JAMES
Drivingto Oxygen was nothing but a blur. My mind prematurely tried to figure out the details, which was an absolute waste of time since I had no starting or reference point. It didn’t stop me from trying to figure things out, though.
The only thing that I was relatively sure about was that this most likely involved Morgan Hawkins in some facet. He was the common denominator in that he recently showed up and spent time talking with Brandon and me yesterday. I assumed he had the information and brought it to Andrew.
When I walked into the lobby of Oxygen, Ali looked up from behind the check-in counter. I smiled at her as I walked toward the double doors that led into the main room.
“Good morning, James.”
“Hello, Ali. How are you, my dear?”
“I’m good, but I’ve been busy. Andrew asked me to reschedule a bunch of the consultations for today.”
This definitely must involve Morgan.
“I’m sure you’ll be able to get everyone rescheduled,” I said to her as I wrapped my hand around the door handle.
“I hope so,” she said. I quickly smiled at her before I pulled open the door.
I stepped into the main room and glanced around.
“James.” Andrew called my name. I looked toward the bar and saw Andrew and Morgan sliding off the stools at the bar. Aside from Ali, they were the only people in the club.
I started to walk toward them, but Andrew pointed to the seating area.
“Might be more comfortable if we sit over here,” Andrew suggested.
I reached out and patted Andrew’s upper arm as he walked by me to lead us over to the sitting area. I extended my hand toward Morgan.
“Hello, Morgan,” I said as we shook hands.
“Hi, James. Thank you for coming over so quickly,” he replied.
“When I heard there was some information regarding Brandon, I came as soon as I could,” I said as we walked to a set of couches and chairs. Morgan and I sat across from one another, while Andrew sat on the loveseat beside me.
“I won’t keep you in further suspense or sugarcoat anything,” Morgan began. He moved to the edge of the chair and kept eye contact with me. “Toward the end of our conversation yesterday, I realized Brandon is my nephew. I know that sounds crazy.”
Morgan is the uncle…
“How do you know?” I asked.
“Brandon said his mother was Haley Cooper. My youngest brother, Chase, is his father. He was very young when he was with Haley, and Brandon was their child. Haley’s mother had forbidden Chase from being around and refused to let him be part of Brandon’s life.”
“Any reason why?”
“A few reasons. Chase and Haley were both young models who ended up victims of many years of sexual abuse at the hands of a predatory photographer. He filmed them, then blackmailed both so they wouldn’t tell anyone. He’d threatened to wreck Hailey’s mother’s modeling career and my oldest brother’s fighting career.”
Fighting career?
“Sorry, fighting career?” I asked, hoping he’d elaborate.
“Our oldest brother was a TCF fighter at the time. Hollis Ward is his fighting name.”
Oh. Wow. I didn’t follow TCF, but I knew of it, and I’d heard of Hollis “The Dragon” Ward. Brandon’s uncle is Hollis Ward. I felt assured knowing this guy wasn’t money hungry.
“My brother kept it a secret for years, until he found out she was pregnant.” Morgan paused, his eyes begging me to try to understand. “It was a terrible time for our family. Haley ended up keeping Brandon but wanted Chase to stay away. Her family said it was too much of a constant reminder of the abuse. When Haley died, our family tried to contact her mother, but she said Brandon had run off somewhere with someone and she hadn’t seen or heard from him. Then you guys were sitting right in front of me yesterday.”
As I listened to Morgan, I tried piecing everything together. I had no reason not to believe Morgan. I took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly.
