Chapter 10 – Shane
Waiting for the parole board’s decision is nerve-wracking.
For the next few days, we try to go on as usual, but it’s hard.
The stress of the unknown is weighing on Beth.
It’s weighing on me, too. Even Sam and Cooper seem unusually preoccupied lately.
I get a call each day from Troy, just to touch base, but as of yet, there’s no news.
In this case, does no news mean good news, or bad news? It’s impossible to guess.
I can’t imagine how Andrew’s psychiatrist could possibly think he’s eligible for release.
I remember looking him in the eye at the hearing.
He was stone cold, disconnected, unfeeling.
When he looked at Beth, which he did frequently, he showed absolutely no remorse.
If anything, his demeanor seemed hostile, as if he blamed her for his incarceration.
A week later, as I’m sitting at my desk in my downtown office, Diane pops her head through the open doorway. “You have a visitor, honey.”
“Oh?” I’m not expecting anyone this morning. “Who is it?”
“Mr. Spencer,” she says before she steps aside to let him enter.
Troy walks into my office and closes the door behind him before he turns to face me.
I meet his gaze, and when he says nothing, my stomach sinks like a stone.
There’s only one reason he’d come to my office unannounced, and that’s to deliver bad news.
If it was good news, he’d have called or texted immediately.
“Spit it out,” I say.
Troy approaches my desk, but he doesn’t sit. “The board approved Andrew’s release.”
“Damn it!” I shoot to my feet and swipe an arm across my desk, sending my desk lamp crashing to the floor. I begin pacing like a caged animal, running my fingers through my hair. “What the fuck are they thinking? He’s dangerous! Anyone can see that!”
In a blind rage, I reach for the closest thing—a glass vase holding fresh flowers—and hurl it into the wall. The vase shatters, and water, flowers, and shards of glass fall to the floor.
Troy stands. “Shane—”
Diane walks into my office, her eyes wide as she takes in the mess I made. She looks at me, then at Troy. “Should I—”
“It’s okay, Diane,” Troy says, motioning for her to leave. “He’ll be all right.”
She leaves, closing the door behind her.
I begin pacing behind my desk. “I looked him right in the eye at the hearing, Troy, and he just glared back at me, cold and completely devoid of feeling. He’s a psychopath, and they’re letting him walk free? Seriously? What the fuck!”
“Not exactly free,” Troy says. “There are stipulations to his release. He can’t just—”
“He’ll be a free man, Troy. He can go where he wants to.”
“Not exactly. He’ll have to wear an ankle monitor, and there are strict conditions on when he can leave his parents’ house. And they’re responsible for supervising him.”
“They can’t watch him around the clock. He’ll be alone for hours upon hours during the day. The Mortons both work demanding jobs and long hours. Who’s going to supervise him when they’re gone? Are they going to hire a fucking babysitter?”
Suddenly, there’s a hollow ringing in my ears as the news sinks in.
It’s really happening. “How in the hell am I going to tell Beth? She’ll be devastated!
” I stop pacing and slam my fist in the wall behind me, punching a hole in the drywall and ignoring the burst of pain radiating up my arm. “This is insane!”
Troy frowns. “I know. I’m sorry, Shane.”
“When?” I ask. “When the fuck is he getting out?”
“I’m guessing it’ll be a week or two while the paperwork is being processed.
Once he’s out, he’s allowed to leave the house for medical appointments and for work, assuming he manages to get a job.
He’s required to continue with weekly therapy.
Other than that, he has to stay home. These conditions are in place for six months.
After that time, the situation will be reevaluated, and if he’s abiding by the rules, they’ll consider giving him more freedom. ”
This news is going to devastate Beth. Her life will never be the same. None of our lives will.
I glance down at my hand and see my knuckles are bleeding. “Don’t say anything to anyone yet,” I say. “Not until I can break the news to Beth.”
Troy nods. “Of course. I’m sorry, Shane. I wish I had better news.”
After Troy leaves, I spend the rest of my day mentally strategizing how to ensure Beth’s safety.
When Andrew is released, I’ll reassign Miguel from his current assignment to join Beth’s protection detail.
I’ll assign Jake’s team to do surveillance on Andrew so we know his whereabouts at all times.
