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As Jack details their father’s sins, our worst fears are all confirmed. As he continues, the world around us fades away. My grip on Andrea never lets up, and her grip on Addy only intensifies. I never knew I could hate someone I’ve never met as much as I hate Malcom Shaw.
Detail after detail only solidifies that hate until it’s burning in my veins. A living thing slithering its way around my heart. I ache for the two women sitting beside me.
No one should have to hear these things about their father. They shouldn’t have to live with the fact he tried to have both of them killed.
He sent the hitman after Andrea. Not Christopher. Jack pauses. “That’s why Christopher looked so confused when I interviewed him. He didn’t know what the fuck I was talking about!”
Jack slams his closed fist down on the car door. It’s obvious he’s barely hanging on. If Malcom were in front of him right now, I would bet on my life Jack wouldn’t let him walk away alive. To be honest, I don’t think I would, either.
Andrea has been eerily quiet. I think shock has set in. Hearing everything Andrew has uncovered is utterly heartbreaking, and he’s carried this burden alone. He tried to save everyone around him… alone. It isn’t fair. None of it.
Malcom never paid Addy’s ransom on purpose. On fucking purpose. The longer Jack continues, the more disgusted I become. I can’t wrap my mind around how a father could do this. There are no words. No way to describe the devastated energy in the car. Everyone is numb by the time Nathan pulls the car into the airport parking lot.
Andrea clears her throat. “I will take him down if it’s the last thing I do. For Andrew, for all of us.”
Her vow is one we all share. A pact is made in that car. One that says we have each other’s back no matter what, no matter the cost. Everyone’s expressions are a mix of fury and determination, but all I see is my family. A family I’m willing to go to hell and back for.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Charlie
The two-hour and thirty-minute flight from Denver to Sacramento was the longest flight of my life. It felt like I was crawling out of my skin the closer we got to California. Not knowing if he’s alive or not is eating me up, and I’m not the only one.
We’ve barely spoken a word to each other because everyone is too in shock to really say much. Andrea gripped Jack’s hand the entire flight, and Addy laid her head on Nathan’s shoulder for comfort. I don’t have my person with me. All I have to accompany me is an ache in my heart because I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again. I can’t think like that, though.
He’s alive. He has to be.
We disembark from the airplane and race towards the rental car booth. It takes us another twenty minutes to get the car and get on the road, but we race to the hospital as fast as we can. The fear and anxiety are eating us all alive. We can’t reach him soon enough.
All of us race inside, and Jack takes the lead the moment we arrive at reception. “We’re looking for Andrew Shaw. We think he may be one of the unidentified males from the car accident early this morning.”
I shift from foot to foot, nervously ringing my hands together as we wait for her to answer.
“Are one of you next of kin?” the lady at the desk asks.
Andrea steps forward. “I’m his sister and so is she.” She gestures towards Addy, all the color in her face has drained, leaving her a ghostly white.
I’m with you, sister. I’m with you.
The nice older lady types away on the computer, her eyebrows furrowing as she continues to type.
“Oh, it looks like next of kin has already identified him. Yes, I can confirm he’s here.”
My eyes widen as I gasp. I have to lock my knees to keep from collapsing with relief. Addy lets out a sob as Andrea places her hands nervously on the desk, her fingers splayed wide as if they’ll support all her weight and the heavy worry of the next words out of her mouth.
“Who identified him?” Her voice is firm. There’s an obvious bite in it, and while I’m surprised to hear it at first, I welcome it.
Because right then I realize Andrew’s only other next of kin are his parents. That means Malcom likely was or is here. The room spins, and the need to see Andrew becomes so overwhelming that my feet move before I even realize what I’m doing. I blindly run through the double doors as fast as I can. My breath comes out in short, heavy pants.
“Charlie! Charlie!” someone calls from behind me, but I don’t slow down.
Where the fuck is he?
The panic that Malcom might be in there with him right now has the rational part of my brain flying out the damn window. I didn’t stay long enough to hear the room number, but I can’t make myself stop and go back.
I look around in a haze. All the halls look exactly the same. He has to be in ICU, right? I make myself stop so I can find a sign to point me in the right direction.
“Jesus, Charlie!” Nathan says in a huff when he finally catches up to me. He gently grabs my arms and leads me to the elevator, punching the little light to go up. “He’s on the second floor, room 210.”
