Chapter 32

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

MADDOX

“Why can’t you just wait?” I ask Hiro as I pull up to the airport.

“Honey, I’m going to be back by Friday. You’re so caught up in this case right now that you wouldn’t be able to leave even if you wanted to. And this way, I fly there with Shion and then Friday, I fly right back home, and we can hopefully have the weekend to ourselves.”

“I don’t want you alone,” I say, still anxious. It’s only been half a week since the incident with Monica and Marshall, and I can’t say that I’m back to being relaxed after everything—definitely not enough to feel comfortable letting him rush off to another country.

“There and back. One night at Shion’s. And then quick dinner with my family before being stuffed back on the plane,” he assures me.

“It’s okay, I’ll be there,” Shion says.

“That’s supposed to bring me comfort?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

“I nearly dislocated my bones trying to break through the door to get to you guys,” Shion says. “Nicolás called it ‘heroic.’”

Hiro grins because he’s Hiro and already over the trauma of all of that. “I love you so much. But I promised I’d help Shion. And maybe there’s not a damn thing I can do for him, but if there is, I’m going to do it.”

I get out of the car and meet him at the front where I grab him in a hug. “Please, please be careful. And, Shion… if you let him out of your sight…”

“I definitely won’t let my new brother-in-law out of my sight,” Shion says.

Hiro laughs at that. “You are ridiculous. Did Nicolás even give you his number?”

“He gave me his email and that’s just as good in my books.”

“Oh my god. Nicolás…” Hiro says as he shakes his head like he’s disappointed in his brother. “I mean… I guess it’s something.”

“I told him we could snail mail if the email got to be too much.”

“Don’t give him any more ideas,” Hiro tells him before squeezing me tightly. “I’ll be back so fast.”

“I hear ya,” I say. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

And with that, he’s off. I have half a mind to say fuck it and charge in after him, but he’s right. During the interview with Monica, she told us about the abuse she’d gone through. Marshall began restricting when she was allowed to leave and controlling her every action. He didn’t like her going to work because he swore her coworkers were hitting on her. She wasn’t allowed out with her friends because the friends were putting ideas in her head. She said he put the lock on the door as a threat and if he caught her doing something “wrong,” he’d lock her inside.

When asked about the blood in the closet, she admitted that it wasn’t his but hers after she hid in the closet one night he’d hurt her. Marshall decided they needed to move after the neighbor started getting nosy and speculating that there was a reason he’d blast music to hide the abuse.

After they moved to the new location, he nearly killed her one night, and in a desperate attempt to stay alive, she killed him. He’d had a hammer in one hand, using it to threaten her. She said she’d been so scared that when he’d accidentally dropped the hammer, she’d grabbed it and hit him with it. It had landed just right to kill him instantly.

The sad thing is if she’d gone to the police right then with all the evidence she had, I doubt she’d have served time. The way she described it and the proof she had made it clear that he would have killed her if she hadn’t done something. But instead, she dropped the body off a bridge with enough weights it hasn’t been found yet.

Then she thought she could help others escape from a life like hers when she started to feel his presence again. She described it like a weight crushing her and it made her feel toxic thoughts. The only time she’d feel relief is when she pushed those she was helping over the edge. She claims that his presence was what was urging her forward.

Monica insists she wasn’t doing it for him, but so they could have a chance at the freedom she longed for, though it’s hard to tell exactly why she thought this was the right step. What she didn’t understand was that on the internet, anyone could be anything. They could manipulate a story to make them out to be the victim, like Yumi’s former friend. She didn’t realize that she could be ruining lives instead of helping them.

Her depression got worse as Marshall’s ghost fixated on her, somehow able to manipulate her enough that she could always tell that he was there… maybe she’s a bit like Nicolás, or maybe his ghost was just strong enough to always be present to the point that she could feel him.

Monica said that she became attached to Charlotte, who’d suffered a case much like hers. She followed Charlotte to Japan with the idea that after Charlotte got rid of her husband, she’d swoop in at just the right moment to help her and they could rely on each other.

Instead, her idealistic plans were shattered when she stumbled upon Hiro and me at the subway station, where Marshall became that much stronger. When she realized that we’d caught on to what was happening, she started targeting me. She thought that if she could get me as an accomplice, I’d look the other way and if not, she could bury me with it. So she found my mother and sent her my way.

