Chapter 28

Twenty-Eight

P retty

As prompted, I dialed my home phone, sitting on pins and needles, hoping everything was okay. When I got no answer, I hung up and was about to try again, when the phone immediately rang and I was rushed to pick it up, expecting Vernon to be on the other end.

"Vernon, honey?" Fear building at the back of my throat.

"No, you son of a whore. Thought you could run away and all your problems would be gone, didn't you?" My aggressor spat through the phone.

"This is not funny. Who is this?" I yelled with conviction, as this prompted Paddy to stand beside me to try to take the phone away. Snatching it close to my ear, I mouthed " No ," before the man who tried to kill me gave me a final warming over the phone.

"I'm not gonna waste another bullet on a worthless bitch like you, but maybe I'll waste one on that kid of yours."

"Please, please don't hurt my son. He's all I fucking have. Just is it money? I have plenty of money—" My emotions getting the best of me. I almost hadn't heard him interrupting me as I pleaded.

"I don't give a good goddamn about your money." He paused, making me think he'd hung up, but he spoke with a hitched tone. "But your husband sure as hell does. And he's gonna stay right here where he is, until you're gone."

"Tell me what you fucking mean, dammit!"

"I'm giving you until the end of the day to return back to Boston. You are gonna make your way in, put your hands behind your back, and I'm going to put a bullet between your eyes. And you're going to let me, otherwise the kid and Vernon die." As the click on the other line made me scream into the phone, frantically making me redial over and over to a constant ring.

"Oh my God, I can't breathe. They're about to kill my son." Suddenly, my legs were giving out, and I was slowly sliding my back against the wall until I was on the floor. "They're going to kill me or they're going to kill my son." I sobbed uncontrollably, as Paddy bent down to meet my gaze, using a soft voice to calm me.

"Hey, Pretty. Look at me." Using his fingers to tilt my chin toward him. "What did they say?"

"Paddy, I don't know what's going on. The man apparently hates me so much, he wants me to come back to Massachusetts, sacrifice myself or he's gonna kill my husband and son. Who fucking does that? Who fucking hates someone they've never met? "I asked, confused. This couldn't be happening. I should have taken this stalker thing more seriously from the very first moment I'd learned the stakes.

"Pretty, listen to me. What did the man on the other line say?"

"He told me he wasn't going to waste a bullet on me unless it'd kill me." I couldn't even say it without stammering and crying.

"Can you tell me anything distinct about them? What did they sound like? Young, old?—"

"Young," I interrupted "Not like a kid, but definitely not a man as old as Vernon. Paddy, we have to go. We have to fucking go now, or he's gonna kill my son," I squealed, having next to no energy.

"We'll head back to the cabin and?—"

"Paddy, I just said we don't have time for that."

"Pretty, calm yourself. Keep your emotions in check. Being all over the place is not going to help the situation," Paddy dismissed.

Easy for him to say, I was far from home and my child's life was in danger. I wasn't even sure what I'd planned to do once I got back to Massachusetts. Was this man's plan to really shoot me just for being me?

"We'll head back to Massachusetts, but I'm going to need more information along the way. Let's go get your son."

***

Nothing seemed to calm me on the way back home. It didn't help that Paddy kept probing me with questions over a three-sentence exchange.

"Paddy, please stop asking me the same fucking things. I'm stressed. I'm scared?—"

"I know you're scared. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, but something could be important that you're missing. Any small detail could give me more information on how to move once we get there."

Dropping my face to my palm, arm leaning on the passenger side window, I said, "I've told you a dozen times."

"Well, what did he sound like. Outside of being young?"

"I don't know." I admitted with defeat. "Maybe Black?"

"The man on the phone sounded Black?" Paddy hyper focused on that. "Why do you say he sounded Black?"

"I don't know. Before I came home, I spent three months in Chicago, so I guess I just picked up on the accent."

Watching Paddy's features grow more concerned, he had questions to follow up. "Did he sound like a gangster? A square?"

