Jaden by Tijan

CHAPTER SIX

Corrigan was gone all day, and Neil and Beth had retired to bed after supper that night or dinner as Beth called it. She liked to sound more sophisticated than the rest of us. Because I could be sophisticated, too, I took a bunch of her wine outside. Bryce joined me on the patio with two large glasses, and without a word being spoken between the two of us, I filled them both to the top. Leaning back, we clicked our glasses together and sipped, still not talking.

I enjoyed this.

Having him here. Drinking wine with him. Feeling the old comfortable silence between us. It was like this with Corrigan too, but when they were together, even though they both were playing nice, an underlying tension was always there.

“What’s wrong?”

I glanced at him. “Huh?” God, he was beautiful in the moonlight. I’d forgotten how much at times.

“You sighed.”

“I did?”

He nodded, sipping his wine and narrowing his eyes briefly at me. “Are you worried about Corrigan or whoever’s framing you?”

Both. “Corrigan. Duh.” I grinned and lifted one shoulder in a shrug.

He continued to watch me, then the corner of his mouth curved up into a slight grin. “Liar.” He sounded sad.

I started to shrug, but no. I couldn’t even lie to myself. Instead, I reached for the wine glass again and drank the rest of the contents. “I don’t want to talk about the other stuff, not right now.”

He dipped his head forward. “You’re going to have to, you know?”

“I know.” My hand tightened around the stem of the glass. “Let’s get back to the city and go from there.”

“I talked to Denton today.”

“Yeah?”

He took another sip of his wine. “Yeah, whenever Corrigan gets back and does his thing, Denton’s ready to go. We can stay with him.”

“At his house?” My mouth was suddenly dry. The idea of staying at my old neighbor’s house, so close to my old home had my stomach churning. “Bryce,” I stopped. My hand went to the table, and my fingers curled around, holding onto it tightly. Marcus had been in that house. He stabbed Corrigan there; I closed my eyes as I remembered that night. Bryce turned the video off, and I raised my gun. I’d been ready. “Bryce, god.”

“Hey.” He leaned forward. One of his hands rested over mine. “Look at me.”

I did, but it didn’t help. Seeing the mirrored anguish and haunted expression in his eyes had my stomach churning at a faster rate.

He said, his hand tightening over mine, “It’s time we faced it and faced him. I know. Sheldon, I know.” The haunted look doubled, overtaking everything in his gaze. “Trust me. I remember that night too, but it happened and we did it together.”

I shook my head, pulling my hand away. “No, you didn’t. You—”

“You provoked him, but I told you, too. I turned the video off.”

“You didn’t pull the trigger,” I whispered, letting my other hand fall from the table and to my lap. My hands wrapped around each other. “I did. I killed him. You didn’t.”

“That’s bullshit. I’m a part of it. You weren’t going to do it. You only did because I told you. I gave you permission to do it.”

I shook my head. I was going to anyway. I went down there for that purpose, but saying those words aloud felt like I was confessing to the real murder I committed. I hadn’t killed Grace, but I had murdered someone else. “No, Bryce. All you did was turn off the monitor. That’s all. You weren’t in that room with us.” It would’ve been different if he had been. I knew that with certainty. Bryce would’ve tackled him, maybe punched him so he was unconscious. Marcus wouldn’t have been dead now, but I couldn’t do any of that. I had one weapon. It was the only way I could’ve fought back, and I chose to use it in a lethal way.

Marcus’ death was on my hands, not his.

“Fuck that. His blood is on my hands, too.”

I looked up, shocked. It was like he read my thoughts, but he hadn’t. His hand was clenched around his glass, and he was looking out into the backyard. His jaw clenched as he whispered again, “We’ve both been running from that. It’s time we stopped.” He swung those piercing eyes my way again. “Being away from you, watching you cling to Corrigan when we were in Spain, I know all of it was because of what we both did. You didn’t want to talk about Marcus, about how we’re both to blame for killing him, but it’s here now. You’re going to be on trial for a different murder. We can’t run anymore.”

I shook my head. “I’m not.” With those two words, my stomach stopped churning. All the emotions that were racing inside me calmed and settled to the bottom again. He was right. No more running. No more lying.

We shared a look.

It was time to deal with everything.

That was when the first explosion went off.

“What the—”

It was a loud boom, and within seconds, the ground shook. Bryce jumped out of his chair, but I grabbed hold of the table. I wasn’t going to fall over, but it was surprising. “Holy shit.”

Bryce held a hand out to me, not to help me up, just to check on me. “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

He headed farther off the patio and was gazing into the forest. “It came from out there.”

