Thank you to everybody who read or left kudos for the last section. I really appreciate it. Sorry, this is late. I had to spend most of yesterday prepping for the snowstorm and did not have time to do the final proofread until today. It's very snowy and pretty outside.
Chapter 99: I need a bigger Reesie cup to get through this day.
Midmorning, East Coast time September 25, 2010
Cuddly Cliff: I'm now stuck on a minibus driving to Hershey with three sulky teenagers, one angry almost preteen, and a precocious preschooler who wants to cuddle Jade to pieces and is sad her best cousin Jamie is not there, along with all their exhausted parents who are mainlining coffee and bagels. Thankfully, it's all the good stuff. These are the best bagels.
Cuddly Cliff: Claire and Vivian are just enjoying quality grandma time. I think Tyler may end up being Mercedes rebound despite the fact she is nearly a decade older than him and dated Daniel in high school.
Cuddly Cliff: [6 images attached]
Marc: Jade is adorable in that outfit. I am jealous of the food. The hotel bagels are the only passable bagels anywhere close and I'm eating carbs because all the other options are equally worse. I'm jealous. I need better drama. I'm so tired of the dads being hostile to one another.
Cuddly Cliff: I'm not surprised about the questionable food. Sorry about the dad chaos.
Marc: I'm sorry I did not reply to your text messages yesterday. The shows were chaos and completely drained me on top of everything else I had to do.
Cuddly Cliff: Chaos, how?
Marc: The Victoria free show was fine despite the hideous clothes. The other one, I saw her fight with Monique's aunt and fire Diana King. Considering the woman abandoned Mode UK in its darkest hour, I am OK with her getting fired so quickly and publicly after jumping ship.
Cuddly Cliff: You would've left, too, under those circumstances. I still don't know how we pulled that issue off.
Marc: That wasn't the first time Daniel dealt with an issue collapsing before his eyes and putting it back together again. I didn't leave when things blew up in the past. Probably because I was part of the team doing the sabotage, but I still stayed around. Although last Fashion Week was very tempting but no one else gives us free childcare.
Cuddly Cliff: Or let us bring our daughter into work whenever we want as long as it's safe. I'm also getting a free trip to Hershey.
Marc: See another reason why I won't leave.
Marc: Anyway, I had dinner with the Crimson Diamond Group, who miss you. I managed to charm them into buying a year's worth of ads and becoming the jeweler of choice for the spring wedding issue. I think you are going to be doing a jewelry shoot soon.
Cuddly Cliff: I look forward to it. Maybe we can use some of their pieces in the Paris shoot?
Marc: That's a good idea. I think the contract allows us that option, but have my assistant look it over.
Cuddly Cliff: Tamika says she'll check Monday because she's not working on the weekend unless she has to. This is family bonding time for her.
Marc: That's fine. Once I got back to the hotel, I had to take turns with Daniel keeping Amanda from dashing to the hospital in the middle of the night. I am still exhausted.
Cuddly Cliff: I'm sure you would be. Amanda was discharged?
Marc: Yes. Amanda is out, but the babies are stuck until at least Tuesday. Thankfully, they're meeting all their development goals. Amanda hates being so far away.
Marc: Sorry, I forgot to mention that yesterday due to work chaos. Thankfully, I won't have to do anything job-related until heading over to set up for the Alexandria lingerie shoot on Friday.
Cuddly Cliff: That's completely understandable. At least the twins will be home soon.
Marc: I hope so at least.
Cuddly Cliff: You're not going with the Mode UK team for Paris Fashion Week?
Marc: No. Only Charlotte and a few from her team will help support the joint show with Mode Paris. Between Daniel only taking over the magazine in June and Amanda's due date being near Paris Fashion Week, it was decided that they would focus more on London Fashion Week this year and prepare to take Paris by storm next spring. Charlotte mentioned they're going to start planning as soon as Daniel gets back from paternity leave.
Marc: Although Charlotte agreed to help us get the rest of the necessary permits for the shoots.
Cuddly Cliff: I appreciate that. Otherwise, we'll have to do everything at Vivian's Château and Vineyard.
