Chapter 8 #2
Since I didn’t want to alert the man holding Jackson at gunpoint, I’d shot through the screen, so now I push the screen the rest of the way out and slip out of the window. I run over to where Jackson is rising to his feet, eyes fixated on the dead man.
When he hears me coming, he turns quickly, prepared to reach for the gun the man had dropped, but when he sees it’s me, he relaxes.
“I fucked up,” he says.
“It’s okay,” I reassure him. “Just get to the van. We’re getting out of here.”
I doubt Jackson realizes the way I place myself beside him, even as we move, so that if anyone shoots at us, they’d get me first.
“Where’s Henry?” I ask.
“Tavish and Everly have Henry,” Cassel says in my ear. “Just move.”
I glance at Jackson. “Cassel informed me that he’s with Tavish and Everly.”
“We have to go back for Cam,” Jackson says. “We can’t leave a kid here.”
I look back at that place and find myself feeling some weird sense of dread over it.
Lucas taught me how to kill with precision, but wasn’t that because I never allowed distractions in my life?
Because I had nothing to lose but my own life?
And at that point in time, I wasn’t all that sure that was very important.
“Go back to the van,” I say.
“I’m not leaving you,” Jackson counters.
“No, either you go back to the van or we’re leaving. I’m not losing you.”
Jackson reaches out and grabs my face. “I fucked up, Leland, I know I did. I know my fuckup did nothing to settle your worries. I know that. And I’m sorry, but we can’t just leave.”
“I’m not saying we have to leave Cam. I’m saying that I need you to go back to the van and help the others while I get Cam.”
“No,” he says, holding firm. “I found the room he was in. I just couldn’t get inside without a key. Come on.”
My hand locks around his wrist and I decide that I’m prepared to stand my ground, prepared to drag him back to the van if I have to, when he sets his right hand down on mine.
“I love you, Leland. And I love you enough that when you tell me to trust you, I do. And even though I know every single day that a simple mistake could destroy our lives, I still put that trust in you.”
“I trust you too,” I say, not wanting him to think I don’t. “I just… can’t lose you.”
Jackson’s warm brown eyes hold mine. “You’re not alone anymore, so please stop fighting like you are.”
“I’m a better fighter alone. I don’t have to stress over the health of anyone else. I can just—”
“Put your life at more risk without someone to watch your back?”
I shake my head, wanting to tell him that I’m not, but honestly… I know he’s right. I know going out alone is riskier, but I’m willing to do it to keep the man I love safe.
He lifts his arm that I’m still holding on to and gives the back of my hand a soft kiss. “Let’s go.”
I allow him to pull me after him. Cassel, still in my ear, directs us to the window to move in through.
As we walk, I try to explain the current issue to Jackson. “There are two men still in the building. One is Teo and the other is a third party… a man who knows who I am. He’s the one who killed everyone in the building. He… he told me he did all of this… for me.”
Jackson’s head snaps back to look at me. “Excuse me, what?”
“Just… don’t trust either of them.”
“I only trust you.”
“Definitely not Tavish.”
“Definitely not Tavish,” he concurs.
“Take a left here,” Cassel says in my ear. “Also, listening in on your heartfelt nonsense was kind of icky.”
“Right?” I ask.
“You’re not supposed to agree,” he teases. “Wait, stop. Turn there. Left. Go back a door. There.”
“It’s locked. Jackson, watch my back and I’ll see if I can pick it.”
“Got it,” he says as I pull my lockpick set out. It takes a bit, but I finally get it unlocked and push the door open, revealing Cam sitting on the floor. His eyes get impossibly wide when he sees that it’s us.
“Please, help me, please,” he begs, rushing forward.
“It’s okay. Come on,” Jackson says as he pulls him in close. The second we step into the hallway, I hear someone coming and shove them back, but when the person moves around the corner, I realize that it’s Sophia.
“Move,” I order.
“But Cam—”
“Jackson has him,” I say as Jackson pulls Cam out. Sophia runs to him, throwing her arms around him and clutching him tightly.
“Oh fuck. Oh fuck,” she whispers. “I promised never to draw you into this again, and yet here we are.”
I’m sure he doesn’t remember the first time he was drawn into this as an innocent child, but he’s definitely not going to forget this time.
“Keep moving,” I say, but we make it out without running into anyone else.
When we reach the van, the others are already inside waiting for us.
Jackson rushes to the driver’s seat, and as I’m sliding the side door closed, I can see something at the estate.
It’s too far from here to make out details, so I lift the rifle I’d taken from the man and peer through the scope, where I see the man in black drag a body out from the building and toss it onto the ground.
When I follow the body down, I see that it’s Teo.
“Hey, Cassel.”
“I’m here.”
“Should I kill that man?”
Cassel’s quiet for a moment, and I wait with the van door still open. The man is looking in my direction, and even though I’m positive he can’t see me clearly from this far away, it seems like he’s locked on to me.
Finally, Cassel says, “He killed part of an organization known for selling people once they’ve racked up so much debt they’d never be able to pay it back … maybe what happened here was a bit unorthodox, but he’s simply cleared out more toxic people who can hurt others.”