Was it . . . “Corrigan?”

He turned back to me and shook his head. “Who knows? If it was, he should be running here soon.”

The second explosion went off then, and this time the table started to slide over the floor. It didn’t go far, just a few inches, but I lurched forward anyway. Stopping it, I stood up from my chair and started for the door. No matter who it was, I wanted to grab our bags.

“Where are you going?”

I threw open the door. “I packed bags for us.”

“No, Sheldon.” Bryce raced for me and grabbed my arm. “Think about it. If this is anything serious, we need to get out of here.”

“Yes, but—”

Then all hell broke loose.

“SHELDON!”

It was my dad, and turning, I saw him race from the hallway, holding onto Beth’s hand. They were both in robes, but while Neil’s was tied with pajama pants sticking out underneath, Beth was trying to hold hers closed with her free hand. It wasn’t working. She had a silk nightgown on underneath, and she stumbled, crying out. Neil stopped, grabbed her arm, and hoisted her up in one movement. It happened so fast, if I hadn’t been watching, I wouldn’t have caught it. Her slipper fell off, and muttering a quick curse, Neil stooped down and swept it up, shoving it into his robe’s pocket. He was to the door by then.

As he shoved us outside, a lot of things happened all at once.

I took in his harried expression, Beth’s pale and trembling features, and then realized I could see my dad and his girlfriend so much clearer because there were bright lights coming from behind us.

“Sheldon.” Bryce moved close to me, holding my arm.

They were large flashlights, and there were more than a pair of them. Six flashlights were coming from the left, another four from the right, and I whirled back to my dad and saw there were another two coming from inside the house.

“What’s going on?” Beth clutched her robe shut, looking all around us.

Neil tucked her close. “It’s just the security teams. They’re sweeping the grounds.” He skimmed over me. “You look fine.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a question or accusation. I shrugged, but my insides were still feeling the surprise from those bombs or whatever they’d been. “I’ve been through worse.”

Bryce caught my gaze and shook his head, one side of his mouth lifting to show his amusement. He knew I was scared shitless, though, I was still holding out hope the explosions had been fireworks-gone-wrong sort of thing, and Corrigan would come running around the corner. I wouldn’t have cared if he had burned half his hair off, just so I knew everyone would be okay.

A third explosion went off then, and like the others, the ground shook. This one was closer and stronger. Beth cried out again, stumbling to the side. My dad yelled. He threw an arm out, reaching for balance while trying to hold her from falling to the ground. Bryce’s hand squeezed tightly on my arm, and I knew what he was going to do. We both leapt for them. Bryce reached and took hold of my dad while I caught Beth. Grabbing onto her arm, I clambered for a quick hold on her shoulder and somehow yanked her forward so she wasn’t falling.

She reached for me and clutched onto me, breathing deeply, for a moment. When the last of the tremors were over, she lifted her head. I saw the terror in her eyes, and she seemed scared to even breathe. She bit down on her lip, then turned back for my dad.

“Neil,” she whimpered.

He folded her back into his chest, thanking Bryce and me over her shoulder while patting the back of her head.

Bryce lifted his eyebrows at me. We were all shaken and he frowned. “What now?”

“Mr. Jeneve.” A security guard stepped through the door onto the patio. He was releasing his radio, and he pointed his flashlight out to the backyard. A ton of security guards were approaching us. They were no longer just flashlights, but we could see their figures now. “We have a car waiting. They’ll take you to a secure location.”

“Thank god,” Beth continued to whimper.

I frowned.

Neil ran a brisk hand over his head. “Do you know what caused those explosions?”

“We haven’t found any intruders, but we’ll do a more thorough search once you and your guests are off the perimeter and safely away.”

“Yeah. Okay.” My dad started forward. “Sheldon, Bryce.” He stopped and searched the patio again. “Is Corrigan not back yet? I thought a car had come through—”

“I’m here.” A voice spoke up from behind me and my heart leapt into my chest as I whirled around.

He flashed me a grin, raking a hand through his curls, as he straightened from the wall in the shadows. He materialized to the side of one of the security guards as if he’d been there the whole time. The guard closest to him jumped back and reached for his gun reflexively.

Corrigan held up a hand. “Sorry. No, no. Friend, not foe.” He held both of his hands up in surrender. “I’ll announce I’m here better next time. I swear.”

Relief swept over me. It was overwhelming, and for a moment, my knees buckled under the abruptness of it. Then I shot him a dark and pointed look.

He shrugged, his smirk deepening to show off a dimple in his one cheek.

Bryce muttered, “My god.”