Marc: She has a château and vineyard?
Cuddly Cliff: Yes.
Marc: Why does that not surprise me?
Cuddly Cliff: She is the second richest woman in the world right now, so the multiple houses should surprise no one, including the one in the French countryside. It gives us a backup location in case the permits fall through. I feel like Victoria would do that after her scheme to prevent us from bringing Jade to Europe completely fell apart.
Marc: She would. [Exasperated emoji]
Marc: I'll check with Wilhelmina to see if she has a contact that can help just in case.
Cuddly Cliff: Oh, that reminds me. Have you received a call from the legal team?
Marc: Yes, but I haven't returned the call yet. I need to do that now that since it is finally a suitable time of the day in New York. Do you know why they need to get a hold of me on a Saturday?
Cuddly Cliff: A little. They wouldn't tell me everything, but your mom no longer has a legal team.
Marc: ?
Cuddly Cliff: You'll have to call our legal team for more details. I was reassured that what ever is happening will not prevent Jade from leaving with me on Saturday. At least we will be all back together in a week.
Marc: Thank the universe for that. It's been miserable without you and the little darling.
Marc: I just talked to our legal team. My mom is without an attorney and is requesting time to find a new one before continuing. They theorized that my mom had lost her wealthy benefactor and could no longer afford her previous team.
Marc: There is also a rumor that her last check to them bounced, but I did not hear that from them.
Cuddly Cliff: This coincides with Victoria being locked out of all the foundation accounts. I just heard that from Vivian.
Marc: Exactly. I could actually see her spending funds from the charity to finance my mother's attempt to take our child just to keep us distracted in the run-up to Amanda giving birth.
Cliff: It seems like something the woman would do. I'll mention that to the PI team and Brianna. I should be seeing her in about an hour.
Marc:?
Cuddly Cliff: Breanna is flying in with baby Alexis to spend the weekend at the amusement park with her family. Vivian wanted more people here to keep Austin and Justin from running off and visiting old family friend, Rebecca.
Marc: That seems like something the kids would do.
Cuddly Cliff: They would.
Marc: We are back at the hospital for quality twins time.
Marc: [9 pictures attached]
Cuddly Cliff: The twins are so cute.
Marc: They are, but Jade is still better. I wish I got to see her when she was this tiny.
Cuddly Cliff: Jade was never that tiny. Thankfully, Jody made it to full-term despite being a very high-risk pregnancy. Her getting pregnant at 50 was a miracle.
Marc: Jade is definitely our miracle baby. I still regret not being there.
Cuddly Cliff: It's OK. You're here for her now.
Marc: I'm just glad you're going to be in London soon. I really hate being this far away.
Cuddly Cliff: I know. We will be there soon; I will send you more pictures in the meantime. Jade has more adoptive grandmothers. Claire and Vivian won't give her back to me.
Marc: At least it makes up for her biological mom and grandmother being dreadful.
Cuddly Cliff: [7 images attached]
Marc: That's a different outfit than the sundress you sent me earlier.
Cuddly Cliff: Our daughter is barely on baby food and is already a messy eater. She enjoyed the homemade peach and blueberry purée a little too much. I've only now realized I did not bring enough outfits for two days at her current rate of messiness. I'm going to need to buy a Reese Cup onesie or something.
Marc: At least go with a Hershey Kiss onesie. I like silver.
Cuddly Cliff: I will take that under advisement. We're pulling into the park. I'll send you pictures throughout the day. Love you.
Marc: Love you too. Give Jade a kiss for me.
Xxx
The drive to Hershey was anything but quiet. Baby Mo kept singing various kid road trip staples the entire time. Austin appreciated it because it kept him from dwelling on the fact that the adults thwarted his plan to visit Rebecca. He should have realized something was up when they all agreed to take him here with little persuasion.