I won’t give him a chance to harm my wife.
And I’m desperately hoping Tyler can uncover something, anything, to change the outcome.
* * *
That evening, after we’re done with dinner and the kitchen is cleaned up, we play with the kids in the family room until it’s their bedtime. Luke and I build structures with his play bricks, and Ava knocks them down and chortles with glee. Fortunately, Luke thinks it’s funny, too.
Beth watches us with a contented smile on her face. But she won’t be smiling for long. I still have to break the news to her.
When the grandfather clock begins to chime, Luke counts each bell. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.” He frowns. “Aww! That’s not fair!”
“Sorry, buddy. Bedtime calls. Let’s clean up.”
Luke pouts as he helps me clean up his bricks and return them to their storage container. When we’re done, I stand and hold out my hand to him. He climbs to his feet and runs over to Beth to kiss her goodnight before we head to his bedroom.
I get Luke into his pajamas and take him to the bathroom to supervise him getting ready for bed.
After we return to his room, I lie down beside him on his Spiderman comforter and read him a short stack of books.
Currently, he’s on a shark kick, so we go through several children’s nonfiction books on sharks.
After the third book, he yawns and rubs his eyes. “Daddy, are there sharks in Chicago?”
“No.” Chuckling, I ruffle his shock of blond hair. “I assure you, Chicago is a shark-free zone.”
“Not even in Lake Michigan? It’s a big lake.”
“Lake Michigan is a freshwater lake. Sharks live in saltwater, remember? Like, in the ocean.”
He nods. “Good. I’d hate to get eaten by a shark.”
“That would be bad. But don’t worry, buddy. You’re safe.”
I pick up another book to read him, and halfway through, he conks out on me. I lie here a little while longer to make sure he’s sound asleep. I suppose part of me is procrastinating, as I dread telling Beth about Andrew’s impending release.
Once I’m sure Luke is asleep, I let myself out of his bedroom and walk the short distance down the hall to Ava’s room. The door is ajar, and the nightlight is on, so I can easily peer inside and make out Beth rocking Ava.
I walk into the room. “She’s asleep?” I ask.
When Beth nods, I transfer Ava to her crib.
On our way out of Ava’s room, Beth turns on the baby monitor. I close the door behind us as we leave the room.
A knot forms in my stomach because I can’t put this off any longer.
“Come with me, sweetheart,” I say as I take her hand and lead her to our bedroom. “We need to talk.”
Her smile falls, and I figure she can guess what it is we need to talk about. Once we’re in our room, I sit her on the bed and begin to pace.
“Did you hear something from Troy?” she asks.
I nod. “He stopped by my office today.”
“I’m guessing it’s bad news or you would’ve told me before now.”
I stop pacing and turn to face her. “The board approved Andrew’s release.” I go on to summarize the conditions.
She sits still as the information sinks in. “When is he getting out?”
“Troy’s not sure yet, but probably in a week or two.”
She stares down at her hands in her lap. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
I kneel down in front of her and take her hands in mine. “I will protect you. You have to believe that.”
Giving me a sad smile, she nods as she reaches out to cup my cheek. “I know you will. But it’s not just me who’s affected by this. It’s all of us. You, me, our kids. Even the rest of our family. We have to endure this for the rest of our lives. How is that fair?”
“If you want to move—leave Chicago—we can. We could go anywhere. Just say so.”
She stills for a moment, going silent as she processes the thought. “No,” she finally says, her voice sounding quietly defeated. “We can’t take the kids away from the family. Chicago is our home.”
I squeeze her hands. “It’s an option. Remember that. What about living full-time at the Kenilworth property? That’s totally secure.”
“That sounds wonderful, but the kids would be so isolated there. They play every day with their cousins here. I don’t want to take that away from them.
Plus the grandparents are right here, and the aunts and uncles.
” She takes a deep breath. “We’ll just have to learn how to live with this as our new normal. ”
As Beth excuses herself to change into her pajamas, I stand at our bedroom window and stare out at the cul-de-sac. We’re surrounded by family.
Beth’s mom lives directly across the street from us. At the moment, she’s sitting outside on her front porch swing sipping a cup of hot tea as she watches the sun set.
