SWNOVELS Chapter 4 ~ Like She Was Home
Delaney made good on her promise of becoming Delilah’s guardian.. The girls were enrolled for their senior year.. and Delaney had both girls with her in Trenton Falls.. buying everything they needed for school.
They had both been training hard.. Delilah showing a great eptitude for archery and katana.. she performs well in hand to hand.. and weaponry.. excelling in the first two, though.
Venom was right.. there was a false bottom in the box.. papers.. a ton of what looked like legal documents and a key to what looked like a locker key. Gizmo is analyzing all the documents for any information he can find.. especially about the key.
First day of school, Valerie and Delilah decided they were going to share a locker, since Valerie’s locker was on the opposite side of the school.. and most of their classes were together.. closest to Delilah’s locker. So, it made sense.. in a weird teenaged girl kind of way.
The morning went by quickly.. and they has just sat down for lunch.. joined by Derek and Brock.. Hunter had asked them to stick close to Valerie. The boys had all grown up together at the clubhouse.. Derek and Brock were brothers.. they’re Manic’s sons.. and Irish twins.. in the strangest way.. less than eight months apart.. Derek was born in January.. and Brock was born two and a half months premature.. the third week of August. So they ended up in the same grade.
They were all laughing and talking about their new teachers.. when Emily stood in front of our table “What’s going on Brock? Why are you sitting at the loser’s table?” They all heard tittering laughter and realized Emily was wearing a cheerleading uniform.. Not surprising.. but cue mean girl mode.
Bethany tauntingly said “Aww Valerie.. however are you surviving not attached to Hunter’s ass? I worried you’d need to be amputated.” Delilah laughed “Sounds like jealousy to me.. but tell me, Emily.. why would Brock not sit with us?”
Emily flirts “Do you want to tell her, Brock.. or shall I?” Brock says “What? Tell who what?” He looks at Derek.. who shrugs.. She giggles “About us hooking up at Tyler’s party Friday night?”
Brock looks confused for a minute.. then says “I didn’t hook up with anyone.. I did get a blowjob by some chick in the men’s room.. Oh! Oh shit! That was you?” By this time, Delaney and Valerie have lost it.. practically rolling.
Emily whined “You said it was the best you’ve ever had! How can you act like it was nothing?” Brock grinned “It was nothing. It was all it ever will be. My wolf gets antsy.. and blowjobs calm him down. I won’t ever even kiss you.. let alone fuck you. All my firsts will be with her. Oh! Except blowjobs. And.. I tell every girl it was the best I ever had. Ask Bethany.. or Sophia… they can tell you.”
Delilah and Valerie fell out of the chair laughing. Derek was shaking his head.. trying to hold it together. Valerie tried to stop laughing long enough to get out “Bethany.. I am doing fine. I miss the fuck out of Hunter..and I know he misses me just as much. He is where he needs to be.. It’s a wolf thing. You wouldn’t understand.”
They went to their next class.. feeling rejuvenated and on top of the world. It was always refreshing to put a mean girl in her place.. and Emily isn’t even good at it. That’s a first.. a wannabe mean girl.
The rest of the day hurried by and the four kids climbed on their bikes and rode home. Delaney was waiting for them all.. with grilled cheese sandwiches and soda. She told Delilah to eat up.. she had a meeting with Venom about the contents of the box.
Once everyone had eaten… the girls hurried to Venom’s office. Delilah was eager to know what was uncovered. Valerie held her hand.. squeezing it “It’s going to be okay. They will tell you everything.”
Venom walked in and smiled “Don’t look so glum, princess. It’s not always bad news being sent to the principal’s office.” That made them giggle.. and the tension dissipated…
Delaney came in with Venom’s ranks.. and everyone got comfortable. Gizmo started “Most of the documents are standard forms.. birth.. marriage.. death certificates.. all but two are yours and your parents. The other two are a marriage certificate between your stepmother and a man named Eric Garrison. And a death certificate for the same man. Hardly worth mentioning.. except the death certificate isn’t authentic.. it’s a forgery. In order to be issued a marriage license.. you have to show proof of divorce or death ending any previous marriage.”
Delaney asked “So.. does that mean he’s still alive? That they’re still married? That would mean she was never legally married to Delilah’s father?”
Gizmo said “Correct. It begs the question.. why would she marry your father.. so quickly.. I might add..if she already had a husband?”
Venom tells Delilah “There was a bank book.. with debit cards.. and a letter addressed to you. We didn’t read the letter because it has your name on it.. and it’s from your dad.”
Delilah took the letter.. recognizing her Daddy’s handwriting immediately.. She ran her hands over it.. taking a deep breath.. she opened it.
My angel baby -
If you are reading this, then I am gone. I have been betrayed and my death is not an accident. I would never leave you.. not while you are so young. Your mother would have my head.
I am so sorry I brought that woman and her demon spawn into our lives. It never occurred to me she was targeting you.
The documents in the box will explain why she did. I have hidden proof of her perfidiousness and all her crimes in locker number 658 in the train depot in …….
She turned the paper over.. looked in the envelope.. shook it upside down. “Where’s the second page? What train depot? Where?”
Axe tells her “That’s all we know.. So, now we have to figure it out.. Where were you living when your father passed away?” She answered “A little town.. outside Gobb, Nevada. There’s no train depot.. or station. I don’t know if there were any in the towns nearby.. either.”
Axe told her “Gizmo will find it.. it may take a few days.. But he will find that train depot. To be on the safe side.. try and remember all the towns you’ve lived in.”
Delilah nodded “That’s easy.. I have an eidetic memory.. I will write them down..” Axe said “It would be helpful. Also.. any town that held significant meaning to your parents.. either one or both.. all the towns you’ve moved to.. since his death.. We may not be the only ones looking for that locker.”
Venom said “Delilah.. what do you know about your mother’s family?” She shrugged “Momma was the only one left.. from as far back as I can remember. I know their pack was wealthy, at one time.. they were diamond smugglers. Which is why the pack was disbanded when they got caught.”
Venom smiled “Your mother wasn’t the only one left.. You are. And the documents your father refers to are their last wills and testaments. Leaving all their worldly goods to their only daughter. To be accessed on her twenty first birthday. Delilah.. You’re worth over five million dollars.”
She gasped “What the fuck?! My parents didn’t have that kind of money. We lived within our means.. We had a modest two bedroom ranch style house.. in a little town. Daddy worked at the hardware store and Momma taught school. We were just normal.”
Delaney said “That also means your father’s insurance settlement belonged to you, too. Do you know how much it was?” She nodded and told them a quarter of a million dollars.
Venom tells everyone “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.. Until we know what deceit and crimes your father referenced in his letter, everything will just be speculation. And as stupid as pissing into the wind.”
Delaney said “We are amending our guardianship to include an ad litem addendum. That way we become trustees for your money.. and whomever may be targeting you has to go through us.”
Delilah muttered “I can’t ask you to do that.. you’ve already done so much.. I can never thank you enough. I don’t want you putting yourselves in the line of fire for me. I couldn’t ask that of you.. do that to your family.”
Venom smiled “Sweet girl.. You didn’t ask. And we are telling.. Our minds are made up.. We always take care of our own.. and you.. You are one of ours. Never forget that.”
Tears filled her eyes.. as warmth filled her heart.. She hadn’t felt this sense of belonging since her father died.. and she didn’t realize she had missed it this much. She felt like she was home.