleared my throat. “Thank you for coming here on such short notice. I understand you will have a lot of questions, but please hold them until the end.” I glanced down at my notes, trying to find my place on the first page. I didn’t need them to tell my story, but there was no way in hell I’d screw this up by not having an intelligent and thoughtful account of what happened. That would give the senator a way out, and he’d already been far too much of an escape artist for my liking.

“I came here today to withdraw my support for Senator Kavanaugh’s campaign for the presidency.” Gasps filled the small room, but I continued. “It was never my intention to support him, but I did so out of necessity. But I came here today to tell you the truth about a man who has lied and deceived to further his own career. I came here to tell you about the man who ruined a young woman’s life—a woman who felt there was no way out and eventually ended her life and left her parents grieving.” I took a deep breath and looked at all of them. “I came here to tell you about a man I used to call my father. Now, he’s nothing more than a stranger to me.”

I continued on, telling the reporters every detail about my brother’s accident, how the senator covered it up, and how I came to join the military. The reporters held their questions, scribbling down notes and quotes from my statement. For once, the lights no longer bothered me. There was truth up here right now, and that set me free from the chains I felt constantly pulling me down. There was no more hiding, no more secrets.

My brother could finally be at peace, and hopefully, Leanne Brown would find peace as well. I looked up at the reporters as I said my final words, then folded the papers and shoved them in my pocket.

“I’ll take questions now.”

There was silence for just a moment, and then the room erupted into chaos.