Chapter 31

31

Tyrion

I sat at my desk squinting at the numbers on my screen. They had been nagging me all morning long, and I had to figure this shit out. I’d gotten here early after dropping baby girl off to school. It felt good to have her and Evenie back at the house on a full-time basis. Since our date night on last Friday, I felt like I was living in a dream. Things were back to the way they were meant to be.

I got to go to sleep and wake up with the love of my life. We’d reaffirmed our commitment to each other. I had my wife. We had our family. And we were, thus far, happy. I had everything I’d prayed to God for, for so long.

A knock at my door caused me to groan. I’d purposely ducked off so I wouldn’t have to deal with anybody while I worked on this.

“Come in!” I yelled at the door.

I continued to look at the computer screen as the door opened. I just had to get this shit right, and I prayed whoever this was stated their peace and went about their business.

“Tyrion.”

My head snapped up at the sound of a voice I wasn’t expecting. Standing before me was Iona’s mother. She wore this look on her face like she was simply defeated.

“Mrs. Cambridge, what are you doing here?”

“May I have a seat?”

“Uh… sure.”

She closed the door and took a seat in front of my desk. For a moment, she just stared at me.

“What can I do for you?”

“I came to do something for you.”

“Oh?”

“There is something you need to know about my daughter.”

“Mrs. Cambridge, if you came here to plead her case, there’s—”

“No. No, I’m not here for that, but this is a serious conversation, Tyrion.”

I sat back at my desk, motioning for her to continue.

“Iona is… she’s different. I can only assume she’s never told you why she takes medication for her—”

“Medication? What medication?”

She wore a look of confusion that matched mine. “You don’t know about the medication at all, do you?”

“Not a clue.”

She signed. “Iona has been taking medication to combat the anxiety and regulate her mood. She has a cluster of issues, one of them being borderline personality disorder. She’s been on the meds since she was fourteen.”

My eyes widened. This was news to me.

“A personality disorder?”

She nodded. “Let me explain. You know we lost Iona’s father when she was fourteen. It wasn’t long after her diagnosis. My husband was a good man, but he came from a family that had a history of mental illness. He suffered from it himself when he was younger, but with treatment and dedication to his mental health, he was able to live a normal healthy lifestyle. His family… they were a lost cause. They didn’t believe in therapy, said it was for white people. They fed off of each other, and my husband didn’t want our family surrounded by that. He moved us away from them to keep our girls safe. There has been no contact with them in over twenty years.

“We tried to get ahead of it. With me being a psychologist, I knew what to look for, and we were able to get her the proper treatment. Iona started displaying signs when she was younger. She would get so angry at the smallest thing. She swore everyone was out to get her, including her sister. They’ve always been jealous of each other. Meena hated the attention her father and I had to give to Iona, and Iona hated the freedom Meena had. It was always one thing after another with them.

“They fought like cats and dogs. Said things that hit way below the belt. At one point, we thought Meena might have mental issues too, but she didn’t. Anyway… Iona can be vindictive and manipulative. She loves attention. She loves to be praised, so she does things that will get her that.”

I sat there thinking about all the things Iona had done for me and Summer Rose. From cooking to cleaning, to doing Summer’s hair and buying her elaborate gifts. Then there was the attention getting. I thought it was just her style, but she was always dressed to impress. Looking at her and versus the casualness of everybody else at Summer’s school, now I understood. She fished for compliments, and I’d been all too happy to give them to her.

I remembered when we first started dating. She used to be all over me in public, and I had to tell her to tone it down. It was like she wanted people to know we were together. She posted me and Summer all over her social media. There were times I had to tell her to take a post down because everything didn’t need to be shared, and I didn’t want my child all over the internet.

“You’ve never suspected something was off about her?” Mrs. Cambridge asked.

I shook my head. “No. I mean, she did little things, but nothing that was cause for alarm until recently.”

