Chapter 13 #3
Pulling the front door shut behind me, I exhaled a long, heavy breath, then headed back to my car.
I wasn’t sure how long I sat there, just feeling the after effects of Shannon’s words, questioning if I should be doing any of this.
If I should just leave her alone, but something inside me refused to let go.
I could see our future together and it was too good a dream to just give up on.
Shannon couldn’t see that yet, but she would. I’d help her.
When I finally managed to drag myself from my thoughts, I drove in the direction of Angus’ place. He lived alone, his apartment a loft that had been converted from an old textile factory. When I pressed the buzzer, it only took a few seconds for his voice to fill the speaker.
“What do you want, Jace?”
Glancing up, I noticed the camera above the entrance.
“I just want to talk. I feel like shit about tonight.”
“Your dad already did enough grovelling. It’s fine. I’m over it.”
I could tell he wasn’t though. Angus and I had been close at school. He’d told me everything his parents had put him through, so I knew how much being a part of my family meant to him.
“Then you won’t mind letting me up for a few.”
There was a short pause, and then he replied, “I’ve been drinking.”
“That’s fine. You know I’m okay around alcohol.”
Another pause, then, “You have twenty minutes.”
I always experienced a touch of apartment envy whenever I visited Angus.
I mean, Elias’ place was nice, but Angus had put a lot of time and care into creating a home for himself, and it showed.
I was also envious of the room where he kept his guitar collection.
I’d been living in limbo ever since the divorce, not feeling like settling anywhere, so everything I owned was kept in storage.
There was a pack of beer on the coffee table, two cans already empty. I didn’t drink alcohol anymore, not because it was a problem, but it was a slippery slope. I preferred to keep a clear head, always. I sat down on the couch, and Angus took the armchair across from me. “So, what did my dad say?”
“Some bullshit about people doing things you wouldn’t expect, and you can never assume someone’s innocence in certain situations. Fair enough, but he assumed Shannon’s innocence. What makes her so special?”
“It’s not that she’s special. He just knows how much she cares for me. He watched us fall in love since we were kids, and he doesn’t see her ever doing anything to hurt me, even after the way I hurt her.”
You hurt me a lot, Jace. Her statement from earlier sliced through my mind. The way she said it, the pain in her voice. Nothing could ever make me feel worse than that.
“She fucking divorced you,” Angus pointed out.
“And I care about you, too, just as much as Shannon. More, probably. I’d never do anything to hurt you, and it fucked me up when you were on drugs, but I stuck around.
I drove you to your first rehab clinic, sat out in the car park for hours, and made sure you didn’t try to leave.
As far as I’m concerned, you’re my brother in all but blood, so the fact that you could think me capable—”
“I never thought you capable, Angus. I told my dad outright it wasn’t you or any of the others, but he wouldn’t listen to me.
I won’t try to explain away his reasoning because honestly, no one knows what’s really going on in the man’s head at times, but he is the smartest person I know, and I trust him to figure out who’s behind all this.
But believe me, I’m angry, too, because I know how much he means to you, and I know this has hurt.
I consider you a brother, too, and that will never change.
I’m so grateful you were there for me during my addiction, but you need to stop judging Shannon for leaving.
It’s different being in a relationship with an addict, especially when you have a small child to think about.
Shannon saw me in worse states than you or the rest of the band ever did.
She did what she needed to do to survive.
I accepted it at the time, and I accept it now.
I hope you and Kami can come to accept it, too. ”
His gaze met mine, and I saw the emotion sitting right there on the surface.
A long quiet fell while Angus sipped his beer, and I just sat there, hoping he could find it in himself to forgive me and my father, who was a great man but could be so carelessly thoughtless at times it honestly baffled belief.
At last he spoke, “You’re right, I’ll back off Shannon. It’s wrong of me to keep blaming her. I wasn’t in her shoes.”
“And the rest?”
He blew out a breath, a hint of humour in his voice. “Well, I guess I can’t do anything other than forgive you after that little speech.”
I chuckled low. “It would be a dick move if you didn’t, for sure.”
A short silence elapsed before Angus said, “Thanks for coming over, and I really am sorry for being an arsehole about Shannon. I know you’re still in love with her. I just worry she’ll mess you around, and you’ll go back to—"
“That’s never going to happen. I’m not going back. I promise you.”
“You better mean it.”
We sat and talked for a little while before Angus kicked me out because he needed to go to bed.
The next morning, I’d just turned the corner onto Shannon’s street, Isla driving behind me, when I spotted her outside.
Shannon stood close to her gate, right near the kerb, picking up what appeared to be a bunch of litter.
What the hell? Had someone dumped all that in front of her house?
My initial thought was that her meddling neighbours had decided to get their own back for me insinuating they were perverts, but then the squeal of tires assaulted my ears as a black car peeled down the road.
My hands gripped the steering wheel, my pulse starting to race when I realised the car wasn’t just speeding, it was heading directly for Shannon.
My stomach twisted as the car swerved towards her, about to run her over, and with dawning horror, I knew I couldn’t stop it. I was too far away to save her.
“Shannon!” I shouted futilely from inside my car, but she couldn’t hear me.
She jumped, falling back against her garden gate as the car swung in an arc at the very last second, narrowly missing her. I had just enough time to see the driver wearing large, dark sunglasses and a baseball cap as they sped past me and down the end of the road.
Both Isla and I pulled to a stop at the same time. I jumped out to check on Shannon while Isla was busy holding up her phone to get a shot of the number plate. Red hot fury ran through my veins when I saw how Shannon was cowering and shaking.
My hands were everywhere, frantic but careful, tracing her arms, shoulders, legs, searching for cuts, blood, anything. I lifted strands of her hair with my fingertips, checking her head, making sure she hadn’t hit it when she’d fallen.
“Are you okay?” I demanded, voice sharp, even as she kept saying she was.
“I’m fine!” she gasped, but it didn’t register. My adrenaline was screaming louder than her words. I couldn’t stand the thought that someone had tried to hurt her. Had tried to fucking run her over.
Finally, when I’d scanned her from head to toe and found no injuries, I pulled her into my arms. Her head rested against my chest, and I could feel her tremble against me, my own heart racing in tandem with the panic and relief flooding through me at once. She was safe. She was here.
I pulled her tighter into my arms. A chill crept over me as I thought about the person driving that car. Whoever they were, they had to be the catfish, and they’d just targeted Shannon.
Which meant I was about to turn things up and find out who they were. They’d better hope my dad found them first because if it were me, I feared what I might do.