Leslie hugged Charlotte and led them into the kitchen, pouring each a finger of whiskey.
“I’m assuming since someone threatened you, you must’ve found conflicting reports on my Dad,” Owen said to the group.
Charlotte nodded. “Elias gave me the copies of all the tests he found at the coroner’s office. We compared them to the ones they gave us when we picked your Dad’s body up for examination. The blood tests didn’t match. We examined his heart andruled out any signs pointing to heart or tissue damage.”
“So, he didn’t die from a heart attack,” Cade said.
“The original blood samples showed a large amount of zopiclone, a hypnotic drug, in his system. It seems they wanted to extract information from him,” Charlotte explained.
“It might explain the weird call from him around midnight asking about Conner’s homework,” Leslie added.
“They found alcohol in his system,” Charlotte broke the news. “The two combined can turn into a lethal combination if administered incorrectly. I’m sorry to have to tell you this.”
Shaking her head, Leslie denied it. “No. I’m telling you, Jeremiah never drank a drop of alcohol after he met Tucker. I’d stake my life on it,” she insisted as she saw the doubt and disappointment in the men’s eyes.
“Recovering alcoholics sometimes lapse,” Charlotte’s friend stated. “She mentioned he stopped drinking when he met Tucker.”
“No. He stopped drinking in prison. Tucker and Conner gave him a second chance at life,” Leslie argued. “He didn’t drink.”
“They’re good at hiding it. If Tucker’s nine, it means Jeremiah's chances of drinking again lowered to less than fifteen percent,” the friend stated.
“I don’t care what your numbers show. Jeremiahcared about us. He didn’t want to repeat his mistakes,” she vehemently denied.
“Let’s face it. Dad’s no saint,” Wyatt said, leaning back in his chair.
Leslie launched herself at him, feeling outraged his sons didn’t believe her.
Owen’s arm wrapped around her waist as he pulled her back.
“You,” she seethed, pointing at the Wolfe men. “Have absolutely no right to judge him. He tried to get you back. Jeremiah turned his life around to bring you back to the mountain. He helped you behind the scenes to keep you going, and you turn on him like a pack of starved…wolves. Don’t you recall the loyalty, the friendship, and the deep bond you once shared?”
Owen tried to calm her down, but fury filled her.
“You sit here on your pedestals and point your finger because he made one grievous mistake, and therefore, he doesn’t get credit for everything he’s done. Without Jeremiah, I might’ve put Tucker up for adoption because I didn’t think I could hack it as a mother. He made sure we ate good food and brought me back to life when I became depressed over losing you and my mother. He forced me to walk these mountains for my own mental sanity as he watched the boys. He wasn’t perfect, but neither are any of you,” she shouted and stormed from the room.
Owen scratchedthe scruff along his jaw and peered at his brothers. Although Jeremiah drank, he did spend time teaching them about the Wolfe family legacy and how to depend on each other. How easily they forgot the good times with their father.
Charlotte cleared her throat. “I’m sorry to have caused this. We can only tell you our findings. We ran our own tests, but we suspect they’ll return with the first test results. I don’t think they meant to kill him. It appears to be an accidental overdose.” She pulled a file from under her shirt. “Elias can confirm the original documents and the doctored ones. We’ll disappear for a while until this settles down. I’ll check in once a month.”
“What about your classes?” Dillon asked.
“I can’t take them if I’m dead,” she said. “I’ll keep an ear out, and if you need me, I’ll find out.”
Dillon took out his wallet and handed her cash and a bank card. “Use these if you need anything. This way, I can track you.”
“Thank you, Dillon,” she murmured. “Can someone drive us down the mountain? I’ll have a trusted friend pick us up and take us to the next town. We’ll catch a bus from there.”
“No,” Dillon said. “I’ll take you. The fewer people who know, the better.”
“Let’s finish the security systems,” Gunny said,rising from his seat. “We’ll stay the night and leave in the morning. If we need to stay longer, we can.”
“You’ve already kept your place closed long enough,” Owen said. “We’ll get the cameras up around the house, and then we can do the rest.”
“I’ll take some things down to Max,” Cade offered. “You might want to speak with Leslie.”
Owen headed upstairs and knocked gently on the door to his parents’ old room. When she didn’t answer, he poked his head inside. Hearing her sniffle from the bathroom, Owen entered and sat beside her, leaning back against the tub.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized.
