33. SHANE
33
SHANE
I check my watch, knowing the doctor finishes about now. A snarl forms on my face just thinking about that slime ball. Since this afternoon, when Dom gave me a list of everyone’s real identity and their addresses from her subscribers, I’ve been waiting for him to finish his shift.
The fucking doctor. How did I not see this coming? I knew Lilly said he was a creeper who likes to flirt with the staff, but until now, I thought he was harmless.
What I can’t figure out is why he trashed her kitchen. I’m no detective, but maybe he was after a trinket of some kind. Something of hers to take for safe keeping.
Acid rises in my throat, thinking of what he could have taken. I need evidence before I can get a warrant, and that’s not gonna be likely, which is why I’m taking matters into my own hands.
For years, I’ve always done things by the book. But I can’t wait for protocol where Lilly’s concerned. I won’t have her worried about being attacked in her own home, even if that’s her kink. There’s only me that gets to give her that. And I’ll strangle anyone else who tries to take that from us.
My spine bristles as the doctor steps out of the double doors of the hospital’s side entrance next to the ward where Lilly works. I don’t know what I planned to do here, seeing as the car park is riddled with cameras, so I decide to follow him home.
I turn on the headlights now dusk has descended, then start the engine as I exit the hospital car park. I keep a safe distance as he approaches the roundabout, but he doesn’t take the by-pass. Instead, he heads for town.
Fuck.
I’ll be damned if I’ve waited all this time to miss an opportunity to threaten this motherfucker. Gripping the steering wheel, I slow the car down as we travel through the high street and park a few spaces away from him at the back of a building.
He throws the keys in the air, practically skipping around the side of the restaurant. Luckily for me, there are no streetlights between the two buildings where he’s headed.
The smell of Italian food reminds me of Lilly’s favourite carbonara, fuelling the adrenaline spiking in my veins. I double up on my steps as he approaches the dark alleyway between the restaurant and a shop that’s now closed for the day.
He turns around and gives me a nod, as if he’s glad I’m behind him, as if keeping him safe. I may still be in my police uniform, but he’s not safe from me.
Before he reaches the front of the restaurant building, I grab a hold of his jacket and yank him backwards, throwing him against the brick wall.
“What the fuck?” The whites of his eyes and his teeth are the only features I can make out in the dark passageway. “Do you know who I am?”
Fisting his jacket, I pin him to the brick with one hand while the other wraps around his throat. “The fuck I do. That’s why I’m here. You think you can break in on my turf and there won’t be consequences?”
His pulse beats erratically under my thumb, his eyes narrow to thin slits. “What?” He chokes out as I tighten my grip on his neck. “Who?”
“You broke into Lilly’s house. I know it was you. We have you on CCTV and it’s only a matter of time before we bring you to the station.” I ease off on his neck before he passes out. “I just wanted to pay you a little informal visit first.”
He gasps for air, scratching at my hand. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I work with her, that’s all.”
“See now, I know you’re lying. We both know you do more than work with her.” Acid coats my tongue at thoughts of him watching my girl. “I have a record of all your online activity.”
“So I like to watch porn. Who doesn’t?”
I resist the urge to bust his nose. The last thing I want is his blood on my uniform. “The next time you go near Lilly, look at her the wrong way, touch her or even speak to her. It won’t be the cops you need to fear.”
“I have to speak to her. I work with her. You don’t scare me. I’ll report you for this.”
I remove my hands from his neck and jacket. “For what?” I look up and down the alley. “I don’t see any witnesses, do you?”
He huffs. “It was you, wasn’t it?” He straightens his collar under his jacket. “You stopped her from doing the lives.”
I stare at him in silence with a clenched jaw, not wanting to give anything away.
“Can’t say I blame you. I’d keep her for myself, too. I miss those big bouncing tits tho?—”
Before he can finish his sentence, my fist collides with his face. His head bounces against the brick as a shrill scream pierces my ears.