At least it gave him more time to hang out with Tyler (when he wasn't discussing work things with Mercedes). Austin was glad that his other brother joined them. He was really looking forward to the park. He spent half the ride looking at the park map on the website. Thankfully, a little before 11 AM, they pulled into the parking lot with a bouncing baby Mo, who was ready to leave the vehicle. The driver let them out in front. His aunt and somebody who obviously works for the park were already waiting for them. Austin is going to assume that she is the VIP concierge. Austin is aware that traveling with Vivian is different. It happens when you're a billionaire.
Before Austin could even approach his aunt, Baby Alexis ran to Austin and hugged him. "I miss you so much."
"You just saw me a couple of days ago," Austin told his little cousin as he picked her up.
"I still miss you. Cleveland is not as much fun." The child answered.
"Come on, you love your playgroup. You spent all day yesterday making butterflies out of old milk jugs. I am still getting glitter out of your hair." Breanna said as she hugged Austin herself.
"You make me work with my tutor," Alexis Junior said in a way that made it sound like the worst offense in the world.
"Hey, at least I'm not sending you to kindergarten just so you'll have to switch in January."
"I don't want to go to school in French." baby Alexis told her mom as Austin put her back down on the ground.
"We'll talk to mommy Alexis about that later." Aunt Breanna said.
"Lexis is here! Mommy, you didn't tell me Alexis would be here." Austin heard baby Mo speak excitedly as she pulled her mom down the steps of the minibus.
"I told you that my cousin was going to be here," Austin told her.
"Alexis, is your cousin?" Baby Mo asked.
"Yep. Her mom is my aunt." Austin explained to the four-year-old.
"But you're my uncle?" Baby Mo asked.
"Because your grandma is my foster mom," Austin explained.
"This is weird." Austin agreed with Baby Mo.
"It is." Baby Alexis agreed. "That's why I decided to call him Uncle Austin, too, just like I call Matt my uncle, even though he's technically my cousin. Uncle Matt and Mommy grew up together." Baby Alexis explained.
"This will all be super confusing in a few years," Justin said as he grabbed baby Mo's hand from Mercedes. The adults will be joining Jerry soon, so the teenagers are on babysitting duty. Austin was given the choice to join them but was still uncertain if he would be joining. He was waiting to talk to Matt first.
"So much," Antonella said, holding onto Freddy.
"Speaking of Matt, have you seen him? He came ahead of us because he had an errand to run." Vivian asked.
"No, and I've been sitting in the drop-off area for 30 minutes. Our limo driver is annoyed. He couldn't just drop me off because he's still holding our luggage." Breanna told the group as she pointed to the black limo just off the side.
"You should've mentioned something. We have a place where we could put your bags." Their VIP escort Kathy offered. At least that's what her name tag said.
"It's fine. We can put Breanna and Alexis's luggage in the minibus and transfer it to Matt's car later." That's when the group broke apart a little. Most follow Kathy to the front gate as Breanna, baby Alexis, Austin, Cliff, and Vivian walk toward the limo to grab Breanna's luggage. Cliff left baby Jade behind, with Justin's mom guiding her stroller. "I assume you're driving back with him to New York?" Vivian asked.
"It depends on how much they are in the honeymoon zone. I don't want to crash a romantic car ride. Do you have space for us?" Breanna asked.
"Of course," Vivian answered.
"You're coming with us to New York?" Austin asked his aunt, surprised.
"Yep, for a few days due to a Hartley Foundation emergency requiring in-person intervention. The army of accountants auditing the foundation has already found a bunch of suspicious purchases. For example, do you know that the Hartley Foundation was paying Mrs. Weiner's legal fees for her fight for baby Jade?" Breanna turned to Cliff.
"We didn't know, but we were suspicious. When are lawyers told us that her council quit, it was hinted that it was because of a lack of payment. I planned to flag it for the PI team once we met today." Cliff explained. Austin is not at all surprised this happened.
"I am so glad shutting down that fund helped," Breanna said as she hugged her friend. Austin just remembered that they've known each other since college. Apparently, they used to date before Cliff figured everything out.
"Anyway, they need to talk to Matt and me about a few more things they learned. I also have to sign a bunch of things to keep the witch out for good. Thankfully, Jordan is free for the next few days and will stay with Alexis."
