A Fresh Start
Chapter One Hundred Forty Seven
Reva is in the den and she has the house to herself. She's thought a lot about the fights she's had with Josh about telling Jeffrey he's a Lewis. And as much as Josh wants Jeffrey not to know the truth, she couldn't do that to him. She remembers the pain Cassie felt not knowing who her parents were and not knowing her family and she believed that everyone has the right to know everything about them selves.
Getting up, she goes into the hallway and pulls out a box. It's full of different Lewis memories. She carries it back into the den and starts going through it. She's looking for something in particular. There was a locket that HB had given Marah one summer before she came back from Oklahoma. She didn't want to leave him and he gave her the locket so she would have him with her all the time. Inside the locket is HB's picture and a lock of his hair. When she finds the locket she puts it down beside her and puts everything back in the box and puts it back into the closet. Picking up the locket, she leaves the den, grabbing her purse as she leaves.
Driving over to the loft, she plays different scenarios through her head. Imaging their surprise, their relief, even their anger and as she pulls up, she almost doesn't go in. But then she imagines all the fights with Josh and she realizes that it has to stop and the only way to stop it is to tell Jeffrey the truth and let Josh see that it's not going to change anything, opening her car door, she gets out and walks up to the building.
Sam is in the kitchen when Reva knocks. She walks out of the kitchen as she calls. "I'll get it." So that Jeffrey won't try to get up. She opens the door as Reva is about to knock again. "Hi." Sam says when she sees Reva.
"Hello, are you busy?"
"Umm, no, come on in?" Sam says, stepping back.
"Thank you." She says, walking in and Sam closes the door.
"I wanted to talk to you." She says, as Sam goes into the living room.
"Okay."
"I've got a bit of a problem and it concerns Jeffrey…."
"What kind of problem would you have that concerns me?" Jeffrey asks.
"Oh, I didn't know you were… What happened?" She asks, seeing the bandages around Jeffrey's ribs and the stitches over his eye.
"I had a car wreck Monday night."
"Are you okay?" Reva asks, sitting down in one of the chairs. Sam takes the other one.
"I'll be fine. But I've got a few broken ribs and the cut over my eye. The rest is minor cuts and bruises."
"And the other person, are they okay?"
"Umm, they didn't make it." Sam says.
"You mean, they…."
"Yes, he was a teenager and he was sending a text message when he hit me. He wasn't wearing his seatbelt when we hit so it ejected him through the windshield and he hit my tailgate, crushing his chest and killing him."
"Oh my… the accident that was on the late news Monday night. I only caught the tail end of it that was you."
"Yes, I was on my way to our house and I was stopped at the light by Company. The boy was texting and he didn't see me stopped and he never slowed down."
"You weren't wearing your seatbelt either." Sam says, looking at him.
"No, I wasn't and if I would've been I wouldn't have been thrown into the steering wheel or hit my head." Jeffrey says, looking at her. "And I'll be sure to wear it from now on."
"What about your truck?"
"I'm thinking that it was totaled. I haven't seen it since they took me out of it, but it looked totaled."
"Were you with him?"
"No, I was waiting at the house. When the accident happened I tried to call him because I felt like something wasn't right and he answered the phone as the ambulance arrived. The EMT's were taking care of him. After they got him out of the truck, Frank came and got me and took me to the hospital. When I got to the hospital, the nurse told me he was in one room and when I went in there, they were working on the other victim but I didn't know that, all I saw was them working on someone and I thought…."
"You didn't tell me that."
"I haven't had the chance. We finally figured out that it was the wrong room and I found him. He spent the night for observation and came home yesterday morning."
"Well, I'm glad you're alright. I'm sorry about the boy though. Kids don't realize how dangerous texting is when they're driving. And I hope I never have to face what that boy's mother is facing. I want to believe that Marah and Shayne would not do that, but you know how kids are."
"It worries me about our son." Sam says, laying her hand on her stomach.
"Our boy is going to be fine." Jeffrey says, looking at her before he turns his attention to Reva. "You said you had problem and it involves me?"
"It can wait." She says, getting up.
"Reva, it was obviously important because you came over here, so what is it?" Jeffrey asks.
