The Current Between Us

“How are you?” she asked, instead of hello.

“Not so good,” Trent said and looked up at Gage.

“I know, babe, I’m really sorry Gage turned out to be such a fucktard. I so didn’t see it coming,” she said.

“Sophia, you’re on speaker and Gage’s here with me.” There was silence on her end for a moment.

“Crap! I’m sorry, Trent, I didn’t know,” Sophia said in an explosion of words.

“No, it was deserved, Sophia. I’m sorry for the part I’ve played in this,” Gage said.

“Sophia, can we come over? I know it’s late, but there’s a problem. I need you to help… Something about Lynn and the kids has come up,” Trent asked, and they were again met with silence for several long moments.

“Is it about Aaron?” They were silent, looking at one another before they spoke.

“Yes,” Gage finally said.

“Come now, I’ll be waiting,” Sophia said, and the phone disconnected.

Chapter 21

Gage called Hopkins, and within seconds, he materialized outside of Trent’s house. Apparently, he’d been hiding in shadows for the last week, even before everything blew up on Sunday night. Trent never had any idea they were there. Hopkins agreed to stay in the house and keep an eye on everything while they met with Sophia. Rhonny came upstairs when Trent texted her. He filled her in on the basics, more of a need to know information of the moment. Rhonny looked scared, and at this point, Trent could do nothing to relieve her.

Against his better judgment, Trent rode with Gage in his Ferrari to Sophia’s house, after giving him her address and letting GPS take them there, even though he knew a quicker, easier route. The ride was quiet and Trent sat with his hands in his lap. Every bit of their romantic trouble and the pain of lost love that he felt went to the wayside. The fear in his heart for his children became paramount.

Ever so often as he thought through everything, Trent would ask a question for clarity, but no matter how he spun it in his head, the resulting scenarios left him and his kids absolutely fucked. He’d never been in a situation like this before. It wasn’t going to matter how hard he worked or how much money he threw at it, this was going to be beyond his control. His precious family, his sister’s sweet children were going to be a target from this moment forward. He’d never feel truly safe again, which was the very best possible outcome of this dire circumstance.

Gage drove through Sophia’s complex and Trent directed him to her townhome. It was late, well after ten at night, but her porch light stayed on and she stood out on the porch as their car pulled into her small driveway. There were no words said between them. She just looked at each one of them, then back at Trent, before giving an anguished look. She didn’t reach out to him at all, but kept her arms crossed over her chest as if she held herself together and Trent knew those feelings too well. When they stepped inside and shut the door Trent started in on her immediately. The fear in his heart began to turn slightly angry again at the situation. Whatever Sophia hid, she should have told him before now.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Trent asked as he stepped inside.

“Trent, I don’t really know anything. Lynn told me very little before she died and made me promise not to say anything unless it was needed,” Sophia said, still clasping her arms around her chest.

“Let’s go in and have a seat. Sophia we need to know everything you know about the children’s father,” Gage said from behind them both, encouraging them to move from the front door. Sophia walked into the living room where they all stayed standing. The tension so thick between them and Trent’s heart began to pound. Any hope this might not be true diminished by the second. Serious fear began to build and Trent realized Sophia’s confession could only add to this horror of a night.

“Where do you want me to start?”

“From the beginning of meeting him and work your way to the end,” Gage said, he pulled out a pad and a pen from the file folder, and took a seat, balancing it all on his knee.

“Let’s see, we met Aaron while we were on spring break in Cozumel. It had to be seven years ago, because Hunter just turned six. Trent, you all thought we were in Texas, but we changed it up some and kept it quiet. You and your mom would’ve worried. We met Aaron the first day we were there. Lynn fell immediately for him. Trent, they were love at first sight kind of stuff… He was stationed somewhere around there in the military and on leave. We were there a week and he spent the entire week with Lynn, every day and every night. They were so pretty together, everyone always stopped them to say what a nice couple they made. Toward the end of our spring break, I was alone all the time. It was sickening watching them, they really seemed in love. I know you don’t want to hear this Trent, but he was Lynn’s first and only. It had to be love. He couldn’t be that good of an actor.

“Anyway, he was supposedly getting out of the military soon and during our last night there we all got completely wasted and woke up to them having been married in downtown Cozumel. I’m not sure the marriage was legal and binding, but nothing could convince Lynn of that. We had to leave, he had to go back too, and she turned up pregnant with Hunter. Trent, she was in love, but totally embarrassed, and I helped her hide it all from you guys. She only saw him two or three more times, ever, but they talked all the time. Every time they saw each other, it was like that with them. Real intense, but he would always up and leave, giving her a different excuse and be gone for a year at a time, sometimes longer. The last time he was in town, she got pregnant with Em. She sent him an email about it, the email he sent back was very sweet, a little cryptic, and he told her if anything happened to him there was an account with money in it.