The Family Secret Read online

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  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my family;

  You mean the world to me.

  Dedicated to my readers;

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  Enjoy.

  Contents

  Cover - The Family Secrets

  Title

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Contents

  PART 1 Nightmares, Recovery & Love

  Prologue

  1. The Funeral

  2. A House Is Not a Home without You

  3. Nightmares and Consultation

  4. Fighting the Inner Demons

  5. Navigating Through Nightmares

  6. Osprey Flight and Fleeting Victory

  7. Romantic Sparks Between a Therapist and His Patient

  8. A Taste of Forbidden Pleasure

  9. Love Blossoms

  10. Digging into Her Roots

  PART 2 Vengeance and Honor

  1. Setting Flight

  2. Old Waters

  3. Kidnapped

  4. Within Memories

  5. Letters That Were Never Sent

  6. Wolf (I)

  7. Hoping for Sunshine

  8. Under The Same Sky

  9. Wolf (II)

  10. Relapse

  11. Flawed Execution

  12. What Lies Beneath

  13. Onward

  Acknowledgements

  Pretty please with a cherry on top...

  About the Author

  Prologue

  It was an unseasonably hot day in the Pacific Northwest. Triple digits temperature readings were very rare, but this was the third day in a row that the heat would become the main topic of the evening news. One person wishing it was much cooler was Tom Pennington who was on his way to the city for a job interview. It wasn’t just any interview: it was “the interview” for “the job.”

  Tom went to college and studied to become a programmer. He studied and trained to program video games. It was the only thing he wanted to do with his life, but he was becoming impatient and frustrated. He had spent his internship working under the supervision of others with lesser creativity and imagination than he had. Then graduated a year, ago only to discover there were few jobs in the field.

  With no job prospects, Tom did what any broke college graduate would do. He and his wife moved into his parent’s basement, while he looked for work. Living with his parents wasn’t too big of a deal for him, but Tom’s wife hated it, especially because they had a toddler. Gnawing at him were the constant reminders in his parents’ mailbox and his mind that his student loans were soon due, and he would eventually need to start paying them.

  Tom was constantly applying for jobs everywhere. He had applied many times now to Geo F/X, a software company in the Seattle area, and all he had gotten in return was a collection of some very nice “Thank you for your interest in our company” letters; thirteen of them to be exact, which he kept in a manila file in his desk drawer.

  With that in mind, he took the time to make certain that everything was perfect for this interview, that there was nothing he had been forgotten. He had his spare resume, his references, enough fuel, enough time, and even a spare change of clothing just in case he “melted” in the blaring sun. He had spent the last twenty-four hours practicing what he would say and brushing up on his skills so he could demonstrate that without a doubt, he was the best person for the job. Tom was determined to demonstrate that he was exactly what they were looking for. He had never gotten this far before. It was apparent to him that his persistence had paid off; for that reason alone, there wasn’t anything he wasn’t prepared for, at least that’s what he thought.

  The only thing that Tom wished was different was that the air conditioning was working properly in the car. He was driving on the Interstate, at speeds higher than seventy miles an hour. Normally he would have the window down, but he didn’t want to risk messing up his hair before the interview. Other than the heat, it was a perfect day. Tom began humming along with the radio, dancing slightly in his seat. Suddenly, a black Bentley raced by at high speed. Tom stopped humming. Through the driver’s open window, he glimpsed the driver who was wearing a chauffeur’s uniform and an elderly woman in the passenger’s seat. Although he only saw her for a brief second, he could see the trepidation her face as she stared at the driver. The car drove wildly down the Interstate. His heart was now thumping. Without thinking, he reached out and turned the radio off. Immediately, he heard the familiar sound of what he suspected was a burst tire. Looking up, Tom saw the Bentley swerving from one lane to the other as it screeched loudly.

  He knew the road well. The narrow road had a sharp curve which they were nearing. When the Bentley whizzed past him, he wanted to warn the driver of the danger up ahead. As he watched the car swerving, Tom now wished he had; the Bentley was moving too fast to stop and as it rounded the corner, the damaged tire buckled, sending the car off balance. The driver couldn’t regain control. There was nothing anyone could do to help them now. The car kept spinning; seemingly gaining momentum with each revolution. Tom looked on in horror as the vehicle went sailing over the edge of the cliff.

  “Help!!!” Tom heard the woman in the Bentley yell in a blood-curling voice.

  The sound sent shivers through him. He wondered whether he had imagined it. He didn’t think he was close enough. Nevertheless, without thinking, he slowed his car even more and pulled onto the hard shoulder, cursing under his breath as he did so. As his car slowed and then stopped altogether, Tom took a moment to gather his wits. Taking a deep breath, he climbed out of the car. The blast of the hot summer day, causing him to almost instantly sweat. He walked towards where the Bentley had only just disappeared and broke into a quick run as he got closer.