She looks at him and then at Sam, before she sits down, sighing softly. "I wanted to discuss the problems we're both having with Josh."
"Josh, why? He doesn't like me and that's his choice. And I'm not sure I need to know about any problems between you and Josh, especially given..."
"It's more than he doesn't like you." Reva says, sighing again. "Let me start from the beginning. About a week after Sam moved here, I went to Lewis to see if Josh could have lunch. He couldn't and I went to lunch with Billy instead, when we came back, I overhear Josh telling one of our attorney's that he would destroy a file and not to say anything to Billy or I. When the attorney left, I confronted Josh and Bill heard us fighting. He came to see what was going on and he and Josh had argument and Josh left. Billy then ordered their assistant Wanda to take an inventory of every project Lewis has done and find the files related to them. She did that and she was able to account for every file."
"What does this have to do with me?" Jeffrey asks.
"I'm getting that. When we were able to find all the files pertaining to Lewis Billy thought that the file that Josh destroyed might be part of HB's personal papers."
"Who's HB?" Sam asks.
"That's Josh and Billy's father. Billy went to Tulsa and he spoke with the son of the private attorney that HB used. He wanted to know if he could see his father's private files. The man couldn't give him access and the person that could was out of the country for the next month so he came back to Springfield. While he was gone you testified in that man's trial."
"I remember that. Billy came to see me about my middle name."
"Yes, your middle name is the same as his father's name."
"HB stands for Harland Billy?" Sam asks.
"Yes." Reva says, looking at her.
"We have the same name. I don't see the point…."
"After you testified and Billy talked to you, he received a call from the son of the attorney HB used offering to send Billy his father's personal papers when he worked for HB. Billy agreed and a few days later the boxes arrived. Billy and I started going through them and most of the stuff pertained to business, but I found one folder that contained a will. This will was different from the one that was read after HB's memorial. In the back of the will was a report from a private detective."
"What did it say?" Sam asks, already knowing the answer.
"It said the man was able to track HB's son to Chicago but that his son had left town. It also gave him his son's name." Reva says, looking at Jeffrey.
"What?"
"The report stated your name." Reva says, looking at him.
"My name."
"Yes, it said, 'I don't have a forwarding address for your son. But from the people in the neighborhood, I was able to find out his name, it's Jeffrey O'Neill.'"
"There is hundreds of Jeffrey O'Neill in Chicago. It doesn't prove that I'm his son."
"J."
"It doesn't." Jeffrey says, looking at Sam.
"What happened with the file?" Sam asks, looking at Reva.
"We took it to Lewis and we confront Josh about it. For months I've been trying to find out why he's so hard on you. He admitted to knowing about the changed will. He admitted to having the will destroyed and he demanded that we not say anything to you." Reva says.
"So you're telling us this even though Josh doesn't want him to know?"
"Yes."
"Then you have more proof." Jeffrey asks.
"No, Billy asked Harley to look into finding the man that made the report but she hasn't contacted him."
"So, you still don't know for sure that this was a legitimate report." Sam says.
"No, but there is another way we can find out for sure if you're HB's son." Reva says, looking at Jeffrey.
"How?"
"We can run a DNA test."
"Isn't HB dead?" Jeffrey points out.
"Yes, he is. But when Marah was a child she would spend two weeks of summer vacation in Oklahoma with HB and Hawk. When the two weeks were up, she would cry for hours when she would have to leave. So, HB bought her a locket with his and Hawks picture in it. He also put a lock of his hair in it. We can use that to run the DNA test."
"You were going to tell Sam about this." Jeffrey says.
"Yes."
"Why not tell me now?" Reva looks away for a moment. "Reva, you've never lied to me."
"I'm telling you because I believe it's your right to know. Josh doesn't see it that way, in fact he's still insisting that we say nothing to you and up until about a week ago I didn't know why."
"And now you do?" Sam asks.
"Yes."
"Is it because of Cassie or Marah?" Jeffrey asks.
"No, he may want to count those two options but that's not the reason he doesn't want you to be told."
"So, why?"
"He's afraid I'll leave him for you." Reva says, as Jeffrey bursts out laughing.
"He can't be serious." Sam says, as Jeffrey stops laughing.
