Page 282 of Secrets Hidden In The Glass

The tears were back—her situation currently hopeless. “All this time you’ve known. He trusted you. Nate. I trusted you.”

Matthew sighed. “And you’ll never know how much I’ve regretted these unfortunate circumstances. I tried to help your mother, but by the time I arrived at the cottage it was too late. So many factors came into play—so much was at stake. The entire situation snowballed out of control so quickly.”

Why did she believe him? Why did she trust the words he was saying even as she continued backing away from him? “You picked me up. You’re the shadow man.”

He nodded. “I took you away—hid you in my car and got you off the island. I drove until I found someplace safe—saw the waitress in the window and figured she would help you.”

“You left me alone—to wonder.”

“I left you to live your life—the best I could do at the time.” He advanced on her, closing the distance between them, grabbing hold of the sleeve of his coat. “Let’s get you home to Nate. Let me help you get back where you belong.”

Taking a chance—the only option she really had—she let him take some of her weight as her knee throbbed and ached. “Molly’s hurt.”

He nodded. “I know. But I knew she was safer there than you were out here.”

A dog barked somewhere in the distance, and Callie’s tears started falling again. “Nate.”

Matthew gave her a gentle squeeze. “He’s coming for you.”

She squinted, searching for Winston in the increasing darkness, warring between waves of terror and relief, knowing that Thomas was still out there and unhinged, ready and willing to shoot.

“You’re going to be—”

“Step back from her, Matthew,” Thomas said, pointing the gun at them as he emerged through the trees.

Matthew tightened his grip around Callie, turning her slightly and shielding her. “You know I can’t do that.”

Thomas laughed as he shook his head. “Sympathetic fool. Your bleeding heart’s always been a problem.”

“This isn’t the way, Thomas. This isn’t how we’re going to solve our issues.”

“This is the only way.” He stepped closer. “She ruined everything—coming to our island and stirring up the past.”

Matthew eased them farther away. “She was a child—innocent. This is no more her fault now than it was then.”

Thomas shook his head, advancing again. “This is our town. Our name is important. Who we are means something. It still can. Hundreds of years of prominence—of good standing. We’re figureheads in this community. In this state. I can’t let anyone ruin that. Not even you, Matthew. We need to get her to the boat—out to sea.”

Fear and grief nearly broke Callie as she stared into Thomas’s eyes, listening to the cold, harsh waves of the Atlantic crashing far in the distance. “You took her out there. You left her alone in the water.”

“I did what had to be done—cleaning up everyone’s messes.”

“We’re not going to worry about that now,” Matthew said, distancing himself from Callie and inching his way closer to his brother. “Thomas, you’re going to put down the gun and we’re going to let Callie go. Callie, I want you to move on. Start back toward the house.”

She hesitated. “I can’t—what about you?”

“Thomas and I are going to be along. He’s going to hand me his gun—”

“Drop your weapon, Thomas,” Nate said, moving Thomas’s way from the left with his gun drawn and index finger on the trigger.

Callie fought not to scream her dread as Thomas pivoted and pointed his gun at Nate. She wanted to run to him and tell him to go, but it was too late. He’d already put himself in harm’s way.

“Put it down, Thomas,” Nate demanded again, his voice flat, his eyes cool and deadly. “Matthew, get Callie out of here. Get her back to the house. Brad’s there with Molly. Shawn brought Winston back. They’re waiting there too.”

“That’s not going to happen.” Thomas raised the gun higher. “No one’s going anywhere.”

“You stop pointing that pistol at my son, Thomas,” Henry said, coming out of the trees several feet to the side of Nate, holding a weapon of his own. “I hope you’re not going to make me fire—make me have to choose between my oldest friend and my boy. Because we both know who I’m going to pick. And we both know I’m not going to miss when I pull the trigger and drop you.”

Thomas lowered the gun slightly as his breathing grew more ragged. “I tried to protect him, Henry. I tried protecting you, Nathan—doing things differently. I tried every way I knew how, but you wouldn’t stop. You wouldn’t let things go until they just kept getting worse and worse—drastic measures. Harming friends and neighbors. People I’ve known most of my life. Making an old dog suffer until Bob did what I needed him to do.”