After the news conference was over I turned off the TV and went back to playing on the keyboard. I reviewed the recording I made from earlier in the day before I looked around Thea's kitchen and found a notepad. I spent most of the night reworking the song I started to build and wrote some lyrics. I continued to work on the song into the night and I ended up falling asleep on the couch writing.
When Thea came home from her shift she woke me up and I basically sleep walked into her bedroom and fell into her bed. I was out before Thea even managed to get into bed.
The next morning I woke up tangled in Thea's arms again. I didn't want to move because it felt right. We fix together like pieces of a puzzle and nothing bad could happen while I was in her arms. But the universe must be felt and Thea's alarm went off. It took her a moment to hear it in her sleep as I slipped out of her arms and sat up.
We didn't say anything to each other as we got up to get ready for the meeting. I took a quick shower and slipped on some black jeans before I walked back into Thea's room.
"Do you think I can borrow a button down? I didn't grab any." I asked and slipped an undershirt on.
"Sure, my clothes are going to be a bit big on you though." Thea said as she walked out of her closet buttoning up her button up shirt.
"That's fine" I answered and tried not to stare. Thea stepped aside from the closet and nodded her head towards it as she moved into her room.
I walked into her room and went right into the closet. I found a navy blue button up long sleeve shirt and I grabbed it off the hanger and slipped it on. It was definitely big on me so I just rolled the sleeves up a little and tucked it into my jeans before meeting Thea out in the living room.
I grabbed my copy of the contracted and a stack of money before I walked out of the house to find Thea brushing snow off her truck. It took her a minute to finish cleaning the snow off and once it was clear I hopped inside. Thea joined me a minute later giving me the SPD hat I wore yesterday.
"I saw the video last night when I got back to the station. Chief looked like a vein was going to explode in his neck as he talked with Bobby. Eli wasn't with him but I don't want to take any chances with your identity. So whenever we leave the house this hat is on your head and your hood goes up. When you went back to see if you could get into your house did you go back through town?" Thea asked as she waited a moment for her truck to warm up before she drove down the driveway.
"Shit yea, I went into the video store when I saw the story break about my disappearance. I had my head down the whole time, I'm hoping they don't know it was me. I was wearing a different coat so we should be okay for a little bit." I answered trying to retrace my steps.
Thea didn't say anything as we drove through Salem. The radio played some classic rock song as we drove through the snow covered streets. It didn't take long before we pulled up to an office building.
"Lindsey has the security cameras turned off and we are going to go through the back entrance of her firm. Since it's Saturday her staff isn't in the building but I don't want to take any chances okay." Thea said and killed the ignition.
"Crystal." I said watched Thea get out of the truck.
She came around and opened the door for me and I hopped out. I made sure my hood was up and I kept my head down as I followed Thea inside the building. The lights were mainly off as the door closed behind me and I looked up.
"So what's with all the secrets Thea?" Lindsey asked with her arms crossed over her chest. I put the hood down and stepped out from behind Thea and took the hat off as well. I ran a hand through my hair and found Lindsey's eyes.
"I'm the secret." I said and looked around her office to make sure nobody was around.
Lindsey's mouth dropped open and she pushed herself off the wall she was leaning against to come over to me. When she was in front of me she reached her hand out and poked my shoulder.
"What the hell is going on Thea? I know you like to live under a rock but you have to know who she is." Lindsey said and looked toward her friend.
"I do know who she is Linds, that's why I need your help." Thea said and pushed Lindsey away from me and took a step in front of me.
"My office now." Lindsey practically growled and stalked off down the hall.
"How do you know her?" I asked as Thea followed behind her friend.
"She used to be the in Salem District Attorney, we are friends and she helped get through to me after my wife died. Now she owns her own firm." Thea said and walked inside the large office.
I followed behind her and pulled my jacket off as Thea closed the door behind us. I grabbed the contract from my pocket and held it in my hand as Thea sat down.
"You do realize you're considered a missing person right?" Lindsey asked.
"Yes" I answered.
"Why are you hiding." Lindsey asked.
"It's a long story. Short version is I 'signed' a new contract for my music career with my current label and manager and when I realized that I did, I tried to take my own life. Thea found me on the bridge and pulled me over just in time and I've been staying with her until I know what I can do next. I didn't want to sign the contract in the first place and I wasn't going to until I found out that I actually did sign it at my party." I said and ran a hand through my hair.