"Yes, he is." Reva says. "And I've told him that there is absolutely no possible way that will happen. Because you love Sam, you're married to her. You're about to have a child together and I love my husband, even if I want to kill him right now."
"He doesn't believe that you won't leave me for him."
"No, and I have to end this. It's got to stop and the only why it will stop is if you're told the truth and the DNA test is run."
"He's not going to accept me. Not just because of you but because of Marah too."
"You both didn't know. You do now so it doesn't matter."
"You think that's going to matter to Marah. If I am HB's son, I slept with my niece."
"I think you'll be uncomfortable for a while but it will get better."
"Who is Marah?" Sam asks, looking at both of them.
"She's Reva's daughter and about a year after I came to Springfield, we were involved. It ended when I spoke with some friends in France and arranged for her to work of there in one for fashion houses." Jeffrey says.
"She's a designer and is building quite a name for herself." Reva says. "Jeffrey let her go and I know it hurt him greatly to do it." She says, looking at him.
"We're both fine now and if this is true then it's a good thing I did. How do we do this test?"
"We'll need a DNA sample from you."
"I don't really want to go back to Cedars for a while."
"You won't have to. If I can have a lock of your hair we can use that."
"Alright." Jeffrey says, sitting up.
"Stay there, I'll get the scissors." Sam says, getting up. She walks over to the desk by the kitchen table and opens one of the drawers. Getting the scissors, she walks back to the couch. Sitting down, she reaches for him as he bends his head and she clips a lock of hair from the back of his head. "Alright." She says, turning to Reva.
"We'll need to put it in a plastic bag and then I'll take it to Cedars and ask Rick to run a DNA test. He'll notify me when the results are back."
"Okay." Sam says, getting up. She goes into the kitchen and puts the lock of hair into a plastic bag and then bringing it back to Reva.
"Do you have a marker?" She asks, reaching for her purse.
"Yes." She goes back to desk and returns with a sharpie. She hands it to Reva.
"Thank you." Reva says, taking the marker and the plastic bag with Jeffrey's hair in it. She marks it and then takes the hair sample from her purse.
"Do you need another bag?" Sam asks, as Reva nods and she goes into the kitchen. She brings it back, handing it to her, she sits down.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." Sam says
She puts the sample from HB in the bag, marks it and then puts it into her purse and then she gets up. "I know this is a lot to take in, but if this test comes back and it's true I want you to know that I'm glad you're apart of this family."
"Thank you." Jeffrey says, looking up.
"I'll let you know when I have the results."
"Thank you." Jeffrey says quietly.
"I'll let you out." Sam says, getting up.
"Thank you." Reva says, following her to the door. "I'm sorry he has to be told this way."
"It's better that he knows so thank you." Sam says, reaching to hug her. "Are you going to be okay with Josh?" She asks, releasing her from the hug.
"I'll be fine. He'll have to realize that telling him the truth isn't going to change anything between us." Reva replies, looking back over her shoulder.
"Okay." Sam says, opening the door. Reva walks out and then turns back to Sam. "Take care of him."
"I will." Sam says, before Reva turns to leave and Sam closes the door.
She walks back into the living room. Jeffrey is still sitting up. "Why don't you lie back down?" She says, going over to him.
"Will you lay down with me?"
"Sure." She says, waiting for him to get comfortable before she lies down beside him. They lay there for several minutes before she asks. "Are you okay?"
"I… I don't know what I am." He says turning his head towards her and burying his face in her neck, he pulls her to him.
After a few moments, she feels him begin to shake. "Shhh." She whispers, holding him. "It's going to be okay."
Frank waited until the next morning before he called Noah. Picking up the phone, Noah glances at the report he's looking at from the agents that he sent to investigate Sam's cousin-in-law. "Noah Chase." He says, distracted.
"Noah, this is Frank Cooper from the Springfield Police Department."
"This is my private line. How did you get this number?"
"Sam gave it to me. She told me you're handling the investigation into the break in at her apartment when she was still in DC."
"I don't know if I'm handling. We sent a couple agents out there to spur the local PD."
"I may have stumbled… well Jeffrey may have stumbled across a possible suspect for the incident. He's being held here in Springfield on separate charges, but he matches the description that Reva gave and Sam id'd him as being a man she saw around the time of break in."
