Sterling
"Come with me." My father ordered as he stood in the doorway of my office.
I immediately dropped what I was doing to get up from my desk. My father wasn't necessarily someone you told to wait a minute. He liked things done and he liked them done immediately.
I followed him out of my office and he led the way to the elevator. He looked like he was a man on a mission. Whatever this was clearly is important.
"Where are we going?" I finally asked once we were in the elevator alone.
"I'm tying up all the loose ends of anything Elise may stumble upon to use against us." He kept looking forward as he responded. "There's one thing I need to show you and make sure you're on board with the story in case it comes up for any reason."
"Okay." I nodded.
The elevator dinged and we stepped out. He led the way to the black BMW and got right into the driver's seat. Once we were both inside he drove right out of the parking garage and hurried off to our destination.
I watched out the window, trying to piece together where he was taking me. The further he got out of town the more confused I found myself. Wherever he was taking me was somewhere I'd never been before.
He took a turn off from the busy road down to an industrial part of town. He drove past each warehouse until he got to one at the very end. He then parked the car and sat there for a moment as if he was contemplating if he really wanted to be here.
"What is this?" I finally broke the silence.
"This is where I've handled all of my dirty work over the last few years." He began to explain. "Some bad things have happened in this warehouse."
"Where you took care of the Bushemp's?" I clarified.
"Yeah." He nodded as his eyes focused on the building in front of us. "The basement's also where I kept Ava until she completely lost her mind."
He opened the door and stepped out of the car. I followed behind as he led the way inside of the building. I expected to walk in to some torture chamber but instead the space was filled with various products.
"As far as anyone knows this is for storage use." He explained further. "Only select staff on the security team are allowed in and out, I even took precautions to have extra clauses added into their non-disclosure agreements."
Tipton security was taken seriously. Cody still oversaw who was hired and made sure all non-disclosures were signed. If anyone even refused to sign the agreements to retain our privacy then they would be black listed pretty much. For example if they came back later and stated they changed their minds then they'd be turned away. We didn't have any time to waste on anyone who could be a threat to us.
"Why do you think this will come up then?" I asked curiously.
My father took his privacy and business seriously. Anything that could come back on him he approached cautiously. This place is something he would have gone above and beyond to conceal. I couldn't imagine him letting anything get out that would lead anyone here. It would jeopardize everything he's worked for.
"I don't know how Elise is getting all of her intel, I can't be too careful right now. All it takes is one piece of information to get into her hands." He responded. "So for right now I'm actually using it as storage. That way if any questions about it arise I have nothing to hide."
That's Damon Tipton for you. He constantly thinks two steps ahead of everyone else. Which is why he was such a hard person for anyone to take down. Why Elise feels like she's an exception to that is beyond me.
"I've made sure there's a history of reports logged just in case." He continued talking about the steps taken for the warehouse's secret to be kept. "This way there's receipts that no one will question. Not that anyone would."
Let's be honest, no one really liked to question my father. His hard emotionless face can make others uncomfortable very quickly. The fact he has so much power as well plays a part, no one wanted to piss him off in fear that he'd take them down.
My father proceeded to hand me a key. "This is for you."
I studied it for a moment. "What's this for?"
"To the warehouse." He answered.
"Why?" I furrowed my brows.
"Because you're a Tipton. Elise is just the beginning." He explained. "There will always be people like her, people who are out to get you and they will try to stop at nothing to bring you down. This, once this is solved, will be the place you deal with them. Any mess you make will be cleaned up accordingly under my supervision. Understood?"
"Understood." I nodded. "Speaking of Elise, have you found any more information about what you were investigating about the Tunt's?"
"It's taking more time than I would like." He sighed. "It would seem the Tunt's have covered their tracks pretty well, but there's something. There's always something."
"I see." I felt a little disappointed, I was hoping he had made some progress on his end.
He still didn't say what it was he was working on. I assume that was intentional on his part. The less information I knew the less Elise could get out of me if we ended up one on one again.
"I still don't want your mother's past to come out." He continued on. "I know she's okay with it but she's been through so much in her life. I just don't want her to have to worry about anything else ever again."
"I understand." I sighed. "I feel the same way with Isabelle. I feel bad she's gotten mixed up in this Elise business."
"She's a strong girl." My father responded. "She seems to be handling this well, even to the point that she's willing to help out on the situation."
"Yeah." The fact she's been so supportive has helped me more than she'll ever know.
"I'm sorry that she's been mixed up in this." I could sense his sincerity in his tone. "I didn't think my plan would set Elise off so quickly."
"Well that's one thing about Elise, she's got a short fuse and angers easily." Unfortunately I learned that all too well.
My father thought for a moment before speaking further. "After this is all over you should do something special for Isabelle."
"Like what?" I raised a brow.
"Do what I did for your mother." He answered. "Make her dreams come true."