"You didn't have to come back for just that. I would've been happy to help Matt with the foundation issues." Vivian offered.
"I know, and I appreciate that. But I feel like I have to do it myself. I've been in charge of the foundation for the last three years, and I was still unaware of my former sister-in-law's abuse. That's on me. I should have kicked her completely out once Matt was old enough to take full control of his trust fund. We made a mistake and just kicked her upstairs." Aunt Breanna was distraught.
"The bigger mistake was made by your accounting team. As well as your HR team that hired the accountant team. I would start with completely overhauling both."
"That's the other reason why I'm going to New York. Vivian was like a parasite sucking the blood out of the organization." Breanna sighed. "Do you think I can convince Amanda's dad to come out of retirement and take over the accountant team? He's already helping us figure out what DJ's grandparents did with his money." Note to self: tell DJ what's going on. Austin is not entirely sure the adults will.
"I have some names if he rather just spend time with his new grandchildren," Vivian stated.
"I appreciate it," Breanna said as they arrived at the limo. She quickly instructed the driver to open the trunk.
"I feel like that's not going well at all," Cliff said as he grabbed one of the bags from the trunk and pulled it over to the bus. Thankfully, the driver was now parked two spots away from the limo.
"No, and he's barely started because of the babies. Although he promises to have a preliminary report done before the next time DJ has to see his grandparents. I would like to find something to change the custody agreement.
"That's next weekend. Are we going to be there in time for that? Because I would rather DJ not deal with those crazy people alone. There's so awful. They completely ruined our trip to Disney Paris."
"Yep, we will be there. We will fly out earlier than originally planned for that reason." Austin gives his aunt a look.
"I'll explain later. Particularly when Matt gets here. Has anybody texted him yet, or should I?"
"I'll text Cory. They better not have a book club meeting somewhere in the back of the car." Austin commented. He really did not want to think about his brother's sex life, even though he liked Cory.
"What is a book club meeting?" Baby Mo asked, dragging Justin behind her. Of course, the child follows them out.
"Mommy Alexis says it's when Uncle Daniel is Fu…" Brianna quickly places a hand on baby Alexis's mouth.
"Remember the talk we had. We don't say that word until you're a bit older." Breanna admonished his pseudo-knees. "But book club is a mode euphemism for having private grown-up time together."
"What does euphemism mean?" Baby Mo asked.
"We will get you a dictionary later, sweetie." Her grandmother told the young girl.
"Matt and Cory were running an errand for me. But I really expected them to be here by this time." Vivian explained.
"Maybe Rebecca decided to bear her soul," Cliff commented.
"They went to see Rebecca?" Austin asked, surprised.
"Yes, because I knew you two would try to sneak off and do it yourselves, so we thought it would be best if they went this morning. I had them extend an invitation to join us for dinner tonight. I am hoping she will agree. I really don't want you running around a city where your stepfather was killed. Who knows if Victoria's people are still here." Vivian explained.
"I doubt they would still stick around. You know it was the movers." Justin commented.
"Do we really want to have this conversation out in the open? There's other people around." Vivian pointed out.
"Sorry, Ms. Wyndham West. I just texted Cory. He says they'll be here in a minute. They just had to pick something up. They're making their way through parking now." Justin told everybody.
"What were they doing?" Austin asked.
"He didn't say," Justin replied just as a purple Cadillac started to approach.
"I think that's them. I recognize the convertible. It used to belong to Mercedes's ex-husband. I think he hit on me in that car at least once." Breanna explained.
"Probably more than once. He even hit on me a couple of times." Vivian commented. At that moment, Austin noticed a third person in their car.
"Sorry we were late, but we had to return and pick up a special guest for Austin," Cory said as they parked in front of the group. That's when Austin noticed a brunette woman get out of the back of the car.
"Aunt Rebecca?" Austin asked, not entirely sure this was the woman from his childhood. She looked older now with strands of gray hair and more wrinkles.
"Yes. Sorry for making them late, but I decided to join since I have a season pass." That's when Rebecca got out of the car and walked to hug Austin.