“I don’t like him.”
“I don’t either.”
I slam the van door shut, and once I’m seated, Jackson starts to drive.
“What was that shit show?” Henry asks, and I can tell he’s mad.
Was it because we all fucked up so badly?
“Leland told you these people weren’t to be fucked with and yet every step of the way, I saw all of you taking risks.
You’ve gotten cocky because you’ve been off dealing with men and women who aren’t of this caliber. ”
I stare at him, not sure I’ve ever seen him so irritated… well… besides that one time I tied him up, but that was old Henry. This is the new and improved Henry.
“Leland’s so pissed he can’t even think of something foolish to say for once in his life,” Tavish says.
I shake my head. “The whole thing was just… wrong. Every part of it went wrong. The third party threw us off our game. And… I think we were set up.”
“Obviously,” Everly says. “It was like we were dumb fucking mice weaving through a maze looking for our cheese, but instead of cheese, there was rat poison.”
“You two hurt?” I ask.
Tavish tugs at his cut shirt. “A foolish mistake on my part. I shoved someone back, and when I wasn’t looking, a woman came at me. I managed to get away but she cut just the edge of my shoulder. It’s not even bad enough for stitches.”
Everly sighs. “Then that guy had a gun on us. I swear he came out of fucking nowhere. He promised he wouldn’t shoot if we kept our weapons down. It was a risk, but he seemed calm, and until we had a better idea of what to do, we decided to follow his instructions. That’s when you strolled in.”
Cam is just frantically looking between us. “W-What is going on? Mom, what the hell… some guys just… they attacked us and then… why did they do that? Why did they take me?”
“Shhh,” she says, hugging him and holding his head against her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“And… why are Waylon’s parents here?” he asks.
I decide to take one for the team and explain it to him.
“Funny story, your mother was all like, ‘Woe is me, my child has been stolen,’ and we were all like, ‘We’ll save him!’ and then she was like, ‘You are the bravest men in the world,’ and I was like, ‘Thank you, but my husband is taken.’ And then here we are.
” There, that should be plenty to confuse him into not asking for more details.
Cam gapes at me.
“We’re private investigators,” Jackson says, which is a horrible summary of what I just said.
“W-Waylon told me that, but he said you like… caught cheating couples or something, and this was…” He stares at the gun I’m holding as I slowly slide it out of sight, as though moving it to a different location in the van might fix something. “Mom, what’s going on?”
Sophia is just patting his head with vigor. Maybe she’s hoping to cause some trauma to his head so he’ll forget everything that happened.
“Mom!”
“I’m right here,” she says.
“That’s not… What’s going on?”
“I don’t know why they took you. I’m just glad I got you back.”
“You have a gun on you. Do you even know how to shoot a gun? What… and who were those people? They kept calling you a different name, but I know they were talking about you because when I told them I didn’t know someone by that name, they told me it was you. They knew you. They…” He trails off.
“I love you, Cam,” she says.
“We could try replacing his memories with new ones. I bet if he met The Fence, he’d forget all about this,” I suggest.
“You’re the only one who forgets anything when it comes to The Fence,” Jackson says.
“Sophia, I understand you want to keep things… simple. But if he can’t prepare for what he might face out there, you likely only have two options: tell him the truth so that he’s ready if something like this happens again, or separate yourself from him. ”
“I’m not leaving him,” she snaps.
“They’d have taken Waylon too if he didn’t know what to do,” I say.
“FUCK,” she shouts, and I think she startles Cam with that one.
He clutches her shirt. “Mom, I’m scared.”
“I know, baby. So… okay. I’m going to tell you everything, but first, we need to tell the police that we found you. We’re going to make up a story and you need to do your very best to remember every second of it.”
“Why?” he asks.
“Because… because the people who took you… that was only a part of the family. We can’t let the rest find out that Teo took you or they might come after you again.
I have to protect you,” she says. “I used to work for that family. They were not good people. But I was young, younger than you, and I was on the streets. I just… I had nowhere to go and when they offered me a place to belong, I took it. I want to say they forced me or coerced me… but they really didn’t.
I just had nothing left and someone offered me a speck of hope.
You don’t remember most of it, since you were only in that life with me until you were five, but I knew I couldn’t let you grow up like that.
“I took you away. I ran, but that family doesn’t let anyone leave. I had to fake my death so I could protect you. I tried so hard to keep you out of it, but now they’ve found me. I don’t know if the main house knows I’m alive, but this one does… and if they tell them…”
“Like… what did you do for them?” Cam asks. “I’m so confused.”
Sophia closes her eyes. “Just… I’ll tell you later, okay? For now… I need you to know they’re not good people. I wasn’t a good person, either, but I’ve changed. I’m a better person now. And I don’t know if you can ever forgive me for causing you to end up in such a situation, but I’m truly sorry.”
He nods, though I think at this point, he really doesn’t understand what’s happened. And maybe he never will if she doesn’t open up to him, but that’s a decision she’s going to have to make.