22. Payton
TWENTY-TWO
PAYTON
Jace is gone when I wake the next morning, my limbs still achy and sore from the other night. I prop myself up, pulling the blanket to my chest while searching for any sign he’s still around, just not in the bedroom.
My search is interrupted by my phone ringing.
“Hello?”
A deep voice comes through the other end. “Miss Thorne?”
“Speaking.”
“Good, hello. This is Officer Bennett. Would you be able to come down to the station to provide a statement?”
My gaze flicks one more to the empty space beside me, my stomach dropping. Of course, Aaron went to his uncle about last night, who, unsurprisingly, took his side again. Which means, Jace is in trouble. Trouble I did my damnedest to leave him out of.
“Can I ask what this is about?”
“Did you receive threats from a Mr. Aaron Bennett?”
The notes. Jace asked to keep them.
“Uh, yeah.” I told you this already, and you didn’t listen.
“Then we’ll need your statement, if you’d please. Evidence was brought forward that matched Aaron’s handwriting. When called upon, Aaron disclosed his written and verbal threats toward you.”
“Oh, um. Wow. Okay, I’ll be right down.”
When I make it outside, Jace is pulling up in his truck. He backs in so the passenger side faces me, then lowers the window to talk.
“Figured you might need a drive.”
“What did you do?” Despite everything, the smile plastered on my face since Aaron’s uncle called hasn’t died.
“Protected you in the most legal way I could by ensuring the law was upheld by the people who should have helped you a while ago. Wasn’t that hard, really. A bit of shouting and thumping desks, and someone finally took me seriously. When they called in Aaron, bruises and all, he didn’t put up too much of a fight before admitting everything. I was getting kicked out at that point, but I overheard them mentioning charges like attempted sexual assault, uttering threats, physical assault, and stalking. If it goes through, it should put him away for a while.”
Aaron will be gone from my life. Gone gone. When I moved from Toronto to here, even before learning he followed me, I always knew pieces of him would linger. With him behind bars, he’ll be out of my life for good with no trace except some bad memories.
I practically climb over the console to maul Jace, kissing my thanks into him twenty times over.
Maybe it’s okay to let some people in.
My statement is taken with little fanfare and is followed by an apology.
Aaron’s parents are there, horrified when they learn what their son has done. The lawyer sitting with them is immediately dismissed when they choose not to fight the charges being pressed.
They trail me out of the station to where Jace is waiting beside his truck.
“I’m sorry,” his mother says. “You were always too nice to him, even back then, but I’m sorry for the man he’s become.” She glances at her husband, her brows pulled tight. He nods in response to whatever silent conversation they’re having before she reaches into her purse and pulls out a leather chequebook.
Flipping it open to the first blank cheque, she signs her name before handing it to me, along with the pen. “Please. Whatever he owes you, double it. Our apology for not only the spending, but everything else.”
Double? Double clears my debt and resets my life.
I stare at the line, mentally calculating the number. “This isn’t a bribe?” Aaron being out of my life is worth more than the debt. Debt I can and have been working off, but Aaron’s threats…not so much.
“Not at all,” his father rumbles. “The courts may charge our son with whatever they see fit. Hopefully, he’ll learn his lesson. No, this money is because you didn’t deserve any of this.”
With their reassurance, I scribble down the number before showing them, almost asking permission to take this kind of cash.
Mrs. Bennett rips the cheque from the folder and hands it to me, her thin lips pulled into a meager smile before they walk away.
Jace comes up behind me, pulling me into his side. He’s staring at the cheque with awe. “Damn.”
“Right? I’m free.”
“You’re free until tonight. Then, you’re all mine. Start running, little rabbit.”