"You've gotten so big," Rebecca said, pulling out of the embrace.
"That tends to happen when you haven't been in contact for about five years." Austin was trying not to sound bitter, but it was going badly.
"I'm so sorry about that. I just…" Rebecca started, but Austin held up a hand to stop her.
"I get it. George was toxic, and my mom refused to leave, and now we're looking for her body. You couldn't keep watching her hurt herself."
"I'm just sorry I didn't do more to get her out before this happened. Now your mom is..." Rebecca trailed off as they started walking towards the rest of the party.
"It's OK," Austin responded as his boyfriend said, "It really is not."
"No, it's not," Rebecca agreed with Justin. "You deserved better, and I failed you." Justin noticed a tear falling down her cheek.
"You are doing what you thought was the best thing then. You couldn't know how this was going to end up. I just wish I knew what happened." Austin acknowledged.
"If I could tell you, I would." Rebecca's wording sounded weird to Austin, but he said nothing.
"I know."
"No more crying. Let's go to the boardwalk." Justin said as they approached the gate.
"I love the boardwalk. Did you guys bring swimsuits?" Rebecca asked. "It's mostly water attractions."
"Of course. I didn't get much beach time this summer because I was in London. I really want to show off my suits and my boyfriend." Justin pulled him toward him. Austin wanted to kiss his boyfriend but decided against it because he wasn't sure if it was safe there. Rebecca just smiled, almost like she was expecting this.
"Sorry, let me introduce you to Justin, my boyfriend."
"Lovely to meet you, Justin." Rebecca quickly shook his hand.
"You guys go into the park and enjoy yourself. Katie has special bracelets for you. After that, the rest of us adults will go elsewhere for an event." Vivian did not want to mention the PI in front of Rebecca, that was probably for the best.
"I want to go with you guys." Baby Alexis told them.
"Can she join you? I have a meeting in the park because my job is never done. Otherwise, she'll hang out with Antonella, Cliff, Tyler, Claire, and the girls." Austin realized Breanna was asking him if he wanted to attend the investigator debriefing. Because of Rebecca's presence, Austin realizes he can't go but expects a readout later. Besides, this will give him the perfect opportunity to talk with Rebecca.
"Brianna?" Rebecca said the name as a question.
"Yep, that's me, and the munchkin is my daughter Alexis Junior." Breanna pointed to her daughter.
"This is Rebecca. She used to give me the best cookies when I was a little bit younger than Austin." His aunt explained.
"I think you only like them because Victoria did not allow you to have sweets." Aunt Becky replied.
"Because she was a horrible person." Brianna wraps the woman in a hug. "It's been forever."
"It really has. I'm glad you joined us."
"I am, too."
XXXX
When Vivian called her earlier this week and asked her to be a chaperone on this trip to Hersheypark, Hilda jumped at the chance to do something helpful. She felt lost because she didn't know how to improve this for Austin, who was suffering. Her sister also asked her to keep an eye on her ex-boyfriend. Both women realize Matt was giving up his children to protect them from his mother. He was obviously not in a good headspace. The Tiffany situation made it worse. So, she was looking forward to actually getting to talk to Matt.
Unfortunately, he didn't ride the minibus to Hersheypark. Although they did text continuously. This was why she was surprised when the infamous Rebecca showed up at the park. They did not mention her at all. Hilda met the woman briefly as they went through the front gate together. They didn't get to talk long because baby Alexis was pulling Justin, Rebecca, and Austin towards the boardwalk and the arcade.
The other kids were with Claire and Tyler on their way to find some kid-appropriate rides before going to the waterpark. Cliff and Tamika now had Jade and were making their way to the zoo because it was the best place for somebody who was Miniature size. Most of the rides would not allow handhold infants.
Everyone else, including Matt and Corey, waited in a private dining room for Jerry and his team to show up. Which gave Hilda time to ask some questions. Unfortunately, none of them could be, 'How are you dealing with my future brother-in-law raising your kids?' That would have to come later when there were fewer people around. Hilda was still determining if everybody in this group knew the truth. It's possible Mercedes and Cliff did not know, and she wouldn't be the one to tell them.
