Chapter 11

ELEVEN

Shannon

I stared at the black screen and willed the video to turn on. Matthew assured Jack the call would take place, but it was supposed to start one minute ago and the waiting was killing me. It was probably a good thing Matthew only gave us a thirty-minute warning the call would take place otherwise I would've spent more time pacing the room. It was bad enough it only took me two minutes to get dressed. That gave me twenty-eight other minutes to find a way to occupy my time.

I didn't do a very good job of it.

"What is taking so long?" I huffed the words out and dropped my chin into my hands. Patience wasn't exactly one of my virtues. I might've had a free spirit when it came to what I wanted to do in life, but when my mind was made up, I wanted things immediately.

"I'm sure they’ll be on any second now."

Exactly one second later the screen flickered to life and sitting right there on the other side was Samuel, my father's best friend and the one man who worked for the shop the longest. At least half a dozen times my father had offered for Samuel to be part owner but every time he turned him down saying he didn't want that kind of responsibility in his life. I understood the sentiment.

"Oh, thank God."

"Shannon, girl. It's good to see your face."

I would always be a little girl in Samuel's eyes. He was there the day I was born and for every milestone since. He was practically a second father to me.

"I was worried about you. They told me what happened to Dad's shop. I'm so sorry."

Samuel snorted. "What the hell do you have to be sorry for? You didn't burn the damn thing down."

"Because I'm the one who allowed Davis into my life."

It was deja vu all over again. We’d had a similar argument when I explained to Samuel why I was closing the shop for the time being. I had a feeling he was going to say the same thing to me now that he did then.

"You can't go blaming yourself for other people's actions."

Yup, they were the exact same words. They didn't help this time though either. I wasn't sure I would ever not feel guilty about what was happening.

"I know you say that but think of all the people out of work now. You included."

Samuel waved me off. "I'm not sure if you realized it yet, girl, but I'm not as young as I used to be. I should've retired long before now. I was hanging in there for your dad and then you. This whole mess was a blessing in disguise for me. Now I can retire without feeling guilty."

A lone tear escaped my pool-filled eyes and trailed down my cheek. I knew Samuel was right. He always joked about retirement. I just never thought it would happen; he loved what he did for a living.

"And everyone else?"

"You took care of them. Gave them three months' wages to make sure they had time to find something new if they wanted and most will. You weren't a stingy boss. Just like your father wasn't. You have nothing to feel guilty about."

I felt Jack's stare on the side of my face. I refused to look at him. Not yet. Too many emotions were swirling through me, and I wasn't ready for him to see that much.

"Will you pass along that I won't be rebuilding? It wouldn't be worth it since my heart's no longer in it. I loved the shop, but running it was never what I wanted."

Samuel's soft expression said it all. He always knew me better than even my father did. I think it was because he wasn't blinded by expectations. I loved my father dearly but all he saw was my future involving the shop in some way. I hadn't done my best to deter that notion, but Samuel saw the truth.

"I know it wasn't, girl, and Steven's been saving up to buy it from you. Another six months and he would've been ready."

My decision was immediate, but I needed to know something first. "Is any part of the shop salvageable?"

"Some of it, yeah," Samuel answered quickly but I could tell it wasn't the whole truth.

"When the fire marshal deems it safe to walk through, I want Steven to take a look. If he's still interested, I’ll sign the place over to him. I'll even use the insurance money to help him get a jump start."

Samuel tsked. "Now, girl, you know as well as I do that boy isn't looking for a handout. That's why he waited to talk to you about it. He wanted to make sure he had everything in place first."

Steven was only a year younger than me and built like a linebacker. The fact that Samuel called him a boy was hilarious. There was nothing boyish about Steven. He was all man and several times my father had hinted at a relationship. While yes, Steven was attractive, he did nothing for me. Unlike the man currently standing off to my side who made my stomach flutter by just being within my line of sight.

"Just have him walk through the place and I'll handle the rest. It won't be easy, but I would find a way to convince Steven. My father's legacy deserved to be passed down to someone who would take care of it. My father knew as well as I did that person should be Steven. If my father had lived another year or two, he would’ve offered it to him same as I’m going to.”

"You'll have your work cut out for you, girl." Samuel looked off to the side at what I assumed was Matthew. "Now, care to tell me why this young buck here thinks I need someone to watch over me."

I should've known Samuel wouldn't make this easy on me. The man was as stubborn as my father.

"His team is just there to make sure Davis doesn't take his anger out on anyone I care about."

"I can protect myself. Been doing it long before you were born, girl."

