Lessons in Love

Chapter 65: Henry's Clothes

POV: Delta Rick Wallis

When I got up Saturday morning, I found Emma in the library sorting out her books. “Morning Squirt,” I said from the doorway.

“Hi Uncle Rick!” She beamed up at me from the floor.

“How long have you been in here?” I asked, surveying her handiwork. She’d pulled out all her books from the bags and was placing them in neat stacks on the floor. I couldn’t tell what her organization system was, but it was clear she had devised one.

“I dunno,” she shrugged, looking intently around at the piles before gently placing the book in her hand down.

“I’m going to make us some breakfast. Do you like eggs?” I asked.

“Sure,” she said with a smile. It was the kind of response that said she didn’t like them but was trying to be polite.

“I make decent pancakes.” I said, scratching at my beard. Her eyes lit up. “I’ll make us some pancakes instead.” I smiled, leaving the library.

The doorbell rang. I opened the door to find the sweet scent of apple fritters, dusted in cinnamon and sugar, with a hint of nutmeg. “Tell me you those are your mother’s fritters.” I said, staring at the tin in Ben’s hands.

“Good morning to you too.” He said with a laugh, handing it over. I opened the lid and breathed in the spectacular confection. I grabbed a plate and put one of the fritters on it, and took it to the library before hurrying back to pull one out for myself.

“Tell your mother, I love her.” I said, taking a bite.

Ben laughed. “I will. How’s your new librarian?” Ben gestured to the open door.

“Good,” I said with a shrug. “She’s sorting her collection as we speak.” I grinned.

“I come with a special invitation for Miss Emma, and for you.” He said. Ben pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to me. “Mom and Riley have invited her over for high tea this afternoon.”

“Oh, she’ll love that!” I had to laugh. “What will we be doing?” I asked, knowing this was some kind of offer to babysit for me.

“You said you wanted to go through …” Ben glanced at the open library door. “That bag in my office.” He raised an eyebrow. Henry’s clothes. "Bring her by around 1:30. We can go up once she’s settled.” Ben said, reaching for one of the fritters.

I smacked his hand. “Hey, these ones are clearly for me and Emma. Didn’t your mother make some for you.”

“I’m not allowed to have them until this afternoon. Something about them being for tea.” He groaned.

“Maybe I should stay for tea.” I said with a laugh. Ben was quicker the second time and grabbed a fritter, making a b-line for the door as soon as he did. “Hey!”

“Thanks, brother!” He held up his stolen snack and left.

Around one in the afternoon, Emma got dressed and came out into the living room wearing a floor-length dress with tiers of fabric and a concerned look on her face. “You look beautiful!” I said, wondering what had her worried.

“Thank you.” She said quietly.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I don’t know how to make my hair match my dress.” She sighed.

“Uh,” I stammered. “What would make it match your dress?” I asked cautiously. She went back into her room and came out with a book. The princess on the cover had a bun on top of her head. How hard could that be, I thought. “I think I can do that.” I said confidently. Her face lit up, and we went into her room. She handed me a hairbrush and a bunch of elastics and bobby pins. Twenty minutes, three how-to videos, and a near meltdown later, I got her hair into a bun and took her next door.

Riley and Claire gushed over her outfit and hair. Emma was giddy as she sat on the couch, smoothing out the ruffles of her dress. Her bun was a little lopsided, but it had made Emma happy. That had made me happy.

“Ready?” Ben came out of his room. I gave him a nod, and we headed upstairs.

“So, what are we hoping to find?” He asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know. A clue, something!” I shook my head. “Henry just doesn’t make sense to me.”

“How so?” Ben grabbed the bag from under his desk.

“He didn’t tell George about you and Riley. He was honest with us about what he was telling George. Then he booby-traps my office and attacks Riley? I feel like we’re missing something.”

“You think he left something in his pocket that’s going to make that all better?” Ben scoffed.

“No,” I said. “Not better, but maybe make it … understandable.”

“Nothing is going to make me understand his actions.” Ben growled. I shook my head as I reached for the bag and opened it. Ben didn’t say much as we pulled his clothes out and started rifling through the pockets. Ben let out a sigh a few minutes later. “What?” I asked.

“This,” he gestured the clothes in front of us. “What is this really about? Is this about Emma, or what happened in your office? Why are we trying to find any rationale for what he did?” Ben’s words had a hint of a growl to them.