"What?" Lindsey said.
"I know it's a lot to take in, but I need help getting out of this contract. But I don't want Bobby to know where I am. He can't know. He'll drag me back to Los Angeles in chains because he know I won't go willingly."
"Do you have the contract?" Lindsey asked.
"Yea it's right here. But you need to know that this stays between us until you found a way to get out of it that doesn't cost me everything. Most of my funds are tied up right now with me being missing and I can't access them without everyone knowing where I am. But I can give you about five thousand as a retainer if you are willing to take on my case." I said.
Lindsey looked at me and then at Thea. Thea just nodded at Lindsey and sat back in her chair. I held the contract tighter in my hand and looked around Lindsey's office. Her degrees are hanging on the wall behind her desk and there is a large book shelf on the right side of her office. All of the books look old, I wonder if she ever opened them or if they are just for show.
"I'll need to bring my partner in on this but I can help." Lindsey said.
"No" I said fast.
"Jack is the best guy I know who handles contract law Ashlyn. It's not my area of expertise. I will supervise him with everything he does but if you want to win, I need his help." Lindsey said.
"I think you should listen to her Ash. I wouldn't have brought you here if I didn't trust her. I know Jack and he is a great attorney. But I think you should tell Lindsey the full story because you have grounds for a civil suit and you could possibility get Bobby criminally charged because of the abuse." Thea said.
"Abuse?" Lindsey jumped on it.
"Yea abuse, most of the evidence I had was on my phone that I threw into the river." I said and swallowed the lump in my throat.
"Not all" Thea said and gave me a knowing look.
I sighed and handed her the contract before is started unbuttoning my shirt. Lindsey kept quiet as I pulled the button down off. Bobbys hand prints are now more towards the healing stage but are visible on my upper arms.
"You were at odds with your label. When did this happen?" Lindsey asked looking concerned.
"Two weeks ago when my manager stormed into my house demanding I sign the new contract. He pushed me up against my counter and yelled in my face to sign it." I said and slipped the button down on again to cover up bruises.
"This wasn't the first time he did this." Lindsey asked.
"No, this has been happening on and off for the last four years. It got worse this past year after my siblings were killed." I said not wanting to think about this anymore.
"Okay, we need to make a plan right now. I'm going to draft a retainer and we are going to go over every detail of your life for the last three years. The statute for felony abuse is three years here in Massachuettes and that's where we are going to start there. I'm going to call Jack and get him in here now to start working through this contract of yours. Right now I will take your five thousand dollars but I'm capping the amount at twenty thousand dollars. Handling this case will give my firm enough publicity to make up the difference. We can settle up the tab when you're no longer missing." Lindsey said.
I'm still not crazy about having another person know where I am but we are going to need him to make sure I'm fully out of that contract. So I handed over my copy of the contract and the five thousand dollars I had to Lindsey and she continued to type up the retainer. It didn't take long and I read over everything she wrote into the retainer. I was satisfied with it and signed on the line before handing it to Thea who signed as a witness.
Jack didn't take long to get to the office after Lindsey called him. She was going through my contract as he walked into the office. He stopped right in his tracks when he saw.
"You're Ash Monroe." He said as the office door closed behind him.
"I told you it was an emergency." Lindsey said nose deep in the contract. "You're going to have fun tearing this apart."
"You're supposed to be a missing person." Jack said and walked over to Lindsey's side of the desk.
"Thanks for pointing that out." I answered.
Lindsey was able to rein him in after the shock wore off. She was able to start making a game plan as to what they were going to do and what Jack needed to do. Once Lindsey gave him the contract he walked over to the small table in Lindsey office and got right to work while I started to talk about the last three years of my life.
The largest problem when it comes to the abuse is that I didn't have the proof. All of those pictures are saved on a flash drive in my room and in the cloud. But if we tried to access them right now Bobby will find out where I am. For now Jack and Lindsey are going to work with what I gave them and start drafting the legal documents so they can be served in court.
Hopefully I'm on the right path to getting my life back.
Photo on the side is of Katie McGrath who plays Lindsey Shaw. Song on the side Last Hope by Paramore.