I took a deep breath and reminded myself this wasn't just about pride. No person wanted to admit they needed help. Hell, I hadn't wanted to admit it and I wasn't a stubborn old man.

"I know that, but something tells me Davis isn't going to stop. Burning down Dad's shop was supposed to be a way to flush me out. By staying away I'm pissing him off even more. I'm worried he’s going to retaliate by coming after someone I care about. Dad is dead. That just leaves those of you from the shop. I can't tell you how many times I told Davis you all were my family. He might try to use that against me."

I could kick myself for giving him that leverage. It wasn’t like I had known at the time he would turn out to be a psycho, but still. I gave Davis all the ammunition he needed to hurt me. Now I was stuck sitting on the sidelines and watching from afar the destruction he could cause.

"Fine," Samuel sighed. “But,” he was quick to tack on before I could get too excited, "I'm doing this for you, and only for a couple of days. I refuse to start my retirement hiding away. I've got a golf game to perfect."

The statement had its desired effect. I let loose a laugh because the thought of Samuel golfing was hysterical. He and my father used to make fun of the old guys who would show up in their hoity-toity, as they liked to call them, outfits. They would say how that would never be them one day.

"Pictures or it never happened," I said with a chuckle.

"You know me so well, girl. But I'm not kidding. I'll give you a few days and then I'm going to enjoy my retirement. Davis be damned."

I nodded my head in understanding because what else could I do? Samuel was right. He wasn't getting any younger and hiding away just wasn't in his DNA.

"I appreciate it. Let me know after you've talked to Steven. Hopefully, I’ll have better news for the both of you."

We both signed off and I fell back into the chair with a heavy sigh.

"You okay?"

Jack twirled the chair, so I was facing him. Instinct had me scooching forward so I could wrap my arms around his waist. When did I get to the point where I felt comfortable enough to seek reassurance from this man?

I didn't have the slightest clue on how to answer that, but I wasn't about to worry about it now.

"Sam's right. I can't ask him to stay hidden forever. I need to deal with this Davis nonsense now ."

The million-dollar question was how though? It wasn't like I hadn't tried going to the police. Everything he’d ever done was documented, but money talked, and Davis had a personality that led people to believe him over me. It was the way of the world, even if it wasn't fair.

"You aren't asking him to for forever. Just a little while. Matthew's company has some of the best cyber people in the world working for them. If anyone can dig up information, it's them. We just need to give them time to work."

Halfway through that little speech, Jack's hands had moved to my shoulders and were now massaging them. It felt heavenly. I let my eyes fall closed as I enjoyed what he was doing to me.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't shut my brain off. It was a damn curse. So instead, I let what Jack said filter through my mind. I had tried the proper route. It had shocked me when the police department in my hometown had sided with Davis. Then I really thought about it. The new police cruisers the borough suddenly had room in the budget for. The extra officers they hired over the past six months, despite claiming for years that it wasn't feasible. I should've seen it then. Money was coming from somewhere, and even if I didn't have proof, it made sense that someone was Davis.

My eyes popped open with realization.

"Have them look for police departments or towns that suddenly had a lot of extra money to spend."

Jack's fingers froze in the middle of what they were doing and the look he gave me said he wasn't tracking where I was going with this.

"Right around the time Davis and I started dating, the local police department suddenly had an influx in money. Well, I guess not them specifically since the borough pays for everything, but you know what I mean. For years, council complained they didn't have the money to provide the resources the police department needed. Then, all of a sudden, they could hire more officers and get a slew of new cruisers. I'm thinking Davis was pumping money out knowing what he planned to do. He was covering his bases."

Jack's hands fell off my shoulders and he dug in his pants pocket to pull out his phone. He didn't say anything until after he typed out a quick message.

"You're a genius. Matthew is going to get his team on it. Shouldn't be too hard to track the money. From what my brother told me, they were already looking into Davis' finances, so this will narrow it down for them." He dropped a kiss on my forehead, and yeah, that made me swoon. Those damn things were addictive.

"Now, enough talk about assholes. I have a better way to clear your mind for the evening."

"Oh, yeah . . .?" The words transitioned to a fit of giggles when he scooped me up and carried me over to the bed, only to unceremoniously toss me down. But he immediately followed me and planted kisses along my jaw.

"Hell, yes. By the time I'm done with you, it won't just be your body that's Jell-O. It’ll be your mind too."

My mind was already turning to mush, but I looked forward to seeing if he could, in fact, do as he promised.

Spoiler alert: Jack didn't lie. By the time we both passed out, my mind wasn't just mush; I was pretty sure I couldn't even tell someone my own name.

Shannon who?