"I guess he just sounded like a regular guy."

"I think I know what this might be about?—"

"I should have never stepped out on my marriage," I interrupted in my frustration. "God is clearly punishing me for playing house with my fucking affair partner. What the fuck was I thinking? If I had just stayed faithful, I'd be home protecting my son right now. I would have never made such a stupid mistake," I yelled without thinking.

"So, I'm a mistake now?" Paddy questioned.

"Well, I'm here in the middle of fucking nowhere when I should be home, looking after my son. So yes, all of this is a mistake."

Paddy's hand hit the dashboard out of anger, forcing me to jump out in fear. "Well, if I'm your mistake, you must be Vernon's," he said without context.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I was about to tell you, but that mouth of yours keeps flapping like you're actually saying something. I always thought it was strange that my war buddy was checking in on me out of the nowhere. We go way back, so I thought nothing of it, but he was my connection to Vernon. The reason why I was even referred to the job in the first place. I assumed I can trust him, so I asked if he could look after Vernon and Elijah while we were out of town?—"

"So, you're saying this is your fault?" I interrupted.

"I don't know what I'm saying. But I know it ain't no coincidence Vernon's suddenly never around, hell bent on keeping you happy in an affair. Probably so you could turn a blind eye to his. Pretty when it comes to your husband, don't fucking delude yourself. Don't you ever wonder why Vernon never touches you, not even to lift a finger to comfort you. I'll tell you this. It ain't because of your weight or kids changing everything. Your husband prefers the company of men."

"What the fuck are you talking about? Vernon and I share a son."

"Stop and think about it. Would Vernon really be able to have a son any other way? You gave him what he wanted out of life. Purpose. Now he gets his other needs met somewhere else. I'm so fucking daft. I should have seen it before. Moore must be having an affair with your husband."

I couldn't believe what he was saying. This was so fucking nuts. Vernon used to not be able to keep his hands off me. This couldn't be true. "Paddy, I know life has hardened you, but I never took you to have it in you to be so cruel or jealous. This is really fucking beneath you. But I guess what can I expect from an Irish gangster?" The last part I said under my breath.

"Well, this Irish gangster don't need no woman to create a job for me, just so I feel like a man. This Irish gangster don't need my woman working day and night so I could keep myself in nice cars and fancy suits. What the fuck do I need to be jealous for? I've gotten you to do things for me a man like Vernon could never get you to do. Vernon's decent but let's face it, you're more his mother than his wife. You make the money, you take care of the kids. He doesn't even have to do anything for you, and you're praising him for the bare minimum?—"

"Paddy, stop it! Why are you saying all these things about my husband?" I interrupted, tired of his rants and lies.

"Because he doesn't fucking love you like I do. He gets everything he wants from you, and you get nothing in return from him. I would never put you in a position where it would hurt your son, but your husband just might have done that very thing and you're ignoring all the obvious evidence."

"Paddy, my husband is not cheating on me with a man! And even if he were, I still wouldn't leave him for you." My comment silencing the car the remaining two hours left in the ride.

I shouldn't have said those words, but Paddy was being an asshole. I didn't even mean them. I spoke them out of anger. I'm not even sure why I said them. Yes I had love for Vernon, it but… it wasn't the same way that I felt about Paddy.

Paddy was the romantic love I thought only existed in fairy tales. But Paddy was complicated. The situation wasn't as simple as leaving my husband. Sometimes I had to think of my child.

When the car finally did come to a stop, it was around the corner of my Boston home. "Why did you park here?" Confused on why he hadn't parked closer.

"Could you do more listening than talking for once? If we go through the front door, you don't know where they'll be. Might as well just walk around with a target on your forehead. Assumed you weren't that eager to die," he explained, grabbing a gun out of his glove department and loading it before placing it in his holster.

"And by the way, this Irish gangster is about to solve your fucking problems. After that, you don't have to worry about me coming between you and your marriage. Vernon could fucking have you. I never want to see you again."