"Good to know. I will have someone on our tech team set up a fake company, and we'll work it as if we’re hiring Ms. Dunsmore as our social media consultant. Of course, we'll have to talk in code, but we’ll develop a system so that you'll be able to understand what we’re saying. More likely than not, the call will be to set up a meeting about the business arrangement. At that point, we can give you the details of what we've learned."
I was still agitated, but somewhat relieved as well. Archer and his team knew what they were doing. Of course they did. If they were able to take down a cartel. Surely, they'd be able to take down my dad, just as James had said.
James and I left Mr. Graves's office and headed down to the lobby of the building. We ordered a car from the app and had it take us back to our dingy hotel that didn’t require real names.
On the drive, I looked over at James. "Did you talk to Max?"
He flinched and looked out the window, telling me that he had. "Why?"
"What did you say? What did you do?" A part of me was annoyed that he’d talked to Max and didn’t tell me. Another part of me grieved that a plea my brother might've made on my behalf fell on deaf ears. He hadn't convinced Max that I wasn't a part of my father's scheme.
James turned to look at me. "I went on New Year's Day. He was at some breakfast with his family and the wedding party. I'm not going to lie, Amelia, I loved the way he squirmed when I walked in and he realized who I was."
Sadness filled my chest. "You can't blame Max for feeling the way he does. If you look at it from his point of view—"
James shook his head vehemently. "Anybody who knows you, Amelia, knows you don't have a lying bone in your body. He, on the other hand, is a fucking asshole. I told him to stay away from you and the baby. You don't need him. Whatever you need, you can get from me.”
I turned to look out the window, biting my tongue from the need to defend Max.
"He didn't fight for you, Amelia."
It didn't seem possible that my heart could break any more, but in that moment, it did. Max didn’t fight for me or the baby. He'd read me wrong in thinking that I would pull a stunt as heinous as what my father had done. But I'd misjudged him too when I thought that he was a good, sweet, and decent man who would do the right thing.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
Max
My life was back to normal. At least on the outside. To everyone else, I lived my life just like I had before I'd met and fallen for Amelia. On the inside, though, I was a fucking mess. During the day, when I would think about my predicament, I knew I was doing the right thing. I was certain I was the mark in a grand con by Amelia and her family. There was no denying that I'd been drugged and forced into a marriage. And through that fraud, it appeared as if a child had been created. Amelia and her family needed to pay for that so that they couldn't run the scam on somebody else. I felt certain that Dax Shepard would find the information I needed for justice.
But at night, my dreams told me something else. The pain and horror on Amelia's face when I'd threatened to put her in jail and take the child haunted me. Her brother, James, often showed up in my nightmares as well, emasculating me for not fighting for his sister. The dreams left me feeling alone, so of course Sam and other members of my family would show up as well, telling me I wouldn't be alone if I had the balls to share with them the torment I was going through.
Every morning, I woke up feeling disoriented and confused. I didn't know what was up or down, right or wrong, truth or lies. During the moments when I wondered if I'd had it all wrong about Amelia, that she was a victim of her father too, yearning for her expanded in my chest until I couldn't breathe. It was followed by feelings of guilt and shame about how I’d treated her.
But immediately, I would push that all away because I didn't know whether Amelia was a con or a victim. When I thought back through everything, she could have just as easily been a part of the scam as her father’s pawn. What was really fucking me up the most was that I was too much of a coward to find out the truth. To learn if Amelia was the person I thought she was before I learned about the plan, I’d have to open myself up to her. I didn't have the courage to do that.
Four days after meeting with Dax, I got a call that the court date for the annulment was set for mid-February, just a few weeks away. The day after that, Dax called me to report on the progress in my case. As I waited to hear what he had to say, I realized I was equal parts eager to be validated while at the same time dreading the news if I was wrong.
"I can't give you any details, but I can tell you that you're not the only one interested in information about Mr. Dunsmore."
"That doesn't surprise me. I can't imagine I'm the first person that he and his kids have tried to take advantage of." But I would make sure that I was the last.
There was a pause on the line, and it made me wonder what Dax was going to share with me. "I'm in a difficult position here because of privacy and confidentiality."
"What can you tell me?"
"Mr. Dunsmore is a cunning man. There are no electronic breadcrumbs regarding his dastardly deeds. That means no texts, no emails, etc. There are people around him who know what's going on but aren't willing to talk either because he pays them well, or he can hurt them."
My hope of discovering the truth and putting an end to the Dunsmores’ scams faltered. "What about his daughter and son? Are they as careful as their father?"
"Nothing we found suggests that they’re involved. Again, I can't go into too much detail, except to answer that one question you had about their culpability in what happened to you. We have no evidence of that. In fact, we’re sure they’re not involved.”
I felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my gut. Dax was saying that I'd been wrong about Amelia and James. I couldn't form words. I couldn't breathe. The ramifications of his words filled me with guilt and shame.
"Like I said, Mr. Dunsmore is good at what he does. He runs his organization like a criminal empire. The only way we’re going to get him is to have him reveal himself or confess on tape."
"How?" I scraped a hand over my face, having a hard time keeping up with the realization that Amelia was innocent.
"Has Mr. Dunsmore called you?"