“You went through the pictures?” I asked.

“Yes, all of them.” He said plainly, but I knew him well enough to know that he was hiding how hard it had been to look at them.

“How many were of John and Crista?” I asked.

“Why does it matter?” Ben’s back straightened.

I gave him a weak smile at his overly protective tone. “Because Henry didn’t lie to us when he said that John was like a son to him. He was.” Ben didn’t respond.

“John always said Henry was like a father to him. He felt that without Henry, he never would’ve become an officer. They loved each other. I get you’re pissed with him, but can you honestly see Henry being able to do anything with those pictures?”

“Pissed with him?!” Ben growled furiously and got up. He started pacing. “He tried to kill Riley!”

“Did he?” I asked quietly.

“Goddess Rick, you’re defending him.” His growl broadened.

“I’m not.” I said firmly. “What he did to Riley and Emma is unforgiveable, but if he were trying to kill her, he would have made his first strike count. He hit her enough to immobilize her. He avoided hitting anywhere that would do any real damage.”

Ben leveled another vicious growl at me and turned his back. He was trying not to take this out on me, I realized, but I knew I wasn’t making it easy on him. “He ran with George to protect Emma. He knew we’d take care of her; that she’d be safer without him around.” I said to Ben’s back. “Ben, I know this is hard for you to believe, but I don’t think he would have tried to kill me. I’m the only person Emma has left, and he loves her too much to leave her an orphan.” I added quietly.

Ben drew a long, steadying breath before he turned around and faced me. He returned to the couch and grabbed another pair of pants out of the bag roughly, and searched the pockets. We worked in silence after that. We were almost to the bottom of the bag and still hadn’t found anything.

I grabbed his blazer from the bottom of the bag and heard the crinkle of paper. Ben and I froze. I grabbed the back of the jacket and felt something paper-like between the layers of fabric. Ben immediately cleared the coffee table, and I lay the jacket down flat. The paper was under the lining. I grabbed my pocket-knife and cut the seam. Revealing an envelope.

Despite my having professed Henry’s innocence, my hand shook a little as I turned it over. The envelope was stiff, like it could have had a picture in it. I stared hard at it, willing myself to see what was inside without opening it.

“Here,” Ben said, quietly extending his hand. I shook my head and tore open the envelope quickly. There were pictures inside, but not what I was expecting. My breath caught as I stared at them.

“What is it?” Ben asked, getting up and coming to look over my shoulder. I handed it to him and got up, careful to keep my back to him as I wiped a few tears from my eyes. It was a picture of the three of us. John, Ben, and I the day we were sworn in as officers. We were so young, smiling ear to ear, our arms around each other’s shoulders. For ten years we’d stood shoulder to shoulder. John had trusted us, had our backs, and in the end, I had betrayed that trust.

“There’s more,” Ben said softly. I didn’t turn around. “I think this is my mom.” He said, a slight smile to his voice. “And we have a note.” He added less than impressed. I scrubbed my hands over my face and turned around.

“What does it say?” I asked from across the room.

Ben put the photos down. I could see the picture Ben thought was of Claire. It was an older photo of her and a man who looked an awful lot like John. Claire and Henry. They’d come here together as teenagers. This photo seemed to have been taken around then. They were both smiling or laughing about something. They looked so happy.

“If you’ve found this, it’s because I’ve failed.” Ben read. “I did everything I could to protect you boys, to protect Claire, Emma, Riley – all of you.” A lot of the letter was explaining things we already knew, things he’d told us at the school.

“I also want you to know that George has been weaponizing Rogues for years. For what purpose, I do not know. He is never in short supply, which has always suggested to me that he is being bank rolled by someone else. Someone who is providing him with the soldiers he needs. He’s used them for a great many misdeeds, including Arthur’s death, the attacks on our pack, and I believe, attacks on others.” Ben read.

“Please do what you can to protect my family and yourselves. I wish I had more to give.” Ben skimmed the next page. “The rest is information about where to find his will, and John and Crista’s.” He said quietly, looking at me. I was smiling back at him. “What?” He looked at me in confusion.

“It’s a full confession.” I said back. “He gave us everything we need, in writing, signed, so we could provide it to the council.” Ben looked down at the papers in his hand. “Between this letter and Shelby’s confession …”

“We got him.” Ben whispered. “We f*****g got him.”