“It’s something in her that snaps from time to time where she doesn’t want to take her meds. Usually, I can get her back on track, but not this time. She’s been off them for months. When she takes her medication and things are good, she’s fine. When she’s off of it and drinking… she’s a different person. She can be violent and unpredictable.”

I was hearing her, but I wasn’t hearing her.

“Wait,” I said, holding up my hands. “Why wouldn’t you tell me this before? Why wouldn’t you warn me?”

“It wasn’t my place—”

“I have a child! A child that she was heavily involved with for years. You didn’t think I needed to know?”

She sniffled. “I’m sorry, Tyrion. I’ve tried my best to keep her in her right state of mind, but when she fights me on it, she fights hard. I’m telling you this because you need to be careful. She’s obsessed with you, your wife, and your daughter right now. She’s devastated over your breakup, even though it’s mostly her fault. She wants you to feel her pain, and I don’t know what that entails.”

I swallowed hard. This was insane… fucking insane.

“I’ve tried and tried to get her to see the error of her ways, but she’s just not listening to me. There is no talking to her when she’s like this. I’m afraid for your safety and theirs. I went to have her committed for evaluation, and she’s gone, Tyrion. I don’t know where she is.”

“Gone? Like she packed up and left?”

“No. She left everything there. She didn’t take her phone.” She swallowed hard as she looked at me. “Tyrion… she’s been watching your house.”

“Say what now?”

“She’s been watching your house. It’s been weeks now. There are at least three cameras. One in the living room, one in the kitchen, and one in the bedroom.”

I sat back in my chair, not believing what I was hearing. “How do you know that?”

She went into her purse and pulled out a phone. Not just any phone, but Iona’s phone. She tapped on it for a minute before handing it to me. I was hesitant to take it, but I did. There on the screen were logs of videos… weeks’ worth of videos. I clicked on a few of the opened ones and saw everything from breakfast to Evenie helping Summer Rose with her homework, to the three of us watching movies and dancing together. The last one I opened was on mine and Evenie’s date night.

My eyes widened as I watched us going at it in our bedroom.

“Oh my God…” I mumbled.

“She’s been watching and listening to everything. That’s the one that set her off. I’ve been looking everywhere for her, Tyrion. I have the police looking for her. I just… I need to find her.”

“I haven’t seen or heard from her since the last time I saw her at Summer’s school.”

She nodded. She sat there like it was something else she wanted to say but just couldn’t find the words.

“What?” I asked.

“I—” She paused for a moment, looking nervous. “I need to tell you something else. Something I recently found out when I went back home to visit my parents.”

I swallowed hard. “What?”

“It’s no easy way to say this. The man… the one who took your wife. He was my husband’s brother.”

I sat outside my house, dreading going in to break the news to Evenie. This wasn’t some shit I could keep from her. After Mrs. Cambridge left my office, I was no good for work. She’d told me so much more than I ever expected to hear. I ended up leaving and going by the school to pick Summer Rose up early. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her there, knowing that Iona was on the loose and looking to hurt any of us.

When I got there, I asked about her in the front office, and they told me she hadn’t been to work in a while. That concerned me even more. Iona loved this job. For her to just not come to work was alarming. Almost as alarming as the fact that she was the guidance counselor. How was she guiding these kids but refused to acknowledge where she was lacking in her own mental health?

I didn’t understand it. All I knew was my baby wasn’t coming back to this school until she was found and committed. I’d taken her to my parents and asked them to watch her for a few days. I couldn’t put her in harm’s way, even though I prayed like hell Iona wouldn’t think about hurting my baby to get back at me. It was never my intention to hurt her, but she was taking this shit too far.

I also couldn’t believe that Leon was her uncle. What were the fucking chances?

Taking a deep breath, I got out of my car and headed into the house. Evenie was working from home today because the design studio was being painted. When I walked in, she was sitting Indian style on the couch, still dressed in her pajamas with a messy bun and reading glasses. Papers and fabrics were all over the place, and she was typing a mile a minute on her laptop.