"Where did she see him?"
"She didn't say. Jeffrey also said that the maintenance man was paid off by someone to allow him into Sam's apartment and suggested that he might be able to id the man as well."
"I'm sure he could. The agency hasn't had much to do with the case since the initial investigation."
"Then can you tell me the name of the investigating officer's."
"Detective Oswald, Reston Police Department, he was handling the local PD's investigation."
"Then I'll contact him."
"How are Jeffrey and Sam?"
"They are good. Jeffrey was involved in a car accident last night but he's doing better. He was released this morning from the hospital and Sam has him at the loft, taking care of him."
"What happened?"
"He was rear ended by a teenager sending a text message."
"Did the kid survive?"
"No, he was killed. Why do kids do things like this?"
"It's not just kids, I've known adults that do it and we know it's not safe, the kids have some extent of an excuse. They don't think about things like this happening to them. What's the adults excuse?"
"I don't know."
"Tell Jeffrey that I hope he's okay."
"I will."
"Oh, and Frank, did Jeffrey tell you the rest of Reva's description that day in Sam's apartment?"
"No, was there another person involved?"
"She said there were actually three people involved in the break-in. One was another man with the letter S in his name and the second thing she said was that there was a woman involved and she was tied to Jeffrey. Jeffrey seemed to think that Olivia was somehow involved. He had me look into her past."
"Did you find anything?"
"No, the usual stuff, she's got no known connections to any criminal element or organization, except for her involvement with the Spauldings, but I believe that was only about business and power, nothing criminal."
"Have you told him any of this?"
"Actually no, I hadn't thought about it until you called and Jeffrey never asked about it."
"Alright, I'll speak to Detective Oswald and I'll see if he can take get the maintenance man to id the man that paid him to let him into Sam's apartment."
"Alright."
"Thank you, Noah."
"You're welcome."
Simmons has been trying for hours to get Ralph to answer his cell phone. He didn't want to alert Olivia to a possible problem, especially now and especially since they've already had one issue with Ralph on this assignment. After loaning his car to him to continue following Jeffrey, Ralph was given explicit orders that he was not to do anything without telling him first. Picking up the phone, he dials Ralph's cell phone however this time it went straight to voicemail. Hanging up, he dials Olivia's number.
Olivia is in the middle of a meeting with James about the Beacon deal when her cell phone begins to ring. "I'm so sorry. I forgot to silence it." She says, pulling it from her purse. She ignores the call immediately and then silences the ringer before turning back to James as she lays her phone on the desk beside her.
"What if that was about Emma?"
"It wasn't, they always call the hotel before they call my cell phone."
"Okay, well let's continue." He says pulling out the numbers that JR had worked up for the Lake District site. He starts to say more when he notices Olivia's phone is flashing.
"I'm sorry." She says, grabbing the phone. Looking down, she sees its Simmons. "Let me take this call and I promise you'll have my undivided attention." She says, getting up and walking out of the conference room. "What?" She barks, answering the call the moment the door closes behind her.
"We have a potential problem. I can't reach our other associate."
"I'm in the middle of an important business meeting. Have you called his cell phone?"
"Yes, several times since last night, no answer and the last call just went to voicemail."
"What do you want me to do about this? He's your associate, handle it."
"Fine, but I thought you would want to know, since he's a large part of this plan you've put together."
"He's probably off with some girl and he forgot to charge his phone. You handle this. I've got to go, and don't call me unless one of you is dead and the other was arrested for it and if that happens don't call me either." Olivia says, hanging up without Simmons reply. Opening the office door, she goes back inside. "Sorry about that, now what were you saying?"
"Is everything alright?"
"It's fine, nothing to worry about. Just a minor problem with a client we're working with for next spring. What were you saying about the Lake District?"
James looks at her before he nods and then goes back to the report that JR had given him.
Richard is walking out the door when Reva walks up. "Richard." She says, surprised to see him there.
"Good afternoon, Reva." He says, smiling.
"Hi, is Cassie home?"
"Yes." He says, opening the door for her. "I believe she's in the laundry room."
"Thank you. What are you doing… never mind?" Reva says, seeing the look in his eyes. "I hope you had fun."
"I did, umm we did." He says, smiling as he walks off the porch, whistling softly.