"How exactly did you get Rebecca here? The last I got was the cryptic text message about your suspicions, but at least she took the business card." Hilda asked as she munched on a Reese's Cup brownie. At least this meeting with the private investigators had food. She's going to need a lot of chocolate to get through it. Fortunately, they came to a place filled with chocolate. She's mentally planning to sneak back here during the week when she's not dealing with the PI team.
"Right before we pulled into the park, she texted us and asked if she could join and would we mine coming to get her so she wouldn't have to pay for parking," Cory explained.
"Which I don't blame her for," Hilda remarked.
"I think she wants to talk to Austin," Matt added.
"I do, too. She already apologized."
"I just hope that she's more open with him than us. Rebecca was aware of the abuse and thought that cutting Tiffany off would be the best thing. But she told Tiffany she would always have a place here once she was ready to leave the bastard behind for good." Matt explained. Hilda wasn't surprised to realize that Rebecca knew how bad the situation was. Even Hilda picked up on the signs of abuse early on. It's why she wanted Austin out of there so badly. She just wished they didn't leave Tiffany behind.
"That explains why we found the van here," Mercedes told the group.
"Why do you think that?" Vivian asked.
"We were all wondering why they found the car here when this wasn't the best route to Chicago. If she planned to abandon George at a rest stop, she could easily reroute things through Hershey. Her ticket to safety was here." Mercedes argued.
"That might be possible, but maybe she decided to convince George to take it easy on the way to Chicago and do some touristy things," Hilda suggested.
"Which would make more sense if they didn't have movers." Mercedes pointed out. She was very right about that.
"If she was going to leave George, she could do it the day she signed over custody to your mother. I was there when Vivian offered her asylum. She still rode off to Chicago with the ass hole." Hilda retorted.
"She wouldn't agree to that if she thought it would endanger Austin. Refusing to go to Chicago would make her a target. However, Austin was now safe with my mother in New York, where George couldn't touch him. That would give her more options to leave in a way that wouldn't lead the man back to her son." Mercedes had a point. Your children come first. However, Hilda did not have time to say anything because that was when Jerry and another team member walked into the private meeting room.
"I'm surprised you were able to get this space. I didn't even know they had private rooms like this." Jerry said, taking the seat next to Vivian. His companion sat next to Hilda.
"You'll be surprised what you can access if you're me. Introduce me to your associate." Vivian said, taking a sip of her lemonade.
"I appreciate it. We have a lot to update you on. I brought Kayla with me to help." The woman waved to the group before starting to speak.
"We've had some breakthroughs regarding the moving van. First, it belongs to Mallory and Associates, a company known to do business with the Hartley Foundation. They provide the transport for many of your charity events, including the most recent Labor Day yacht party." Kayla explained to the group.
"Matt's second cousin, Vinny Mallory owns Mallory and Associates. Family rumor has it that they may or may not have connections to organized crime. Although he did offer to kill the I quote 'ass hole, which left me alone and pregnant.' I had to explain to him it was too late or at least that's what we thought at the time." Breanna explained.
"Half of the family felt that way about Alexis Junior's other parent." Matt added.
"Considering the accountants have already discovered that my ex-sister-in-law was using the foundation as her sneaky little piggy bank, I'm not surprised her cousin was involved," Breanna sighed. "I am surprised we didn't catch it because some of this was obvious. I thought it was just more country club good old girls' club shenanigans. Apparently, kicking my sister-in-law upstairs wasn't enough. I needed to completely kick her out." Brianna looked very upset.
"At least she's out now and cut off from future funding," Vivian remarked.
"I'll make a note to look into cousin Vinny. It's not surprising that she's using family for this. We will look at others to see if they could be connected to her illegal activities. I will also ask the forensic accountant to create a list of all her transactions with the company." Jerry told the group before motioning for Kayla to continue.
"Two, we have confirmation that the moving van was in the area the day after Tiffany's disappearance. We found traffic cam footage."
"Can you go to Mallory and associates and get the van?" Vivian asked. "Or at least tell the FBI to do it. I know they're involved now since our forensic anthropologist is married to an agent."