Corrigan laughed, his eyebrows wagging up and down now.

Beth frowned, taking on the exchanges. Then she shook her head and followed behind my dad, who was being led by one of the guards. When the three of us didn’t follow right away, he barked over his shoulder, “Get going. Now’s not the time for jokes. Let’s go.”

Corrigan saluted him, but my dad had already turned back around.

The three of us formed a close huddle as we started to follow the guards.

Bryce whispered, leaning close, “That was close, Cor.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” He flashed an apologetic grin. “I, uh, think I got the wrongpresents. Too strong, you know.”

“Yeah,” I hissed. “You don’t say.”

“Sheldon! Boys!”

“Whatever. Let’s talk later. We have to make sure to go to Denton’s house now.” Bryce broke in front and hurried behind my father, who was climbing into the back of a car.

“You okay?” I brushed the back of Corrigan’s hand. I wanted to hug him. I would’ve, if we had time. Once we were in the car . . . no, not even then. It would be too suspicious.

“Yeah. I’m good.” Warmth filled his eyes as he studied me. “You okay?”

“I’m better.” Then to hell with it. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard. He was my best friend. I needed to know he was okay. “Thank you.”

He nodded and held back so I could get into the car first. There were guards all around us, shielding us. Before I ducked down and climbed to my seat, I turned and slid my arms around him. I didn’t give a damn. I needed to hug my friend.

After a second’s hesitation, Corrigan hugged me back.

“Any time, you two.”

I pulled back and got inside. Avoiding Bryce’s gaze, I ducked my head down and reached for Corrigan’s hand as he slid next to me. My dad’s impatience didn’t even piss me off. That’s how grateful I was to have them both there again.

My dad rapped on the window. “It’s time to go.”

Finally. We were going back to the city, back to find out who was trying to frame me.

One of the security guards had slid into the back with us. There were three rows of seats, and he had taken one of the first seats. His hand went to his radio, and he spoke into it, “All clear. Go ahead.”

The car started to roll forward.

The guard asked, “Mr. Jeneve, to the safe house?”

My dad opened his mouth to answer. Bryce leaned forward, cutting him off. “We can go to Denton Steele’s home.”

The guard looked to my father.

“What?”

Bryce said again, “Denton Steele. He still lives near your old home, but I’ve been in contact with him. He said we could go to his home at any moment, if we needed.”

My dad narrowed his eyes and tilted his head to the side.

Not good. I spoke up, “He has security, too, Dad.” Fuck. I’d called him that a second time. Cringing, gritting my teeth, I saw how his eyes widened and added, “My relationship with him isn’t that known. No one will look for us there.”

I was lying. People did know I was friendly with Denton, but I was hoping my dad didn’t know that fact. Corrigan and Bryce turned to me. They were thinking the same thing. People did know. I shook my head at them, the slightest of movements. I wanted it known. I wanted people to look for me there. No, I wanted Grace’s murderer to know exactly where I was going to be, then maybe they’d come to me.

Maybe I could find out who was trying to make my life hell and exact some of my own revenge.

“Denton Steele, huh?” My dad was mulling it over. He sighed, shaking his head. “We were good friends with his parents. It’ll be nice to catch up with him, see how they’re doing.”

“They divorced.”

My dad gave me a regretful look, pinching the top of his nose. “I’m aware, Sheldon, but I’m sure their son keeps in contact with his own parents.”

A retort was at the tip of my tongue. Corrigan squeezed my hand, and I knew he was telling me to shut up.Don’t rock the boat, Jeneve. Let us count this one a win.Hearing my own thoughts, I swallowed it and gave Neil a smile instead.

“You’re right.” I tried to deliver that with a cherry on top, all the while holding off from rolling my eyes at myself.Be fake.Be fake and let’s catch this fucker.I took a breath. That was more like it.

“Fine. Let’s head to the Steele household.”

The security guard nodded and reached for his radio again to relay his instructions.

Beth looked over herself and grimaced. “My. I’m going to meet a superstar like this. Neil, we’ll need to send for clothes.”

My dad lifted his arm and placed it around her shoulders. She snuggled into him as he murmured, rubbing a hand up and down her arm, “I’m sure that can be arranged. We’ll get everything sorted out.”

As those two got comfortable for the long drive to the city, I was anything but. The closer we got, the closer we were getting to Grace’s killer. Ignoring Bryce, ignoring Corrigan, and even ignoring that same-old tension that’s always there between the two, I needed to keep thinking. I would find this fucker, and I would make them pay.

The closer we got to the city, the more focused I became.