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Addie sucked in all the air she could and still felt as though she couldn’t get enough. “Oh my God, please tell me what’s going on.” Addie stood quickly. “Where are my children?” William pulled her back down to the couch and spoke slowly. “The boys are fine. They’re still at school, and there’s a team of my guys with them.” Addie exhaled and nodded. William continued. “When one of the guys went to pick up your car, what they found was pretty disturbing. We’ve notified the police, and they’re handling it now.”
Addie blinked back tears. “What did they find?”
William squeezed her hand and exhaled. “Max. He’s dead, Addison.”
“Max? My dog? I don’t understand. None of this is making any sense.”
William stared at the floor. “They found Max in your car. He was killed and placed there. It wasn’t pretty. The problem is the garage you parked in doesn’t have cameras and isn’t monitored. It’s possible that if you’d gone back to your car you could’ve been attacked. Obviously, this is the work of Hammons, and my guys are working with the police to prove it and have him arrested.”
“Why is this happening? What am I supposed to tell the boys? Addie sobbed.
“Is there any way that you and the boys can get away for a little while, Mrs. Greyer? Until we get this figured out and get Hammons back in jail where he belongs?” Carl interjected.
“I . . . I don’t know. I guess. I mean . . . I was going to leave them with my mother-in-law this weekend and go away with their dad. How long do we need to stay gone? They have school, and I have work.”
William choked. “You’re fucking joking, right?”
Addie wiped her eyes and glared at her shoes.
“This just gets better and better.” William shouted as he threw up his hands and stormed into the kitchen. “Can you believe this shit? She was going to really going to go away with him.”
Carl took William’s spot next to Addie on the sofa. “Mrs. Greyer, can you get away this week? I know it might be difficult, but it would really be for the best.”
“I don’t understand why he’s doing this. Why me?” Addi
e cried, searching Carl’s eyes.
“We’re going to get him, Mrs. Greyer. I promise you that.” Carl replied gently, handing her a tissue.
Addie stood and smoothed her skirt. “It’s time to go. I need to see my children.”
She left the apartment and then quickly skipped town, without saying goodbye. And while she never said it directly, William knew she blamed him for what had happened. Hell, he even blamed him, which made him all the more determined to fix the problem.
Penny Greyer was beginning to wonder why she had ever decided to help Scott Hammons in the first place. Sure, she despised Addison and wanted her out of the picture, but she was the mother of her grandchildren, and Penny worried that maybe Scott Hammons had misread her intentions. Not only that but Penny believed he was taking advantage of her. For starters, he hadn’t offered up one shred of evidence that Addie was up to no good. He said that he’d provide proof, but so far Penny had been the only one doing the providing.
Penny knew Addie was messing around with that Hartman guy again. Why else would he be providing her round-the-clock security? She just didn’t know how to get all of this through her son’s thick skull. She only wanted what was best for her child, which is all any mother wants, really. And unfortunately, yes, she had gone to greater lengths than most probably would have to get her point across, but what else was she to do. She’d always told Patrick he needed to marry his ex, and she’d been right. Penny didn’t understand what was so wrong with arranged marriages. She had it all planned out between him and Sophie, and she knew they cared for one another—until that damned Addison entered the picture, that is. No one understood why Penny disliked Addison so much, but what those people didn’t understand was having a dream for their child. Hell, Addison hadn’t only destroyed the dream that Penny had but she had cost Penny her best friend. When Patrick dumped Sophie and broke her heart, of course Penny’s best friend had sided with her daughter without so much as a second thought. So, yes, maybe her hatred of her daughter-in-law was a little extreme, but then again, when you’re right about someone or something, you just are. The way Penny saw it nothing was too extreme when it came to protecting your child and what you believe to be best for him.
Speaking of protecting your child, Penny had to figure out a way to get herself out of the situation she’d gotten into with Scott Hammons, before anyone found out she was involved. Hammons was proving more and more every day that he wasn’t stable. He’d even asked her personal questions about her grandchildren. He’d gone ballistic, demanding answers she wasn’t willing to give, and that was where Penny drew the line. She was beginning to worry that maybe, for once, she’d been wrong. And she wasn’t sure if it was that or Mr. Hammons’ unraveling mental state that scared her more.
Eleven
Scott didn’t really want to kill the damned doggie, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. The angels were getting angry with him, telling him he wasn’t moving fast enough. He hated it when the angels were mad at him. They made the voices worse. They made them louder. Oftentimes they were so loud he couldn’t hear anything else but them telling him he wasn’t good enough, he was isn’t smart enough, and that it was his fault he was alone and his fault he had nothing. It was only when he did something really smart, in this case killing the dog, they would smile upon him and quiet the voices. They were happy with him for now.