  Upon looking down, Tom’s face drooped almost instantly. At the bottom of the ravine was the Bentley, crushed beyond recognition. The car looked as if it had been compressed by a heavy crane. Tom thought he heard something, a voice, and it was calling for help. It was weak, barely audible over the breeze and his heavy breathing.

  “Help me!!” the voice whimpered. “I know you’re up there,
help me!!”

  Tom looked down into the ravine and saw what he thought was the woman lying far below, next to the creek. The body he thought he was seeing, looked as if it was in a pretty bad shape, but he couldn’t tell for sure from where he was. It was a sheer thirty-five feet straight down from the road to the bottom of the ravine. Surely, he couldn’t hear her call from that distance. He was sure he was imagining it.

  Tom made his decision. He ran back to his car and began driving away.” Only a miracle could save them,” he thought. As he drove in haste, he picked up his phone and dialed 911. The reception was bad, and the calls kept on getting disconnected.

  “Well, there’s not much else I could have done for them,” Tom muttered aloud as his thoughts drifted to his interview. “After what he had just witnessed, could he pass the interview in this state of mind?” he wondered.

  1.

  The Funeral

  Andrew Lindsay’s funeral had been short and to the point. After everyone left the private cemetery, people drove back to the church and gathered inside the banquet hall for the repast. Members of the wealthy district had prepared fried chicken, collard greens, candied yams, a baked ham, roast beef, green beans, and all kinds of assorted desserts. Yet as good as the food looked, Paula didn’t have an appetite; she couldn’t eat if she tried. They had just lowered one of the richest men in New York into the ground and he just so happened to be her father.

  Sitting at the long table up front, Paula’s eyes roamed the room. Grief whirled around inside her. Over the last week, she’d cried so much, she didn’t have any tears left; which was a good thing because she needed to be strong for herself. She glanced at Aunt Megan to her left; her only relative alive. Tears began to well up in her eyes once again, and she felt her world spinning wildly. Paula feared the ground would open up beneath her feet and swallow her whole. Maybe it should, she told herself. Maybe then, all the sorrow she’s been drowning in would be taken away alongside herself.

  The past few years had taught Paula Lindsay the true meaning of grief through firsthand personal experiences. When she was eighteen, fresh out of high school, her mother died in a freak accident a few days after her graduation. Before that day, she had a sense of naivety that comes with being the only daughter of a billionaire. She was sheltered, protected from all the bad things she often heard happens to people – things like struggling, being broke, and even death. Then life came crashing into her. She was out partying in a club in Queens with some of her friends when she got the news that her mother’s car had fallen over the edge of a cliff. The Bentley had tumbled down a ravine and was beyond recognition; neither her mother nor the driver had survived the crash. Paula remembered her eighteen-year-old self-trying to calm her nerves and process the tragic information by downing a few shots of tequila rapidly. She couldn’t come to terms with her mother’s passing. She channeled her grief by enrolling and engulfing herself in business school.

  Her father tried to help her heal by giving her moral support and laying all his resources at her feet. In a way, it had felt like they had healed each other’s wounds on their journey to pick themselves up and tackle life once more. Even though Andrew Lindsay was the CEO of the multinational business empire, Lindsay Corporation, he still always made time for his daughter, tending to her every need in whatever form they come in – physical, moral, social, and mental.

  Paula graduated business school and took a position at the headquarters of the family company in Manhattan, where she had spent most of her life. She loved New York City and all the craziness that came along with it. Soon enough, she resumed her social life and was adored by many who regarded her an “Heiress to the Empire.” She didn’t care much about her social status and she decided to stay out of the spotlight and keep her name out of the news.

  She had met Phillip at a charity event hosted for orphanages in NYC by Lindsay Corporation. He was tall, handsome, and witty self-made millionaire had made the biggest donation that night and had approached Paula with a sarcastic comment about himself, making her smile. Soon enough, a relationship had kicked off between them, but it hadn’t been as fulfilling as she had hoped it would be. Phillip always acted like a gentleman around her, and maybe that was the problem. He was almost too perfect. In her mind, something must have been amiss. She couldn’t put her finger on it. She held a belief that to get a perfect human, she’d have to go get clay and mold him by herself.

  Then, as her life was beginning to regain some balance, disaster befell her once again. This time, it shook her to the deepest parts of her being; depths she didn’t even know existed. On his way back from a three-day trip to seal a merger in Asia, Andrew Lindsay’s plane had crashed on landing and had exploded instantly. Paula was in a meeting at the office when the news was broken to her by her assistant. In the instant the words left her assistant’s lips Paula’s knees had buckled under her. It was her assistant’s quick reflex that saved her from falling on the glass conference table. She had felt as though her heart had been ripped out and placed on a highway while a truck was driven over it slowly. It was the heartache she couldn’t take.

