Mason’s low tone steals back my attention. “He nearly got away. But officers caught up to him just outside the park.”
“Oh, thank God.” I sag back against the bed, the tension in my muscles releasing.
“It’s okay, babe. They got him.” Oliver rubs my hand reassuringly.
“I don’t understand. He’s supposed to be in prison,” Ali states, directing her comment at Mason.
Mason flicks a quick look my way before turning back to Ali. “Jeremy Stiles was released from Attica Correctional facility seven months ago.”
“But we were at his sentencing. We heard the judge. He was supposed to serve like a billion more years,” Ali chimes in, raising her voice.
Mason shakes his head. “Apparently, there was an appeal not long ago. Guy had good behavior on the inside, went in his favor. He got early parole.”
I tilt my head to the side, my mind wandering. Could it be? Could he have been the one all this time? Goddammit, I didn’t fucking call those lawyers back. I’d lost track of time and as the days passed, so did the memory of that call ever happening. Shit. I pinch my lips together. How would I ever tell Mason? How could he ever forgive me for this? I scrunch my face up, pulling my lips in tight before releasing again to face the music. I had to tell him.
I sigh heavily and drop my shoulders. “It’s probably who’s been watching me for months. I never thought about it until now, obviously. But it makes sense.” I turn to Olly. “Why didn’t we know he was getting out? How did we miss this?”
Olly lifts his hands in a surrendering way. “I don’t know. We’d been caught up with other shit.”
“Guys, cops are just outside,” Ali comments as she peers through the room window.
Mase picks up my hand. “They’re gonna want to come in here and ask questions. I don’t want to leave you, but it’s up to you if you want me in here or not.”
I mumble, “Stay, please.”
I can already feel my heart splintering from what will follow.
“Ali, Oliver, you mind taking my girl out with you guys for a minute?”
Ali brightens up almost instantly, moving to Charlotte’s side and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “Hey, Char, you like chocolate? ‘Cause I saw a vending machine near the nurses’ desk if you want to go get some.”
Charlotte nods. “Yeah, okay.” She hugs her father goodbye then moves over to me. Leaning in, she kisses me on the forehead. “I’m so glad you’re gonna be okay, Lindsey.” She moves back and looks at the ground. “You scared me. I don’t want to lose you.” Her brittle voice, brings an emotion to the surface I’m not used to feeling.
Love.
Not an undying love for the man of my dreams. No, this is a different kind of love. The love you’d jump in front of a bullet for. The kind only a child can draw out. The protective instinct that allows for no thinking because it isn’t necessary, not when it comes to the love one has for their child. Blood doesn’t tie us together, love does.
“It’s okay, sweets. I’m not going anywhere,” I reassure her with a small smile.
A quick knock sounds at the door and our heads all turn in that direction.
Two middle-aged male police offers in standard uniform stand in the doorway. “Miss Jenkins, we need a moment of your time if you’re feeling up to it.”
The nurse pops in. “Just let me check her out first and then she’s all yours.” She smiles, moving to my side with a blood pressure monitor in hand. Ali and Oliver slip out of the room with Charlotte and within a minute, the nurse is finished.
“You’re just fine at the moment, but if you need anything, just buzz,” she says, pointing to the assistance buzzer on the wall behind my bed.
“Thank you,” I reply.
“Cole, you don’t need to be here for this,” the older police officer states, shifting on his feet awkwardly. They obviously know each other.
Mason stands tall, widening his stance and crossing his arms across his chest. “Not going anywhere, so you can either start now or come back later. I’ll still be here.”
The same officer looks my way. “Miss Jenkins, this okay with you? We can ask him to leave.”
“No, he should hear this. He deserves to know why I nearly got his daughter killed,” I respond, my voice thick with emotion. I look toward Mason. “You’ll never understand how sorry I am. I should have told you about Jeremy earlier. ”
He grimaces and glances around before turning back to me, shaking his head. Eyes full of hurt. “Lindsey.”
I ignore his question because the silent police officer now decides to speak. “How are you feeling?”
“Sore,” I reply bluntly.
Mason puts out a hand as if I’ve just stated the most obvious answer. “She was shot, Officer. I’d say it’s safe to say she’s pretty fucking sore. Can we get this over with please? She needs rest.”
“No need to be an ass, Cole, just doing our jobs,” he mumbles low.
“Miss Jenkins, can you run us through what happened at the park today? We just need your version of the events leading up to the shooting.”
As I retell everything I remember, I stare at Mason while guilt smothers me.
“Okay, that’s good, thanks. Now we do have a few more questions for you but if you’re not up to it, those can wait. They’re in regards to your previous relationship with Jeremy Stiles.”
His name causes my entire being to cringe.
“The man was my stepfather. There isn’t anything I can tell you that isn’t already on file. But ask away. I just want this over and done with. I’m tired.” I shift slightly in the bed.
“Lindsey, you don’t have to,” Mason interjects.
“No, it’s okay.”
I can’t look him in the eye as I speak. I’ll crumble into a mess I don’t want him to witness.
The older of the two cops coughs awkwardly and begins the questioning “So we read through the Stiles case file. You testified in court against him some time ago, when you were nineteen, is that correct?”
“Yes. My sister and I both did, and a bunch of other people. I think there were about seven of us in total. I can’t really remember off the top of my head.”
He nods, his face void of any emotion. “Right. Now did you know about Mr. Stiles’ release from prison?”
I narrow my eyes. “No, or I would have done everything I could to get him behind bars again.”
“Lindsey,” Mason cuts in with a look that says shut your mouth.
“Miss Jenkins, why do you believe the man came after you in the park today?” the other officer pipes up.
“He ruined my life, Officer, and in turn, I ruined his. That man left us with absolutely nothing. He stole all of our money, every cent the government had paid my mom after my dad’s death. He broke my family. Everything was his fault. Had he not come into our lives, my mother may not have dug herself into an early grave. My sister may not have ended up a junkie at the age of seventeen and so screwed up she wouldn’t know a healthy relationship if it hit her in the goddamn face.” My heart pounds heavily in my chest.
“It’s because of him we had to turn to the Marino family and get caught up in their lifestyle. I was barely nineteen years old. Ali was only twelve. We were out of options. Oliver and I, we—” I pause, stopping myself from giving away everything they need to throw Olly and me in prison. I’ll give them just enough. “We found information on Jeremy and what I provided the police with all those years ago is the reason he’s spent the past ten years rotting in a cell. So I’d say Jeremy wanted payback.”
***
The silence in the room is unnerving with the two officers now gone. Here I lay stuck in a bed, as Mason sits in a chair beside me. His head is buried in his hands, surely processing everything he now knows to be true. But every so often, he gives me this look. He’s peering straight through me. Drinking me in as though I’m a complete stranger. Like he’s seeing me for the first time, and not in a good way. Maybe he’s recognizing Ghost. Is it possible? I should have told him sooner about my involvement with Jeremy. Had I opened up to him about my past maybe this could have been avoided. I thought I trusted him, I honestly did. But my battered heart didn’t agree because I still never told him everything. My heart still didn’t believe he could handle the woman behind the mask.