The news of Tony's office break-in and the sudden disappearance of Glenda only meant it was time for Thomas to come out of hiding and leave that tropical island he had long called a sanctuary. He was already tired of living in the shadows - and he knew he had to make haste and come home after the sms from the funeral home manager stating the worst, "Your daughter knows everything-".
"Just what is everything?", he wondered, "What kind of truth did Linda find out, and how deep did it go?".
He just knew the time had come. He finally needed to come out and explain himself and atone for all his sins, but first things first, he needed to uncover the mystery behind the hidden information and how it came to be in the first place. He needed to understand how it came to be in Linda's hands, and the only person who held those answers was Tony. Hence, there he stood in his office, bearing witness to his despicable, violent actions towards his son-in-law, "Same old...same old Tony", he thought.
"Some things never change, it seems...", he remarked, marching towards Jeremy and extending his hand. "Always using force to solve your problems....what a shame, Tony." Jeremy accepted it, and soon they were seated on the couch while Tony remained frozen in the very same position.
"T-T-Thom-Thomas...", Tony stammered anxiously, "What brings you here? You are not supposed to be here - what is...who..where? Why are-", he began to slowly strode back to behind his desk, making it the short wall between him and them. He violently tossed both hands in his head in shock, "Thomas..what...how?"
Thomas chuckled, "Calm down and take a deep breath....". while he was charismatically seated on the couch, "I have a few questions of my own - but I will let you go first. Remember...breath." He snapped his fingers, and the nice, polished young man leaned over to him, receiving the instructions he then sent a message on his cell. Shortly after, a man who looked like one of Tony's men ran up with a bottle of water and passed it on to Jeremy, who was still out of it.
As if the sudden appearance of the ghost of his past wasn't enough, now his own men seemed to have been under his control, and he instantly went ballistic, "YOU!", he growled, "Why are you with him? Have you jumped ship-"
"Well, to correct you, Tony, they were never on your ship. They were your guardian...because one can never be too careful. You are like a child or a dog... constantly in need of supervision, or you burn everything down. So I guess they were your babysitter - to put it in simple term..."
"You bastard-", Tony fell helplessly on his chair,
Meanwhile, Jeremy was sitting quietly next to Thomas, still trying to digest what was happening,
"You are really Linda's father - like you're him him...you are here...", he was too much in shock - flabbergasted. He knew at some point they would have to find him, but he never expected it to happen so soon. "It's really you!"
Thomas sighed, "I think it's fine now, Jeremy. Although it is Ndlovu, not King - but I guess since the divorce was never finalised- I remain a King. Damn! What a burden. But the point is...we get the picture - you don't have to keep repeating it" he opened the bottle of water in his hands, placed it back, "Here...drink this. You look like you've been through hell and back....not good at all."
Jeremy instinctively drank the water, and it seemed to snap him back to reality. With a smile, Thomas chuckled, "That's much better. ...You need to take care of yourself...I don't want you to make my daughter a widow at such a young age..."
Without thinking, Jeremy retorted, "That's rich coming from a man who made her an orphan at such a young age...", and he regretted the moment those words left his lips. As opposed to the violent response he expected, Thomas chuckled, "Touche! Very witty. Exactly the kind of spunk I would expect from my daughter's future husband."
"For an evil man, he sure had an incredible sense of humour...", Jeremy thought as he chugged down the rest of the water. He tossed his eyes to his uncle, and he was amazed that the man he feared his entire life could wear such a face, could also cower like that. He looked back at Thomas in wonder and admiration, "Amazing", he thought. You'd swear the office belonged to him the way his aura overshadowed everything. The man was in command.
Seeing Jeremy back on his senses, Thomas landed his attention back to Tony, "Since you had not said anything or ask any questions...I guess it's my turn...", He slouched back to the couch in a comfortable position, but still retaining his command in the office, "Why did you keep important information - information that was supposed to be burried years ago- in that poorly secured office? Information that damages me and, most importantly, causes pain to my daughter?"
Jeremy's eyes widened with one simple question at the mention of Linda.
"The funeral home manager told me what happened..." Thomas said, and Jeremy exhaled - approving of his answer.
With a piercing gaze from Thomas, the walls quickly felt as if they were closing in on Tony. How was he going to explain that he kept it as insurance when they all agreed to destroy all evidence attached to that incident? He began to stutter and scramble for the right words, "It is not what you think. I promise I was not going to use it against you - or Lind-"
"...but that's the thing...", Thomas cut him off nonchalantly, but at the same time, his words carried so much weight in fury, "...it worked against me. So even if you didn't intend to use it against me...it worked against me...do you understand?"
Tony's face darkened even more, "I didn't mean to...it was not like that", 'that darn brat!', he thought in rage.
Thomas sighed, "...you never intend for anything, that's your problem. Like back then, I never gave you the command to kill Rose...you did that on your own..."
Tony's eyes widened, "What do you mean?-"
"Exactly what I mean". Thomas could still remember the day he heard the news of Rose King's death. He was making his grand escape to the Caribbean; his plan had worked perfectly - the plan he spent years dotting down. He had made enough money from the smuggling gig, and his death meant that he could disappear from their lives without leaving a stain on their name. It is true that, in the end, his love for Rose had become too much of a burden, and he was miserable. He resented her for it - the expectation from the Kings...he couldn't even give his daughter his surname, which meant a lot to him. But he never once thought of killing Rose; she was, after all, still the mother of the one good thing that came out of that miserable, calculated and suffocating union where he had become a tool for the Kings. "She was never supposed to be there...I made sure of it!"
"No...but the plane...the travel arrangement..everything. Glenda told me you planned it - she said you-"
"Of course she did, didn't she? Glenda. The cunning Glenda.", he sat up straight, signalling the young lad again and this time he came forward with a file, "Well, I guess I should thank you because that information you kept was the only missing puzzle I needed to tie this together - "
"What do you mean??", Tony's tingling senses told him that whatever was in that file was not a good thing for him. It made him anxious, "What the hell is going on Thomas??!"
"Well...me, you and Glenda are going to take a loooooong vacation - to atone for our sins. Well, to be fair, the duration will depend on the evidence presented - but knowing you, it will be long!"
"No, no, no, Thomas...no, you cannot ...you didn't?!", Tony cried in panic
"Yes, I can, and I did. We are going to prison, my friend!", he answered calmly,
"What?!!!", Jeremy exclaimed, almost jumping out of his seat.