Discovering Us 3: Perseverance

TYLER

“What’s our game plan for Carla?” My voice sounds distant and unfamiliar, like it’s not even mine. I feel like a stranger in my own body.

“The truth,” Jerry responds, his pacing resuming.

“She’ll have our heads.”

“Both of you deserve whatever she dishes out.” I can’t help but think she’s going to end us right here, right now. As we wait, that thought consumes me. Waiting. That’s all we’ve done for the past four days. Wait. Hope. Stall. Drown in self-pity.

We got our hands on the footage from Annie’s CCTV sooner than I anticipated. It wasn’t even an hour before we got a call back from Mark, whoever the hell he is.

We huddle around the desk as his voice echoes from the speakerphone.

“Someone’s been tampering from the inside. The original files were stored on the server and replaced with a loop recording for forty minutes, looping three minutes to make it seem like no one had come or gone. Can you guys call me on Teams?”

“Sure, Mark,” Jerry responds, hanging up the phone and immediately dialing Mark back on Teams.

A guy, probably my age, with a buzz cut pops up on the screen. Our eyes meet briefly. I feel like I’ve seen him before, but I can’t place where. I don’t have the energy to dwell on it right now.

“Hey… Oh, who are they?”

“My sons-in-law. Tyler and Callum.”

I almost chuckle at the fact that we are his sons-in-law now.

How long have I yearned for that? The acceptance I never knew I craved. Sons-in-law.

My heart clenches as I realize he’s truly accepted Zach and me. And Callum and Violet too, it seems. I glance at him, then back at the screen. Son.

At last, I am his son.

I have a father.

Zach will lose it if he knew you were thinking like this.

“Nice to meet you. Uh, so yeah. The originals were stored on the server. Clearly, someone wanted a copy but didn’t have enough time to download and delete it. I’m going to screen-share the CCTV feeds from December second at 12:16.

“As you can see, Zachary is walking in front of the building before he goes in. He has a brief chat with one of the receptionists before hopping into the first elevator on the right. I’m going to switch the feed…

“Here you go, this is the internal elevator one’s CCTV footage, Zach goes straight up to the third floor, which is Dr. Greene’s office floor. Getting out, he waves to the receptionist, who I believe is named Bridget.

“Switching to hallway cam one, you can see him walk down the hallway to Dr. Greene’s consultation room. He lets himself into the room, without knocking, by the way.

“Let me just switch over to the other files here. Give me a second. These files I had to negotiate from the doctor herself, she said they were private and confidential files only recorded for personal protection in case she was attacked by a client. There you go.

“As you can see, Violet Stephenson was with the doctor for about eighteen minutes before Zach showed up. If you watch, he lets himself into the room at 12:30 and they both leave just over a minute later, walking back out into the hall.”

“I’m going to switch back to the other files. There you go, they walk hand in hand down the hallway past the receptionist into the waiting elevator.

“This, I believe, is an external parking elevator one out of one, they ride down and immediately exit the elevator walking toward Miss Stephenson’s car. As you’re about to see, Zach is attacked while Violet’s back is turned.

“Mr. Henry Cambers is holding what we believe is a loaded gun with a silencer to Zach’s temple. Assailant one grabs Violet as she is talking and somehow she manages to wrestle him to the ground efficiently.”

We all watch intently as Mark highlights the crucial parts of the CCTV that he’s probably reviewed multiple times already. My stomach churns as I watch them being kidnapped in broad daylight.

“As you see, Violet, Miss Stephenson willingly goes with Mr. Cambers but your son, Zach does not.”

“She went because of him,” I say to no one in particular. She went because they hurt him and threatened him. She’s a fool.

“Uh. Well, yes, I agree, Tyler. She went because she had no choice, but the court of law will argue she went willingly.”

“Yes, well. Either way, she didn’t go willingly, did she? So have this sent to Officer Kind and Judge Kinford. I want the warrants out for these men’s arrests. Mark, I want my son home within the week.”

“Sir. Do I have permission to hack the personal tracking chips?”

“How did you know about them?” I ask him, peering through the screen. Who are you, Mark?

“I made them.”

It’s like a light bulb goes off in my head. It’s been nine years but damn. Is that Hanson? He was just a kid when we decided to get these chips.

“Mark Hanson?” He nods cautiously.

Damn.

“You hired him?” I say, turning to Jerry, furious.

“Everyone deserves a second chance, Tyler.”

“Oh, of course everyone does. How do we know it’s not Hanson?”

The things this man has done with the information these chips provide. I want to reach through the screen and punch his damn face, but I can’t.

“Mark did his time and he has been helping people since getting out of jail. This isn’t him, Tyler. You can trust me on that.”

“Trust you? I trust you as much as I trust him.”

“You have permission, Mark. Find my son.” Jerry ends the Teams call then. I can’t contain my outburst.

“He’s a damn criminal. Do you know how many people he robbed?”

“I know everything, Tyler. I was his lawyer. Mark isn’t like that anymore. He’s changed.”

“People don’t change.” I jab his chest with my finger. You haven’t changed, I want to say but I don’t. I can’t.