“Hey, baby,” she said, not looking up. “You came home for lunch?”

“Nah, I’m home for the day.”

She paused and looked up at me. “Something wrong?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute.”

I stood in my living room, looking around and trying to remember the camera angles from the video Mrs. Cambridge had shown me. I knew the one in the living room had to be in a vent somewhere.

“Where was it…?” I mumbled, looking around.

“Tyrion, baby, what are you looking for?” Evenie asked, watching me.

“I’m gonna tell you. Just give me a second.”

My eyes landed on the vent next to the entertainment center, and it was like a light went off in my head. I went over and unhooked the latch before popping it open. Sure enough, there was the camera. I snatched it up and closed the vent. Evenie looked on as I made my way into the kitchen. Closing my eyes, I tried to remember that camera angle. I knew it sat up kind of high, overlooking everything. Grabbing a chair from the table, I stood on it and searched the tops of the cabinets.

“Tyrion, you’re acting crazy,” Evenie said, setting her laptop down. “What is going on?”

I ignored her as I kept searching. Nothing was on top of the cabinets. I looked over at the China cabinet that belonged to my grandmother. Hopping down, I slid the chair over and climbed up to find another camera.

“Muthafucka!” I yelled.

“What! What is it!”

I jumped from the chair and ran down the hall to the bedroom with Evenie on my heels.

“Tyrion, I swear, if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on—”

“This,” I said, turning around.

Grabbing her hand, I placed two of the three cameras in her palm.

“What the hell…”

“She put cameras in the house, Ev,” I said, searching the room. “She’s been watching us.”

“Who—Iona?”

“Yes.”

My head snapped toward the built-in bookcase. It was the perfect angle. I walked over and snatched everything off until I found the last camera.

“We need to go to the police,” Evenie said. “How did she get in here? Didn’t you take her key?”

“I did. She must have had a copy.”

“What the fuck, Tyrion! That bitch is crazy!”

“She is… literally.” I sighed heavily as I guided her over to the chaise. “I have some shit to tell you, but you aren’t going to like it.”

She swallowed hard. “What is it?”

I started from the beginning, telling her everything Mrs. Cambridge had told me. Evenie sat with her mouth open and her eyes wide, taking in all the new information. When I got to the part about Leon, I paused.

“What?” she asked. “Is there something else?”

“There is.” I grabbed her hands and held them tight. “Leon Kane.”

She snatched her hands away at the sound of his name.

“Mrs. Cambridge told me he was her husband’s estranged brother.”

Evenie sprang from the bed. “What!”

“They shared the same father, just different mothers. She just found out last week that he was dead and his connection to you.”

She began pacing back and forth, holding her head, chanting, “No, no, no, no, no… this can’t be happening, this can’t be ri—”

She covered her mouth and ran into the bathroom. I sprinted after her. She’d barely made it to the toilet before she was throwing up. I held her hair back out of her face so it wouldn’t get caught in the mess. After a good minute or so of voiding the contents of her stomach, she began dry heaving. I grabbed a washcloth and wet it to clean her face.

“You’re okay,” I said softly. “I’m right here with you.”

“She… she’s his niece. How the fuck is that even possible!”

“It’s a small world.”

“She was around my child! Do you think she knew?”

I shook my head. “No. Her mom said her husband kept them away from that side of the family. He didn’t want them feeding off each other.”

I took a seat next to her on the floor and wrapped my arms around her.

“What are we gonna do, Tyrion?” she whispered.

“The first thing we need to do is call the police. I picked Summer Rose up from school earlier. She’s with my parents.”

Evenie shook her head. “No, no. She knows where your parents stay.”

“She knows where yours stay too.”

“Fuck! Tyrion, I’m scared. Not of her, but of what I will do to her if she comes after us.”

“I know, baby. I feel the same way.”

I’d hate to have to hurt Iona, physically, but I would die protecting my family. If it came down to them or her, I would always choose them.