"I wish we could. Unfortunately, there's no longer a van to examine. Three days later, the van got into an accident and was a total loss. It's already been crushed." Jerry explained with an annoyed expression.
"That's a way to get rid of evidence quickly," Cory remarked.
"I'm shocked that you found surveillance video. I didn't realize businesses kept them that long. I know we don't at any of our hotels." Mercedes remarked.
"We got lucky. The place just switched to a new digital system with 90 day retention. Honestly, you may want to switch to something similar." Jerry told the group.
"That's the plan. We are currently transitioning all locations to a new digital system. We had to after security almost lost the footage of my former business partner, ruining Monique's wedding," Vivian added before asking more serious questions. "Do you know why George and Tiffany decided to travel through here?"
"You would have more of an answer to that question than us. If there were any maps in the van, they were destroyed between the fire and the water. We are still determining why they chose this particular path."
"We have a theory on how they ended up here." Matt interrupted.
"Please share," Jerry commented.
"We talked to Rebecca this morning." Matt started.
"She didn't slam the door in your face like she has to me and Kayla?" Jerry asked.
"We bribed her with New York bagels," Cory answered.
"Smart," Kyla agreed.
"She confirmed our suspicions that George was an abusive piece of shit," Matt replied.
"Therefore, I'm going to be really happy once our medical examiner confirms that the dead body is his. My current theory is that something happened between me offering her a safe place to go after signing over custody of Austin and the trip to Chicago. Whatever it was made Tiffany decided to leave, which led them to come here where Tiffany would have support." Vivian explained.
"Your specialist from DC confirmed that it was George that we found." Everyone looked relieved to find out it wasn't Tiffany. "Per the bone doctor, George died of a gunshot wound before his body was dumped in the van. It also looked like he struggled with his attacker."
"Is it possible that George pulled the gun on Tiffany, and she turned it around on him?" Hilda asked. She hopes that's what happened because at least it would mean that Austin still has a living mom.
"The bone doctor can probably tell us if that's probable. She's still working on her preliminary report. We will know more by Thursday. Everything will be going to her FBI liaison." Everyone's glad this is a federal case since it would be harder for Victoria to cover it up.
"Is it possible that Tiffany is still alive?" Corey asked.
"I wouldn't completely rule it out. We haven't found the second body yet. If anybody knows it's Rebecca. Unfortunately, she won't talk to my team." Jerry sighed. "That in itself is suspicious."
"We were walking behind her and Austin as they were chatting. Austin told her he just wanted to know what happened. She said that she wished she could tell Austin but couldn't. I find her phrasing suspicious. I think she does know something." Matt explained.
"Rebecca is here?" Jerry asked.
"After our visit this morning, she called us back and said that she wanted to see Austin and spend the day at the park with him," Cory explained.
"Austin's boyfriend is there, and he is providing me updates." Vivian explained.
"If she slips up, my son will see it," Hilda tells the investigator. After that, the meeting continued with Breanna summarizing all the actions to keep Victoria out of the Hartley Foundation accounts. Jerry and Kayla seem pleased, at least. Following that conversation, the remaining keep Austin safe conspiracy group members left, leaving Vivian and Hilda to explain to Jerry and Kyla that she would stay for the next few days to keep an eye on things. At least until she left for Paris.
"That might be useful. You said your son is currently with Rebecca right now?" Jerry asked.
"Yep. Rebecca and the kids are making excellent use of Vivian's allowance at the arcades. They're heading to the cabana next." Hilda explained as she held up her phone, showing a picture of the group. Justin was holding onto various chocolate stuffed animals, some of which were ridiculously large.
"Good. You should join them. Maybe even tried to get a dinner invitation with Rebecca for later in the week."
"You want me to make nice?" Hilda asked.
"If we want to find out what happened the day George died, I think we are going to have to get Rebecca on our side," Vivian tells her, and Hilda reluctantly agrees. Rebecca is the key to finding out what happened, and she owes Austin answers. The kid deserves that much.
To be continued…