A handbag hits my shoulder. “What the hell are you doing, Shane?”
It takes me a moment to recognise her in the dark, but there’s no mistaking the yells of my ex-wife.
“Just teaching this scumbag a lesson. What are you doing here?” I furrow my brow. Annoyed that she thinks it’s okay to walk down dark alleys alone at night.
“Meeting my date for a drink.” She fusses over the doctor. “I’m so sorry, Ant. He’s my ex. Are you all right? Do you need the hospital?”
The doctor seems surprised. “Your ex?”
“Yes.” She examines his head, running her fingers through his hair as if she’s giving him a massage.
I roll my eyes. “He’s fine. Sick in the head, but he’ll live for now.”
She strokes the doctor’s face. “Please give me a minute. I’ll meet you inside.”
He puffs out his chest. “I’m not leaving you with this crazy fuck.”
I shoot daggers at him in the dark alley.
Fern says, “He won’t hurt me. Please. I’ll see you inside.”
He takes a few steps backwards, then pauses. I don’t need a street light to know he’s glaring at me. After another pause, he walks away towards the front of the bar.
I shove my hands in my pockets and lean back against the wall, waiting for Fern to let rip. She was never shy at voicing her opinions. In fact, she thrived on it.
Once Ant, or whatever the fuck she called him, is out of sight, the handbag lands on my chest as she flings it around like she’s swinging a bat. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she yells.
I narrow my eyes. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’re not seriously dating the creepy doctor?”
“Look, you can’t go around threatening all my dates.”
“I don’t. Just this creep. I don’t want you seeing him again. He’s dangerous.”
She bursts into a laugh. “Right. A real Dr Jekyll.”
I straighten my spine, towering over her. “Fern, I’m serious. You’re not to see him again.”
She taps her finger against her lips. “Hmm. I’m sorry, I thought we were divorced. You have no right to dictate who I can date or not.”
It takes every bone in my body to not hoist her over my shoulder and take her away from here. From him. But she won’t listen to my demands. Hell, she never listened when we were together.
“Trust me, Fern. This is for your own good.”
She lets out a sigh. “I’m sorry, Shane. I know you still harbour feelings for me, and I thought about giving us another chance, but then I remembered why we divorced in the first place. It's not even that we've grown apart, there’s no spark. I just don't love you, Shane.”
I stare wide-eyed at my ex-wife, speechless, as a million things circle around my head. She couldn’t be more wrong about harbouring feelings. But there’s no way I can tell her the truth. Oh, it’s not you, it’s your little sister. Or that her new boyfriend watches her little sister strip on an adult content account.
For fuck’s sake.
“You’re a good man, and you’ll make someone very happy one day. I tried, I really did. Do you still need closure or something?” Her hand pats my chest. “I appreciate what you did for Mum and for looking out for Lilly, but we’re no good together. We’re better as friends. I’ll always be there if you need anything.”
I hold her hand over my chest and pull it away from my heart. “Fern.”
She continues talking. “I am sorry for leaving. I do care about you, just not in that way. I?—”
“Fern,” I say louder. “I know.” I flick my eyes to the stars in the heavens, hoping I can summon the strength to make this woman see sense. “Does Lilly know you’re seeing the doctor?”
“Yes, of course. I told her.”
I run a hand over my face. “His name isn’t Ant. It’s Dr Phillip Fletcher. Ask Lilly about him. I have it on good authority that he was the one who broke into her house.” I hold my breath, hoping she believes the lie. She can’t know I saw his name and address on the list Dom gave me.
Her face pales, even in the dark alleyway. The whites of her eyes bulge as she stares at me, chewing on the inside of her cheek. After a moment, she whispers, “You’re saying he’s the doctor she works with? The one who gets too familiar?”
“Yes. Has she told you about him?”
She nods, still wide-eyed, before walking off as if in a daze down the alley to the car park at the back.
“Fern.” I follow her. “Where are you going?”
