Three days later we're all called to Harlan's. Ransom was hesitant about letting me come but after I swore I wouldn't move from the couch he conceded. We were all there, which I found a little odd. It was the middle of the day, not a holiday and no one was dead. "What's going on?" I whisper to Meg.
"No one knows. Grandpa called us all here but wouldn't say why."
Harlan enters with two cops. "It seems Richard is missing." Harlan tells us. I look over at Ransom, shocked. His face is filled with alarm as well.
Linda doesn't look as worried, probably because of everything that happened leading up to the divorce. "I'm sorry but what does this have to do with us? Richard is my ex-husband and as such, it's not really our place to be informed."
"We've been going over Mr. Drysdale's last known whereabouts and several people witnessed an altercation between Richard and Mr. and Mrs. Drysdale outside a doctor's office." I go pale and begin to breathe heavy, panic rising in me. Ransom kneels in front of me, trying to calm me down but I can't hear what he's saying. He turns to the detectives as Linda comes to sit with me.
"The confrontation with my father has put my wife on bed rest for at least a month. Can we please do this without her?"
"I'm sorry sir. We're going to need to talk to both of you about that argument."
"You can use my study." Harlan volunteers. They nod and we lead them there.
"So what was the argument about?" The one asks as we get settled, Ransom making sure I'm comfortable before sitting next to me.
"He accused me of getting an abortion..." I start.
"Well, you're clearly pregnant so why would he say this?" The other asks, missing the look his partner gives him.
"He didn't know for sure I was pregnant right now. He was referring to the past." I whisper, my grip on Ransom's hand has my knuckles turning white.
"What does that mean?"
"It means that I had gotten pregnant fourteen years ago and needed to get an abortion."
"Why would Richard Drysdale care about an abortion you had when you were eighteen?" I look at Ransom, tears in my eyes. This was all coming out now, really? When I had the most to lose.
"Because he's the reason I had to get one. He got me pregnant when he raped me the night of my graduation party." I say evenly., trying to void myself of all emotions. I wasn't completely successful.
"Why wasn't a police report filed?"
"Because I was a scared eighteen year old. I went and got a rape kit done and that was the end of it."
"Where were you between 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon on Tuesday?" They ask me.
"Are you kidding me? I just tell you this man raped me, got me pregnant and that I got an abortion because of it and you honestly think that I had something to do with it? I'm pregnant now, a high-risk pregnancy now thanks to that asshole. I couldn't have even done anything if I wanted to."
"Ma'am, you can either tell us here or down at the station." This was just perfect. Richard goes missing and I would be the one blamed for it.
"I was with my mom, having a late lunch at a little cafe in Boston. If you don't believe me, check my bank records and the security footage, I was there from at least 2:30-4:45, but the exact times might be a little off."
They nod before turning to Ransom. "And where were you?"
"With my mother and brother-in-law picking up and putting together the nursery with the furniture my wife had ordered."
They seemed satisfied with these answers and let us go. We got back to the family and the cops leave. "Grab your mom and Gramps. I want to talk to all of you." I say before going back to the study. I watched as they entered one by one before I turned to all of them. "What did you do?" I ask.
"Technically, I didn't do anything." Harlan says. I turn to Ransom. "What did you do?" I ask again. He sighs before launching into the story.
*Flashback, Ransom's POV*
"What are you prepared to do?" My mother asks me.
"Whatever it takes." I say.
"He can't get away with this." I say as Mom, Archer and I watch my father's apartment where he's been staying since the divorce.
"And he won't as long as we all do our jobs correctly. Now buck up!" Mom says. We watch as he comes out of his door, walking to his car.
"If we're going to do this, it's now or never." I say and Archer swings the car over, and rolls down the window.
"Get in." Mom orders Richard. He hesitates for a second and I get frustrated, pulling him in and Archer taking off.
"What're we doing?" he asks nonchalantly. We scoff and Archer drives to the lake that borders Massachusetts, New York and Vermont. We pull off the road, to where an old hunting cabin that Harlan had told us about. "Are you going to kill me Ransom?" he asks with a laugh.
"Nope..." Richard looks shocked. "He is." I say pointing at Archer. I restrain Richard, holding his mouth open, Archer sticking with him with an overdose of potassium under the tongue, waiting for him to go into cardiac arrest and die before we pull up to the side of the lake.
Archer and I pull him out of the car, down the bank and into the lake, staying and watch him sink under the surface. "No body, no crime." I say as we walk back to the car and drive away.
*End of Flashback*
"I'm sorry. You and Archer did what?" I asked, pointing between the two of them, before turning to Gramps. "And let me guess, you knew they were doing this?" he nods. I slowly let my breath out, massaging my temples with both hands. "Does my mom know?" They shake their heads. "Ok. We're keeping it that way. We had to tell them the reason for the confrontation so maybe they'll think he skipped town, especially if he was worried about it getting out."
We all nod and then go about our days, Ransom taking me home. We're upstairs in our bed and I turn to him. "I really wish you hadn't done this. They're going to be suspicious of us. We can't let it seem like anything is out of place. I have a work thing tomorrow for training camp, media pictures that they want for the websites. I'm going to need you to drive me to Boston." I let him know.
"Do I get to stay and watch the practice?" He asks hopeful.
"I'll see what strings my doctor's note can pull. Maybe they'll even let you down with me if I say you're helping with my equipment." He looked so happy that I hoped this plan worked.
I get quiet and he turns to me. "What is it sweetheart?"
"Please tell me that you guys thought of every possible way that this could have gone wrong. I can't do this by myself." I finish, placing a hand on my bump.
"Mom planned the whole thing and Harlan approved it. I think we're in the clear."
"I hope so because I don't feel super comfortable about conjugal visits." I say and he laughs before giving me a weird look. "What?"
"I'm amazed, turned on and slightly weirded out how calm you are by this whole thing. You're acting like you didn't just find out that your husband, brother, mother-in-law and grandfather-in-law didn't just kill someone."
"Not someone. My rapist. And if you can come to terms with the fact that you killed your father, then I can too."
"That man wasn't my father. He's nothing. You, Paris, and the baby are everything to me and I'll do whatever it takes to keep you all safe."
"I love you," I say, kissing him before settling in for the night.
YOU ARE READING
Falling Apart, Together✓
Fanfic~Completed~ Ransom Dryesdale had been best friends with Bentley Reynolds's older twin brother Archer since they were babies. Their moms have been friends since childhood and their dads since college. They were always close, all three of them. Ransom...