I don’t want to awaken that side of him.

“I know you’re stressed, Tyler. They’ll be home soon, I promise.”

Promise? Like he promised to love his child yet beat him?

“You and I both know that every day they are there. Every day he has Violet, he’s doing unspeakable things to her. And you and I both know Zach loves too deeply not to fight back. He will get himself killed and he will do it without a second thought. I’ll never see him again, Jerry. I need him. Don’t let this happen.”

“I’m aware…” He sighs, gripping my shoulder. “Look, I know you don’t trust me, and I know why, but I wasn’t the one that waited four days before asking for help.”

We stand there, locked in a silent standoff. I’m the one who breaks eye contact when there’s a knock at the door. I step back, sinking into the chair I was sitting in earlier. What the hell have I done?

“Come in, darling.” Carla opens the door with a wide smile on her face, her voice lively and animated.

“Liz has arrived, sweetheart, and dinner’s ready.” Her smile fades as she takes in the scene before her. Her eyes close off, much like Zach’s do.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had guests,” she says, her gaze darting between us suspiciously. Her eyes linger on me, the one person in this room who can’t hide a thing.

“Don’t worry about it, love. Is there enough for two more?” Jerry speaks as if everything is normal. How does he manage that?

“Where are Zach and Violet?” she asks, her voice laced with curiosity.

“They didn’t make it, love, just these two.”

“All right, I’ll serve them dinner too.”

I wait until she’s out of the room, then wait a bit longer to ensure she isn’t eavesdropping.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Jerry? How do you expect me to sit at the same table with both of my mothers and lie?”

“You will keep your mouth shut until they’ve finished dinner,” he orders, making my teeth grind in frustration.

Dinner is a tense affair. I barely touch the Tangine Carla has prepared.

Truth be told, I haven’t eaten much in days.

Zach is missing.

Henry has him.

Henry has her and I want them back, need him back.

Callum sits beside me, his foot tapping nervously. It gets so bad that I have to place my hand on his thigh to stop Carla from noticing. She’s been staring. That’s all she’s been doing.

“Come sit down, love.” He motions for Carla to stop clearing the table.

I don’t meet her gaze. I can’t risk looking her in the eye. I’m not a good liar, not like Jerry. And then there’s my mother, chatting away about her upcoming weekend trip.

“I don’t want to sit, Jerry. I can feel the tension between the three of you.”

“I need you to sit, love.”

“Why?”

“Come…there, that’s better, isn’t it?” Jerry turns to look directly at her, shutting the rest of us out.

“I have some bad news and I need you to stay calm, love.” Carla looks at him, her mouth agape. She remains silent, but I can see the emotions building.

She’s so much like Zach, it’s like I’m looking at him when he found out about Sophie.

“Sweetheart, Zach and Violet have been missing for four days.”

“What?” She sits up straight, her hand flying to her chest. “What did you just say? Because it sounded like you said our son is missing.”

“He is, love.”

“No! No, no, no. How? When?”

“Henry Camber took them on December second.”

“Four days ago. Zach has been missing for four days and you’ve kept that a secret from me? Jerry Arthur Henderson. How could you keep such a thing from me? My baby is missing, and you think I didn’t need to know. How dare you?” She stands abruptly, her words echoing through the room.

I almost feel sorry for him, I almost confess that it was actually me who kept this a secret, but he stuns me with his response.

“I’m sorry, love. I thought maybe they had eloped. I didn’t think it was this serious. Please forgive me, love.” Liar, fucking liar. How did he learn to lie so effortlessly?

My leg starts to bounce. I only notice when my mother places her hand on my leg, just as I did for Callum.

“You need to find him, Jerry. I need him home,” she sniffles, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her face mirrors my soul.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Tyler?” my mother whispers.

I can’t bring myself to look at her. I can hear the hurt in her voice, the pain that I didn’t share something so crucial.

“We’ll be leaving,” I announce, unable to bear watching Carla sob into Jerry’s lying fucking chest any longer.

“No, you won’t. It’s not safe for you to go home. You two can stay in Zach’s room.”

“There’s no need, Jerry. We’ll go home,” I insist, standing up with the intention of leaving this house. To leave my mothers so I don’t have to lie to them, so I don’t have to keep up with Jerry’s fabricated version of the truth.

“Enough of your bullshit. You’re staying here, end of discussion, son.” Jerry gives me that look. The one he usually reserves for Zach.

“With all due respect, sir, we would like to stay at home just in case they come back,” Callum defends our decision, standing beside me, his hand brushing against my clenched fist.

“No! I don’t have enough manpower to search for all four of you. You’ll stay here where you’re safe. You’ve seen how easily they covered their tracks. I won’t risk having all four of you taken. I don’t need to worry about the two of you too. Just stay. Do as you’re told. That’s an order.”

“I agree, Tyler. I’d rather you not go home,” my mother tugs at my arm as Jerry and I lock eyes. I know I won’t win this battle. I won’t defy him because I know the price we’ll pay if I do.

“Looks like we’re staying, Callum.”