AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ChapterEight
Damon stared at the gravestone in front of him, hardly visible in the moon’s light. It wasn’t his dad’s — he’d told the prison to throw away Cal’s ashes, and as far as he knew that was what they’d done. The grave in front of him was unmarked, for all those lost and never found. Even though his father was neither lost nor deserving, coming here gave him a place to vent when he needed to. Such as now.
“I don’t know where to begin. You’re long gone, yet you won’t leave me alone. It’s like you’re orchestrating this from the great beyond. Won’t let go, will you? Will you ever?”
He paced, acid churning in his gut.
“It isn’t bad enough that you killed Mom. That was more than enough to destroy me. Then you used me to get to Alex, who was getting too close to the truth. You know what? I hope it drives you crazy that Alex is more of a dad to me than you ever were. And that I married Ariana. Your plan backfired, and I found the love of my life. She makes my life worth living, like Mom did. Ari and I are happy together. You never could get in the middle of that. And you never will.”
Damon punched the air, not having anything else to hit. He imagined his dad’s mug. If only he’d have had the nerve to hit him back in real life. He’d been too scared as a teenager.
Things might’ve been different if Cal had gotten arrested when Damon was older. They could’ve faced each other as adults.
But now that would never happen. Damon had to face his demons on his own.
His demon was a dead man.
Haunting him in both his nightmares and waking hours.
He would never escape the beast.
Not that he needed to. He could win on his own.
Maybe. With people like Detective Kamada out to remind Damon that his father was a serial killer, his father would follow Damon around until his dying day.
And now there was so much at stake. Dead bodies in his yard, threatening his happy life with Ariana.
What were the chances?
Maybe Cal Jones really was working behind the scenes from the afterlife. It was too much to be coincidence.
And that was a problem. Something Damon needed to remedy.
But how?
He paced, cursing his father. As ridiculous as it would sound if he said it out loud, all of this had to be his fault. Cal was guilty of more murders than even the worst of the notorious serial killers.
Now death followed Damon.
That was the only way to explain the two bodies in his yard.
Damon couldn’t escape it.
But he could protect Ari. If he went somewhere else — at least until all of this blew over — he could keep her safe.
Yes. That was what he would do. The only question was, where to go? To Alex and Zoey’s? No. He’d only put them in danger. And they had the twins to think about.
Damon needed to go somewhere alone. His father’s ghost might haunt him, but he could only help them by putting distance between himself and them.
It wasn’t a permanent solution, but it would help for the time being. Let things blow over. And even if they didn’t, he wouldn’t be far. The detectives would never have to know he was gone. Either way, once the bodies were processed and he and Ari were proven innocent, he could go back home.
Then hopefully things could return to normal.
And if they didn’t?
He’d have to figure that out another day.
Now it was time to break the news to Ariana. At least she would have her friends for support while he was away.
Or would it be better to leave and then tell her over the phone, so she couldn’t try to talk him out of it? One pleading look from her, and he might abandon his plan.