But he could tell you who wasn’t happy with him, and that was that dimwit, Penny Greyer. She was growing antsier by the day, more insistent that he show her some proof that her little whore of a daughter-in-law was doing something wrong. While Scott hadn’t been able to prove it, he was sure she was seeing Hartman again. He just hadn’t been able to get close enough yet, in part thanks to the increased security measures he noticed. But make no mistake he was watching and waiting, and if he could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, he was damned sure going to do it. In the meantime, Penny had better get ahold of herself. Apparently, she didn’t know whom she was messing with here. The angel’s anger he could take because he understood their love for carrying out God’s will. Penny Greyer, however, was another matter, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it was probably her fault the voices were getting louder.
Thankfully for him, but clearly not for his intended targets, it was looking as though he was going to officially get off of the electronic monitoring bracelet in the few next weeks. His attorneys were pushing to get his trial bumped up and get him cleared quickly. He wanted his name cleared, sure, but none of it mattered much to him, as he was smart enough to get around the system. And anyway, it was that piece of shit Hartman’s security team that was holding him back, not the fact that they were trying to track and trace him. The restraining order was a joke too; one hundred yards was all he had to work with. There was so much you could do from a just a hundred yards away. One as agile and brilliant as he was could get in and out without too much effort just as he had with the dog. If only it had been that little bitch who had gone back to her car instead. He so wanted to see the look on her face when she saw her precious pet splayed out like that. He wanted her to see all the blood, the carnage, and to know that he was coming for her next. It was all very simple, really. He just had to stay within the shadows, to watch and to wait. The angels assured him it would all play out in his favor. After all, it was God’s will he was doing.
The questions began as they packed the car and they hadn’t stopped since. Addie stared out the window and watched as the city gave way to country, taking her farther and farther away from where she really wanted to be. Feeling the car closing in around her, she rolled the window down and inhaled as much air as her lungs could possibly take until she felt as though she might drown. She held her breath and tried escape the boys’ rapid-fire questions. I thought you and Daddy were getting divorced? Does this mean you’re staying together? Why are we going to the lake? What about school? Where’s Max? Why isn’t he coming with us? It’s too cold to swim! What are we going to do there?
“ENOUGH with the questions, already!” Addie snapped. Patrick looked over at her and placed his hand on hers. Relax. Everything was fine, he’d said. But everything wasn’t fine. Addie pulled her hand away and leaned her head against the cool, smooth glass of the passenger window. It had only been a few hours, and she missed him desperately already. How could she get through the next few days, the next few weeks, or quite possibly the rest of her lifetime without seeing him? Without touching him? Addie closed her eyes and recalled the words she’d written, unable to get them out of her mind.
Dear William,
Patrick, the boys, and I have gone up to the lake house for a bit, until we figure everything out. I’m sure you already know much of this, but I wanted you to hear the words directly from me, for what it’s worth.
I realize that you and I left a lot of things unsettled, but I want you to know that I love you. I love you so much, William. And I’m so sorry that life for us has been this complicated. You’re right that there is an undeniable attraction between the two of us. When I’m with you, I’m able to feel things that I’m unable to say. You understand what it is I need, oftentimes, before even I myself know what those things are. Still, this has been an uphill battle all the way for you and me, mostly, I believe, in part due to the timing of it all. But it shouldn’t be like this. I know that you know this too.
I’m hoping that a little time and space will allow us both to see things a little more clearly. Sure, what we have has been difficult, but it’s also been more beautiful than I could ever imagine, and that’s what I’ll take away from it for now. If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s been that love isn’t always enough. Maybe there’s no happy ending for us, but the truth is, I realize now that’s okay. It doesn’t stop me from still wanting the all the beauty that I know life has in store for you. You deserve so much more than the lies about ourselves that we’ve been led to believe were true, lies about being unworthy and unlovable and unimportant. If you do nothing else for me, William, do this: Stop. Please, stop believing the lies. They’re not true, not one of them. You are capable of love, of loving, and of being loved. I know it’s easy to escape into the pain when the going gets tough, because that’s what you know. It’s all you’ve ever known. But don’t. You’re better than that. You deserve to be with someone who takes you as you are because you’re beautiful, smart, and generous. You’re everything good that there is in this life, William, you and all the parts of you. From now on, I pray that you’ll find and embrace the joy in the pain, in a different, healthier way and that even in the midst of the pain, you’ll know that you are worthy of more. If you won’t do it for yourself, then, please, do it for me.
