The hammer slammed into the corner of the filing cabinet with a huge crash, I didn't even wait to see how bad the damage was, I just swung again, and then once more for good luck. Third time's the charm, right? The drawers were askew, but they didn't want to come out, so I put the hammer down and held my hand out. Izzy put the crowbar into my hand, and I wedged it into the file drawer and leaned against it. With a screech, the drawer finally popped out, and we could see what was in there. Well, it was nothing but a single large file in a big bound envelope lying flat in the drawer.

I reached in and picked it up, needing both hands to lift it since it was so thick. I removed the elastic and looked inside, and it was stuffed with photos, documents and all kinds of stuff that I didn't understand. But right in the front was an envelope that said simply, Isobel. I looked inside and it had a folded birth certificate, social security card that said Isobel Woods and little footprints and photos. I passed the little envelope to Izzy, and then hefted the big one. Why would her stuff be in here with a ton of other stuff?

I have no idea what possessed me, but I bound the envelope back up and stuck it under my arm before hefting the sledgehammer again. "Grab the crowbar and we'll get your clothes and then get out of here. We still have to get to work on time and make it look good for Jeremy!"

"I can't believe we have this!" she looked wide eyed at her little envelope while grabbing the crowbar. We went to her old bedroom and tossed everything we could into empty garbage bags since had no suitcases. It took a couple trips, but we ran everything out of the house, and back to the garage where we put it all into the trunk of my car before we pulled off the latex gloves that we were wearing to make sure that we didn't leave any fingerprints. He could try to say it was us all he wanted, but we didn't leave any evidence. Fuck you, Jeremy.

The drive back to the studio was full of laughs. My girl was free. We could get her a job without her dad holding anything over her head and I wanted to kick his ass for drugging me the previous day. Hell, he might be crying by the end of the day when he saw the cabinet on top of everything else I wanted to do at the office. We got our coffee, and then made it back to the agency where we ran into a fuming Jeremy.

"Where were you?" he snarled at Izzy.

"I went to get coffee," she said with a shrug. "I ran into Trish there and she gave me a lift back."

"Was I not supposed to give her a ride?" I asked innocently.

He just huffed in annoyance. "No, that's fine. I just didn't know where you'd wandered off to after I dropped you off."

Fuck, this guy was still playing up the doting father, not the asshole who makes her sleep on the floor. And yes, we'd been smart enough to put all her stuff back on the floor to make it look like that was where she slept. But if I had my way, she'd never sleep there again, but back with me in my bed in my apartment if Erin was okay with it. Hell, as often as she had Billie there, I didn't think it would be a big deal.

Nobody else was at the office yet, since Jeremy regularly opened the building, so I sat in my room on my phone, scrolling through my social media accounts. I was way behind in my videos, only because I had become afraid that Max would watch them and figure out where I was, but now that Izzy told me that Jeremy was giving him information, it was a moot point. He would already know I was back in San Diego. So, nothing was stopping me from doing my channel again, which was a good feeling. Besides, I had my pepper spray just in case too!

Slowly people started trickling in, with Paulina and Tia both coming to check on me. I was more than ready to keep doing the photo shoot, but after hearing everything about Jeremy, I didn't want him to ever take my picture again. I thought about my options and decided to handle it head on. I walked down the hallway to Tia's office, and knocked before going in.

"Tia, I need to ask a favor, and I know you don't want to hear it, but please trust me. It is very important."

She looked at me with a frown. "If this is about you working with Jeremy, I don't think I want to hear it, Trish. At some point you two need to bury the hatchet."

I nodded at her in understanding. This had to sound like a broken record. "I know, but there is a lot more to it, and I can prove it."

Thirty minutes later, I went out to the beach studio where Jeremy and Izzy were setting up the cameras for the shoot. "Jeremy, can I talk to you for a minute in my room? I'd like to clear the air before we start the shoot."

He grunted before smirking. No doubt he was happy about one upping me with the coffee yesterday. "Fine, but it needs to be quick. I don't want to spend all day doing a simple shoot."

"I think we can settle it fast, then the day can continue," I assured him. As soon as we got into the room, I unlocked my phone and sent the text I'd already typed to Izzy, and then locked it again before sitting on my bed.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked, leaning casually against the door.

"Simple. I was awake when you and Laila visited me yesterday. I heard everything you discussed."

He snorted in laughter. "So? What are you going to do, go whine to Tia? You drank the whole cup, and I made sure it got into the dishwasher. You have no proof. Leila certainly isn't going to say anything."

"You can't just drug me and get away with it!"

"The fuck I can't! You needed to lose weight, and maybe I helped a little!"

"You're sick," I muttered.

"I'm also your photographer!"

"Nope. Only Izzy is taking my pictures," I countered.

"Not happening. She works for me as long as she's a minor," he snarled.

I gave him a nice smile. "Perfect. Since she turned 18 in July, I guess she doesn't work for you and can stop sleeping on the floor, right?"

His face turned pale for a moment before he snarled. "Where do you get off with this shit?"

"Jeremy, you know you can only lie and do all this shit for so long before you get busted," I pointed out.

"Fuck you. You have nothing but hearsay."

"Not quite." Tia said as she came from behind the dressing screen.

"Oh! Ummm... Tia. This isn't what it looks like. Err, sounds like!" Jeremy looked around for some sort of salvation.

"I'm sure it isn't," Paulina said as she came out from the bathroom door. "I'm sure there is a rational explanation as to why the girl you claim is your daughter is sleeping on the floor here and why you drugged an employee."

"Well... you see... I had to ensure that the photos I take are of the highest quality. Sometimes when Izzy works late, she sleeps here," he stammered.

"And you accidentally drugged my drink?"

Tia just marched over to him. "Give me your office key, now. Then we're going to go over to the storage room and you're cleaning out your stuff and only your stuff. All company equipment stays, and that includes the cameras, since they were bought by me. You should get a move on; the police were called before you ever stepped foot in this room."

"Fuck you! You bitches can't do this!" he screamed racing from the room. "Izzy! Come on, we're leaving!"

"She's staying," I yelled back at him. She's an adult and you have no hold over her!"

His face was turning red, and his eyes were a bit manic. Honestly, as upset as he was, I could tell that at least part of this was fear. Was he afraid of the cops? He finally bolted for his room, and then less than a minute later was running out the front door. That was the weirdest departure ever.

Tia walked over to her office and knocked gently. "Izzy, it's safe to come out now, he's gone."

Izzy unlocked the door and stepped out, then ran at me and jumped into my arms. Paulina just snickered as she looked on. "Amy is going to be so jealous! She's not going to get either one of you, is she?"

"No chance. Izzy's my girlfriend!" I replied as I slipped my hands under her thighs to hold her up.

"Well. This has been quite the day. Maybe we should have a little discussion about how we want to do the shoots for the web site and the calendar. Izzy, are you up for this?" Tia asked kindly.

"Yeah. I've been doing most of the photos for the last few years already, so I'm good. But I want to discuss the shark styled swimwear." Izzy was nodding into my shoulder, still too emotional with Jeremy gone.

That wasn't the first time that the shark swimwear had been mentioned, and I couldn't wait to finally understand what they were talking about!

"Fine. Let's go hang out on the beach and discuss it. Paulina, lock up the building so Jeremy can't come back!"