Chapter 17 #2
“Stanton and I were in a meeting. I was never supposed to go in there. I was only supposed to offer my expertise, share with them how I would infiltrate. But when we arrived, there was no one else to be seen. Not a single FBI agent that was supposed to be there was. I was supposed to wait in the car, only offer support when asked. But when Stanton said ‘fuck it’ in his head and went in, I couldn’t leave him to go in by himself. I had to go in and give him backup.”
“Where did everyone else go?”
“We later learned through Apollo that Stanton was collateral damage. Before they’d arrived, they were called off the op. Sonny has some friends in high places, and that meant they called it all off. Stanton got that message and didn’t share that information with me until we were already inside.”
“So you saved Pippa?”
“Got there and it was a trap. Stanton went in there guns blazing, didn’t hear a single thing I said, and got himself caught.
I stayed hidden at first, but Sonny had a bit of a tech background and started playing his torture over the sound system—we were in an old grocery store—and I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to help. Any way I could.”
“You were caught,” I guessed.
“Yeah.” Weaver leaned his backside against the end of my bed. “On purpose. I had a plan.”
“I’m guessing your plan didn’t work out.”
“Not in the least,” he returned. “Between Stanton’s ‘take me and kill me instead’ attitude, and Pippa’s ‘no, kill me’ attitude, it was a losing battle. Pippa tried to attack Sonny. Sonny retaliated by practically pushing a gun into my hand and making me kill Stanton.”
“He made you?”
“He gave me an ultimatum,” he said. “Kill Stanton, or watch my sister be raped and tortured.”
My shoulders slumped. “So you chose your sister.”
“Yes,” he said. “I killed Stanton. In front of Pippa.”
“Oh,” I breathed.
“Sonny laughed and let Pippa go. Then left the building like he was never there,” Weaver said. “Feds finally came, as if they got the all clear that Sonny wasn’t there anymore or something. Uncuffed me. Uncuffed my sister. Then charged me with murder.”
“But Pippa saw it all. Couldn’t she have explained what happened?”
“She was mad,” Weaver admitted. “Very mad. At me. And only at me. She wanted to see me go to prison for the rest of her life, and didn’t rest until I was there.”
“There was no one to corroborate what happened?”
“Corrupt legal system, paired with bad lawyers, poor timing, and a sister that would rather see you rot in hell than breathe free,” Apollo said. “I’m sure you got a lot of the coverage through the media. It was a high-profile case.”
“Isn’t Sonny in prison now, though?”
“Yes,” Weaver confirmed. “But for a completely unrelated charge. He was a dumbass and sped away. Got on a yacht to cruise the world, but was stupid enough to have a shit ton of drugs on his yacht. Got caught by the Coast Guard, and he was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. Luckily, there was nothing anyone could do to get him out of it. There’s not enough money in the world for that.
Not even the amount of money he’d offered.
There was a news reporter on that boat doing a documentary on the Coast Guard.
Too many people there to wipe it under the rug. ”
“This is insane.” I shook my head slowly. “So Pippa wouldn’t be happy if she knew that you were still alive.”
My guess was confirmed by a solemn nod of Weaver’s head.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I have a few ideas on that,” Apollo suggested. “She turns sixteen in four months, right?”
“Right,” Weaver confirmed.
“In Florida, kids sixteen and up can emancipate themselves,” he said. “My suggestion is, get her to go home for four more months.”
“That’s not going to work well.”
“Or,” Apollo said, “your parents go with the ‘I put her in boarding school in North Carolina.’ That way, she’ll have a reason to be gone from your parents’ house.
. And I can fix all the records to reflect that she’s actually at the boarding school.
Then, when she turns sixteen, she files the paperwork to emancipate herself from your parents.
She changes her name shortly after that, and she disappears into the world a free adult. ”
“If it’s done correctly,” I said quietly, “your sister will have no reason to look for her.” I looked at Weaver. “What about your parents, though? Are you never going to see them again?”
Weaver’s face went blank.
“They miss you, I’m sure,” I murmured.
“It doesn’t matter,” he grumbled. “I have to choose. And I choose me.”
I didn’t blame him.
“I’ll get started on the boarding school thing. Contact them on my end and let them know the score. They’ll go along with it,” Apollo said. “When do you get out of this joint, Eddy?”
“At least not for another four days or so,” I said. “They want to make sure that everything is good infection-wise. They’re hoping to change me into a more permanent cast, as well as make sure that everything is nice and healed underneath before they do.”
“Sounds sucky,” he snorted.
“It is.” I paused. “And itchy.”
“I know the feeling,” he said as he walked out the door.
No sooner had he walked out than Gentry walked into the room carrying a takeout bag of food.
He handed it over to Weaver immediately. “Got the last of the soup.”
Earlier in the day, Gentry had stopped by to give me an update on my parents, while also making sure that I wasn’t left alone.
According to him, nothing else had happened regarding their case, and had said they were waiting on them to mess up.
Or for Apollo to find something more.
He’d sat with me for an hour on his lunch break when I’d picked through my measly pickings they’d offered me for lunch.
I hadn’t realized that he’d planned on coming back.
But the way he kept looking over his shoulder as if expecting to see someone had me frowning.
“What are you looking for?”
He opened his mouth to reply when the door opened and Sage walked in with a new bag of saline and some new socks.
“Okay, okay,” Sage chirped. “I’m heading out for the day, my dear. But your night nurse, I’m told, is almost as competent as I am. I…”
Her voice trailed off as she looked at Gentry and Weaver.
A frown marred her face as she stared hard at Gentry.
Her face was white, her eyes were wide, and she swayed on her feet.
Weaver moved forward and caught Sage before she could hit the ground and pass out. “You okay?”
“I…” Sage paused. “I’m…”
She set the things in her hand down and methodically got to work on the IV bag.
She placed the socks into Weaver’s hands before saying, “She needs these on if she’s going to walk anywhere. Don’t let her walk by herself, and don’t let her act like she can use the bathroom by herself yet, either. She can’t. She can barely sit down, let alone stand up.”
Weaver nodded, still looking concerned for her.
“I’ll see you both tomorrow.” Sage’s voice was higher than usual. “Take care of yourself, Eddy.”
Sage left like her life depended on getting out of the room as fast as she could.
When I looked back at Gentry, it was to see him looking pretty green.
Oh, and he looked like he was about to bolt.
“Thanks, Gentry,” I said softly. “I didn’t realize that police officers made food runs.”
He opened his mouth to say something but Sage walked into the room with more blankets and sheets, momentarily stealing my focus.
“Is Sage…”
She placed them down and looked up at Gentry, a look of such all-encompassing hurt on her face that I felt like I’d been sucker-punched in the chest.
A cry left her throat, but she closed her mouth and walked fast toward the door.
She had the door closed behind her when I looked at Gentry again.
“You okay, Gentry?” I asked.
Gentry looked like he’d seen a ghost.
He swallowed hard before he rasped, “No.”
Then he was gone, leaving Weaver and me alone again.
“What was that about?”
Weaver watched the closed door for a long second before he said, “I’m not the only one with a fucked-up past.”
Meaning, he wasn’t the only one that’d escaped prison and left someone behind.
I could read between the lines just fine.
“What’s his story?” I asked.
“Just know that he was in prison for about the same time as me, and Apollo got him out,” I said. “We try not to talk about it too much. The more information we share, the more chance there is of it getting out.”
Understandable.
“What’s in that bag, Weaver?”
Weaver shot me a thankful grin, clearly happy to change the subject. “Let’s find out.”