Now, finally understanding what she’d done, Monica has handed over the names of all the people she’d “helped” and everyone she’d been in contact with.

It’ll take a while to go through them, but from Hiro’s description of the ghosts, we know at least twenty died. There’s no way she won’t be held accountable for their deaths as well.

I head back to work and end up working until seven when I finally get home. Just as I’m pulling in the driveway, a car pulls in behind mine, and I realize it’s Patricia’s.

“Hey,” I say, a little surprised she’s here since she knows Hiro is making a quick trip to Japan to help Shion out.

“Hey, I brought some dinner over.”

“Hiro’s in Japan.”

“I know. I just knew you were busy with the case, and with Hiro gone you probably wouldn’t have eaten a proper meal.”

“Probably not,” I admit as she weighs me down with some containers before grabbing a pot and heading into the house. She sticks the pot of chili on the stove to warm it up as I hover around her, not sure what she needs. I honestly feel a bit awkward without Hiro here, like I don’t know what to do with her.

“Go get a shower or whatever while this warms up. We’ll watch TV or something. I mean… no sense sitting at the table like civilized adults, right?”

“Sure,” I agree as I go get a shower and wonder if Hiro put her up to this. Bandit watches me through the shower curtain, smacking at it every time the water hits it. And when I get out and dressed, Patricia appears to be finishing up. She hands me a bowl, and I see that she already has crackers and milk set up on the coffee table.

“I threatened her not to touch anything,” she says as she eyes Stella who is very interested in the new items that are spread out on the coffee table.

“She seems to have listened to you. She sure wouldn’t have listened to me,” I comment as I sit down on the couch next to Patricia.

We eat and watch TV, and I find that it’s not as awkward as I assumed it’d be since neither of us are really talking. Instead… it feels kind of nice.

“This was delicious,” I say as I set the bowl down.

“Thank you,” she responds as she turns to me. “You’re a good kid. And Hiro is damn lucky to have you.”

“I dunno… I think I’m the lucky one,” I say. “And not just Hiro. I always… wondered what it’d be like to sit down and eat with a family… have a meal where not everyone was screaming at each other, hating each other… Hiro’s very lucky to have you.”

“You know you have me too, right?” she asks. “Anytime you need a mom to talk to, you know how to get ahold of me.”

“I…” I what? I guess… I don’t know what to do with that.

“Do you want a hug?”

“I don’t know,” I say.

“Well, I want a hug,” she states as she reaches over and wraps her arms around me. “You are such a good kid that I’m damn lucky to call you my son-in-law. I dealt with three lost boys who didn’t know how to open up. And don’t you think for a second that Hiro wasn’t like that too. He’d built up his walls against loving others. Nicolás was convinced he wasn’t worth loving. Hell, he’s still so damn closed off to anyone that’s not me or Hiro. Sean was so damn defiant and stubborn because he’d raised himself. Having one more son is definitely not too much, you hear me?”

I nod as I try to swallow the lump in my throat. “I just… don’t fucking understand why she hated me so much.”

“I don’t think she hated you… I think there was something wrong with the way she knew how to love you. Hiro said she’s getting help now… and maybe someday that help will wake her up or maybe it’ll never do anything. And it’s your choice whether you ever want to forgive her or speak to her again. But you have me and Hiro and your brother and Nicolás who will always be there for you. You’re our family, Maddox. And I’m thrilled to have you for a son.”

“Yeah…” The lump won’t go away as I quickly blink.

“You can cry.”

“I’m not going to cry,” I say stubbornly.

“Tough men cry.”

“I’m not tough.”

Patricia laughs as she gives me a squeeze. “What do you want to watch? Or do you want to do something else? Let’s go to a movie.”

“Right now?” I ask.

“Yeah. I used to spontaneously take the boys to a movie, and they loved it. Come on, let’s go.”

She grabs my wrist and pulls me toward the door. And even though I’m exhausted after the long day, I find myself feeling lighter than I have in a while because it feels like everything is sliding into place. I have the most caring and wonderful man by my side, and I have a family to call my own.