  Now, dressed in black suits, Leslie and Samuel Thornton walked up to her as she sat glued to the church pew. “Leslie and I are about to leave,” Mr. Thornton said. “Please don’t hesitate to call us if there’s anything we can do for you.”

  “I will. Thanks for coming.”

  “I’ll be praying for you,” Leslie declared.

  Paula wanted to scoff and tell her to send her prayers where the sun doesn’t shine. Instead, she managed to smile and replied, “I’m glad you liked them.”

  Samuel Thornton was the company’s Chief of Staff and Chief Operations Officer of the headquarters. In his late-forties, Mr. Thornton was always impeccably dressed, complemented by his balding head, moustache, and slightly protruding belly. He looked like an all-round businessman. Meanwhile, his wife Leslie, who was about ten years younger than him, had the slender body of a model with a head full of lustrous blonde hair. Paula had met Leslie on several occasions at social functions and she was always baffled by how much taller the woman was than her husband. Even now that Paula was struck with grief, the thought still crossed her mind albeit for only a fraction of a second as she watched the couple walk away towards their parked Mercedes.

  As the Thorntons left, the head of the marketing department approached her, and after offering his deepest condolences, he added in a voice just above a whisper, “We’ll like to see you over at the company sometime. There are some things we need you to look over, at your convenience, of course.”

  Paula found it hard to respond to the man. “I’ll be back soon,” she said, knowing it was far from the truth. She was feeling as if her spirit had been sucked out and her energy exhausted. She wasn’t sure she would be able to make any executive decisions given her state of mind.

  “Once again. I’m so sorry for your loss,” the man cooed.

  Paula nodded and said her thanks.

  As the man left, Paula thought about the disaster she was in. She had so much to do. Her father’s death had just royally screwed things up for her. Another wave of sorrow washed over her when she remembered the flimsy excuse Phillip had given for not showing up to her father’s funeral. “So much for ‘I’ll be there whenever you need me’,” she told herself. Not that it mattered anyway. In truth, nothing really mattered anymore.

  From beside her, someone leaned forward and glanced sideways at her and questioned, “Are you ready to go back to the house?”

  Paula glanced at the person and saw it was Aunt Megan. Mentally drained, Paula’s head throbbed. “Yes. I’m so tired.”

  “I know you are. Let’s go,” Aunt Megan responded.

  “But there are people still here.”

  “Well, they can’t expect you to stay here all day. It’s been two hours.”

  “So, you think it’s okay if I leave?” Paula queried
.

  Megan stood. “Yes, it’s fine. Just go hug everyone, thank them for coming, and tell them goodbye. I’ll go tell Todd to get the car ready.”

  Paula made her way around the room, hugging and thanking her guests. She walked outside and climbed in the back seat of the black Limousine with Todd in the driver’s seat and Aunt Megan already sitting inside. On their drive to her family home, the inside of the car was quiet. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep.

  2.

  A House Is Not a Home without You

  “Paula.” At the feel of her shoulder shaking, Paula opened her eyes to find Aunt Megan looking in her face. “Wake up. You’re home.”

  She exited the car. “I don’t want to be alone. Will you come inside with me?”

  There was empathy in her aunt’s eyes, “Of course I will. If you need me to, I can stay the night.”

  Todd pulled open the back door for Paula and Megan, and they got out. “I could stay around for a while longer,” the driver said, looking up at his boss with his brown doe eyes.

  Todd’s generosity warmed Paula’s heart.

  “I’d love it if you’d stay, Todd. I could use the extra help while I get some rest,” Megan said.

  Maybe with Megan and Todd in the house, she could sleep better and stop having those horrible nightmares. Every time she closed her eyes, images of death came into her mind. Paula inserted the key in the front door. The door swung open and they entered. Right away, her quiet house didn’t feel the same. “It wasn’t really my house,” she thought. “It’s my parents’.” It felt haunted but in a good way. Like her father’s spirit was in there. Once again, she wished he hadn’t died at all.

  The Lindsay family home was built in Upper East Side and it was the only Victorian-style building around for many blocks. The house was elegant and beautiful. Andrew had called upon some architects and designers when he had torn down an apartment building, and in its place, made a long-standing monumental mark on New York by gracing it with the Lindsay’s family home. The result was breathtaking. The twenty-four thousand square foot building contained five bedrooms and many parts of the house were adorned with Hermes leather walls. The pool sauna that came with the building was spectacular. It was a beautiful home.