She spins around in the car park, her eyes pooling with unshed tears under the streetlight. “I don’t know. I don’t have my car. A friend just dropped me off.” She pulls her phone from her bag and taps on the screen. Clutching it in her hand, she waits, looking between me and her phone.
“I can take you home if you need a lift.”
Her phone pings. She chokes back a strangled sob as a tear drips from her lashes. “You’re right, it is him.” She shows me the text from Lilly, confirming what I said after she sent his dating app profile picture.
I click the key fob in my pocket and unlock my car. “Come on. I’ll take you home.”
Balling her fists she says, with newfound strength. “I should go in there and confront him.”
Gently guiding her elbow, I lead her to my car. “I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
She slumps into the passenger seat of the Shogun with a huff, swiping at her cheeks as if annoyed that she even cried over him. “I’ll text Lilly. I'm gonna need extra pizza after this.”
I settle into the driver’s side and start the engine. “He’ll get what’s coming to him. I’ll find something on him and get a warrant for his arrest.”
“I feel so stupid.” She wipes at her cheeks again. “He was always asking me about my family. I thought he was just taking an interest in me.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. Anyone would think the same.” I pull out of the car park, glancing over at her, clutching her bag on her lap. My hand itches to hold her and comfort her as a friend, but we were never that affectionate when we were together. Sex was either making up after an argument or a chore trying for a baby.
“The one night I got off as well.” She crosses her arms over her chest in a huff.
“Got off?” I clear my throat, wondering what she means.
“Got a night off mum duties. Lilly’s at mine babysitting.”
My jaw tightens at thoughts of Lilly alone. “Does he know where you live?”
Her hands fly to her mouth with a gasp. “Yes, he came to my house the other night.”
“Fuck.” I nod to her bag. “Text him that something came up. Tell him you’re sorry about your ex, but your son is sick.”
She furrows her brow. “You want me to act like nothing is wrong?”
“Yes.” I take the road towards Fern’s small cottage. A box compared to the home we shared together. “Play it cool. The less he knows you’re on to him, the less likely he is to retaliate.”
“Why can’t I find a decent man? Everyone I date ends up being a creep or a loser,” she says as she types out a text message.
My lips lift in the corner. I can’t help feel a little smug that since she left me, her love life’s been a disaster. But I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy, well maybe I would. Especially this motherfucking doctor and a few others I can think of, but not Fern. She doesn’t deserve this.
As much as it hurt when she left, it was the best thing for the both of us. We were forcing something that wasn’t meant to be. Just because we have history doesn’t mean we have a future. We were too young to get married, still discovering who we were. She wanted a family. I wanted to be on tour with my brothers. The only place I felt at home since my pa passed away.
I pull up outside Fern’s cottage. “Make sure you lock all the doors and windows and if anything sounds suspicious, you call me or 999.”
Light pours from her window as the curtain opens. Lilly’s silhouette appears through the glass, bathed in a golden glow, then the kid appears next to her. Both of them are smiling from ear to ear like she would whenever I came home from the barracks or from tour.
My heart aches for a family of my own. A wife and kid to come home to after a long day at work. But I don’t want just anyone. I want the one woman I can never have.
“Thanks for bringing me home. Do you want to come in? Lilly was ordering pizza.”
“I don’t want to intrude on your family.” I stare out the window with sad eyes, knowing I’ll have to go back to my home alone. I could go to Kane’s, but he’s got Violet and Dom has Poppy staying with him now. Dan’s in the city. I should probably get a dog for company, but with the long hours at the station, it’s unfair.
Fern places her hand on mine as it grips the steering wheel as if she senses the emptiness in my chest. “We might not be together, but you will always be family.” She huffs. “Mama still thinks we’re married.”
A small laugh leaves my lips. I’m about to lie and tell her I have shit to do, but Lilly walks down the path and opens the white wooden gate, hanging on by one rusty hinge.
Lilly wraps a cardigan around her body in the chilly night air and bends to look through the window with concern etched on her face.