Lia and Jonah are out taking an evening stroll, walking hand-in-hand—something they could never do outside of these secured walls.
There are no paparazzi here to hound Jonah.
No screaming teenage fans. Lia is prattling on about something, and Jonah smiles indulgently.
They wave at Ingrid as they pass by her house.
My brother Jake, who lives next door to us, is out in his driveway checking the oil in his wife’s minivan.
Next to his house is our parents’ house, and beside them is Sophie’s and Dominic’s house. On the other side of us is Jamie’s and Molly’s house.
I can’t imagine leaving Chicago, but if it means keeping my family safe, I’ll do it in a heartbeat.
Beth comes out of our bathroom wearing one of my T-shirts and a pair of knit shorts. When she’s stressed, she likes to wear one of my shirts.
She walks over to where I’m standing at the window, slips an arm around my waist, and leans into me. “What are you looking at?”
“Your mom, for one. And Lia and Jonah are out taking a walk.”
She peers out the window just as Annie comes outside to join Jake at her minivan, and he pulls her into his arms for a pretty heated kiss.
“No wonder Annie’s pregnant again.” Beth laughs. “If they kiss like that all the time, she’s bound to get knocked up.”
“Speaking of knocked up.” I turn to face Beth and lay my hand against her lower belly. “You still haven’t started. Shouldn’t we test?”
She frowns. “I don’t want to think about that right now.”
“Honey, the Andrew situation isn’t going away, and we can’t put this off forever. If you’re pregnant, we need to—”
“I know,” she says with a sigh. “Soon, okay?”
There’s a question lurking in the back of my mind that I have to ask. “Are you regretting the thought of having another child right now?”
“No! It’s not that. The thought of bringing a defenseless little baby into this nightmare scares me, that’s all.”
I understand her concerns, but I refrain from bringing up the obvious fact we already have two defenseless children.
One more isn’t going to make much of a difference.
I’m pretty sure she’s pregnant. Peeing on a stick is just a formality at this point, but it needs to happen soon because she needs to see her obstetrician.
I kiss her forehead. “I’ll grab a quick shower, and then we can watch something in bed and relax.”
She goes up on her toes to kiss me. “Sounds good.”
After I’m showered, I walk out to the kitchen to find Sam and Cooper making popcorn on the stove. “It must be movie night around here.”
Sam is sitting on the kitchen island with a bag of M&Ms in his hands. He’s wearing a pair of gray knit shorts and nothing else, swinging his bare feet as he watches Cooper making the popcorn. I’m getting a rare glimpse of his nipple piercings.
“Don’t eat all of those,” Cooper says to Sam. “Save some for the popcorn.”
Sam holds out an M&M, and Cooper comes close and opens his mouth so Sam can pop it in.
“I’m glad I caught you two,” I say. “I just gave Beth the news that Troy shared with me today. Andrew’s release has been approved.”
Sam and Cooper both look at me, their identical expressions a mix of anger and disbelief.
“When?” Cooper asks.
“A couple of weeks probably. Troy said we’ll be notified of the exact date.”
Cooper shakes his head. “Andrew Morton has no business walking around a free man. Who the hell did his parents bribe?”
“You might not be far off,” I say. “Tyler’s looking into it.” I glance at Sam. “You’ll have your work cut out for you. Miguel will be joining you once Andrew is out. I want Beth to have two bodyguards anytime she leaves the compound.”
I leave the guys to their movie snacks and return to our bedroom, where Beth is lying in bed flipping through channels on the TV mounted to the opposite wall. “Anything good?”
“Not really.” She sighs. “I’m just not in the mood for anything. What do you suggest? Dragons? Action? Sci-fi?” She pauses. “Zombies?”
Now I know she’s desperate for a distraction because she hates zombie shows. They scare her to death.
I close our door and turn off the bedroom light. I’m not really in the mood to watch anything either. I crawl onto the bed and loom over her, caging her in.
“I’m in the mood for you,” I admit.
She turns off the TV, lays the remote on the nightstand, and slips her arms around my neck to pull me close for a kiss. “I can get onboard with that,” she murmurs against my lips.