She watches him for a moment before she goes inside, closing the door as Cassie walks into the kitchen. "Reva, hi." She says, going over to the refrigerator.
"Hello." She says, sitting down at the table.
"I was going to call you. Do you want something to drink?" Cassie asks, turning to her.
"I would love a glass of wine."
Cassie turns to look at her, trying to decide whether she's joking or not. "I don't think either one of us should be drinking any wine, so how about a sprite?"
"That's fine."
"So, what's going on?"
"I may have destroyed my marriage this morning." Reva says taking the drink as Cassie sits down.
"Why, what did you do?"
"I went to see Jeffrey. Do you know he was in a car wreck Monday night?"
"No, what happened?"
"Apparently he was on his way over to their house by Cedars and a teenager rear ended him while he was texting and driving."
"Is he alright?"
"Yes, he's got a few broken ribs and a cut above his eye and some scrapes and bruises."
"What about the other…?"
Reva shakes her head. "The boy didn't make it. He was thrown through the windshield and hit Jeffrey's tailgate. The impact crushed his chest."
"I used to get onto Tammy for talking while she was driving, now kids text while they're driving."
"I know adults that text while driving. I've done it myself, but it's all dangerous."
"I've done it too and when RJ and Will were in the car with me. I never thought about the example I was putting before them." Cassie says, taking a drink. "Was Sam with him?" Cassie asks when she puts the Sprite down.
"No, she was waiting for him at their house. Frank came and took her to the hospital."
"She must have been scared, beyond scared when Frank showed up."
"She knew something was wrong so she called Jeffrey. She was talking to him when the paramedics arrived. She had a bit of a scare when she got to the hospital. The nurse told her the wrong room and she walked in on the doctor's working on the boy. She couldn't see who it was so at first she thought it was Jeffrey until they figured out that he was in another room." Reva says, as Cassie nods.
"You said you went over to see Jeffrey, why?"
"Well, actually I went to see Sam and Jeffrey was there."
"Why did you go see Sam?"
"I wanted to talk to her about Jeffrey."
"You told him." Cassie says, looking at Reva.
"Yes, it has to stop Cassie. Josh is petrified that if Jeffrey knows the truth that I'll leave him for Jeffrey. I know it's crazy but that's what he thinks and that's why he's insisting that we not tell him. I didn't go over there with… well I thought about it, but I really went over there to get a DNA sample."
"DNA sample, how were you going to get a DNA sample without telling her why you needed it?"
"I don't know maybe take it from his brush or something."
"And why would you need a DNA sample?"
"To prove for certain that Jeffrey was HB's son and then I was going to tell him, that was the plan anyway when I left Cross Creek but when I got to the loft, Jeffrey was there, I figured I might as well tell him."
"You know what Josh is going to do."
"Yes, I know he'll freak. But he had to be told and eventually when Josh realizes that I'm not leaving him for Jeffrey he'll understand why I told him."
"Have you told anyone else?"
"No, I came straight here after I left the loft."
"You know who else you're going to have to tell."
"She's in Europe."
"You don't think she won't find out about this. Marah probably logs into WSPR's website as much as Shayne and Jon do. She will find out about this, because you're not going to be able to keep this a secret in Springfield."
"I know. That was one of my arguments with Josh."
"I suggest you need to tell both of them before someone else does." Cassie says, sitting back and looking at Reva. "And thank you for making my wedding more dramatic. It's not enough to have the tension because my father, brother and sister are here…."
"Cassie, I'm sorry. I didn't think about the wedding."
"No, I'm sorry. But I did have a favor I wanted to ask Josh and you might have made it more difficult."
"What?"
"Reverend Rutledge and Father Ray can't do the wedding. Jeffrey's in the wedding party and we don't want Doris or the JP to do the ceremony so that left…."
"Josh."
"Yes."
"I'm sure he'll still do it."
"Will he do it if he realizes that I think you were right to tell Jeffrey the truth, even if it's going to make the next few months more uncomfortable. Thanksgiving and Christmas should be interesting this year."
"It'll certainly go down in the history books of Lewis holidays." Reva says, taking a drink.
"Right up there with Tammy and Jon and me and Richard." Cassie says, taking a drink as well.