Chapter 75 – Mitchell
MITCHELL
“Don’t even think about it,” Marissa warns Jace when he moves to grab the doorhandle the second I put the car in park.
Marissa climbs out of the car, walking around the back and I look at Charlie who is following her in the rearview, his own hand gripping the door handle with a white-knuckle grip.
“You don’t have to do this,” Jace mumbles but she doesn’t respond to him, just leans over his lap and unbuckles his seatbelt. “Bonnie, I can do-”
“Please.” They both stop, staring at one another as they once again enter a battle of wills that Jace will no doubt give into. “Let me do this,” she whispers and as predicted, Jace lets out a long-suffering sigh before nodding.
It’s been like this since we left the hospital with doctor’s orders that Jace is to rest. To keep his arm immobilised in the sling to allow the torn rotator cuff to heal. No reaching, lifting or rotating his arm at all, and to limit the same with the other arm. Those were the docto's instructions.
Something Rissa has taken quite literally. Every time he’s attempted to lift an arm, whether it’s the one in the sling or not, she’s there to take over and as much as Charlie acts amused by it, the only reason it’s not him is because she beats him to it.
If I’m being honest with myself, I’m not much better. I’m a hair's breath away from locking all three of us and Charlotte in the house where I can know without a doubt they are safe and will remain that way.
Instead, I take a deep breath and listen to Marissa lecture Jace about letting her help him out of the car.
If there’s one thing Charlotte dislikes, it’s how much her mother will hover whenever she’s sick or injured.
Last year when we were teaching Charlotte to ride a bike, she stacked it when she decided to try while we weren’t watching. She sprained her wrist.
Rissa was hysterical and fussed over her for weeks, long after her wrist healed. If she so much as picked up the tv remove, or even a fork her mother was there to take over.
All over a sprained wrist.
Jace is fucked. He has no hope.
Marissa puts an arm behind Jace’s back and helps him out of the car. When he straightens, he lets out a quiet hiss that has Charlie leaping out to go and help them, only I’m closer so beat him to it.
Suddenly, the garage door flies open, slamming against the wall and echoing through the garage causing everyone to flinch and Jace to wince.
“Mummy!” Charlotte squeals, running straight for us. Thinking quickly, I take Jace’s full weight and step away from Marissa just in time as Charlotte launches herself at her mother.
Rissa stumbles and kneels down, wrapping her arms tightly around her daughter and the two of them start crying. “I missed you so much,” Charlotte whispers, closing her eyes and squeezing tighter.
This is the longest either of us have been away from her since she was born. We’ve called every night we’ve been away, but it pales in comparison to being here.
When they part, Charlotte looks around the room until she spots Jace. Her eyes widen and she moves but Charlie moves quicker, scooping her up and spinning her around before settling her on his hip. “Careful, munchkin.”
She gasps out, a hand covering her mouth and looks at Jace with guilt in her eyes. “I’m so sorry Jace! I forgot. I was just excited to see you.”
Jace gives her a soft smile and slowly makes his way over to them. “Hey, it’s alright. I’m okay, bug. I’m just a little sore,” he reassures her.
I frown at the small wince he tries to hide as he wraps an arm around the two of them, but don’t call them out on it. Instead, I reach a hand out to Marissa and the two of us join them.
We stay like that, wrapped up in each other until an excited yip comes from outside the garage followed by multiple voices telling the dog to shh. I smile; hearing Eric complain about us having enough time to ourselves.
“I think there’s some eager people outside who are waiting to meet you and see you again,” I tell Marissa as I pull back. “And to see for themselves that the two of you are okay…We should probably go say hi.”
Jace lets out a groan as he lays back on the couch, Bonnie fluffing the pillow behind his head and Charlie holding the blanket he pulled from the back of the couch, ready to throw it over him.
Before he gets the chance though, Charlotte climbs up on the couch beside him and carefully lies down. Jace slowly lifts his arm so she can lie down properly. He winces again despite how gently she lowers her head, but he simply lowers his arm back down.
Marissa and Charlie both make a move to pull her away, but Jace gives a small nod, letting me know he’s okay, I reach out and gently stop them.
Charlotte rests her hand over his heart, and I share a look with Marissa. It’s something she does whenever Charlotte is sick or injured, lies down next to her and places her hand over her heart, reassuring herself that her daughter is okay. That she’s breathing.
Charlotte had asked me about it one night and I didn’t really know how to answer that question to a five-and-a-half-year-old.
It’s not like I could just say some people have trauma and anxiety and cling to the edges of a panic attack, trying not to let it overwhelm them when the people they love are sick or hurt.
For Marissa that manifests in sometimes sleeping on her daughter’s floor, listening to the sound of Charlotte breathing or placing a hand on her chest to feel her it rise and fall. For Charlie it was the need to keep his fingers placed over Jace’s throat, feeling his pulse beating beneath them.
Honestly, I fumbled my way through it. I didn’t think she even understood what I was trying to say, hell I barely understood it.
But by the way she furrows her brows in concentration before relaxing when Jace takes a deep breath, the tension bleeding out of her, I’m pretty sure she did, or at least she does now.
Charlie swallows, his Adam’s apple visibly moving up and down at the sight, before he shakes himself out of it and places the blanket over the two of them. Jace falls asleep almost instantly and Charlotte quickly follows, the two of them sleeping soundly.
I pull out my phone and take a photo before we quietly leave the loungeroom and rejoin the others. I go to put my phone away but stop when I see a new message come through just as Charlie’s dads start placing coffees down in front of everyone.
brAYDEN
Arrived safe. Thank you.
I turn the screen off and shove the phone back in my pocket, relieved that they made it to the address I gave them. To their new life.
Thanks to Johnathan, there isn’t anything that ties Brayden, Sammy or Juniper to him. And I had a team go over every inch of his house before we spoke to the police, erasing any evidence they were ever there.
The police won’t find the men Johnathan used to do his bidding. They’ll assume he either killed them, or they ran, never to be found.
They’re finally free to live their lives like they should have been all along. Set up in a new town with everything they need to get started.
A hand lands on my shoulder, and I look up to see Marissa – or, I guess I should start getting used to referring to her as Bonnie now.
Her eyes go to Charlotte and Jace on the couch, then to Charlie, before returning to mine and when they do, I see the permission I’ve been waiting for since we left the hospital.
She made me promise to wait until everything was done with the police, not wanting to risk me getting caught even though that would never happen.
Adrenaline sparks in my body as she nods, and I get to my feet. Charlie steps up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and she leans back into him while tangling her fingers through mine.
I press a kiss to her forehead then step back and make my way upstairs to find the person who told Johnathan where she was. Who told him to make sure she was never seen again and make sure she never has to worry about them trying it every again.