“The cleaners came in through the back door. Frank must have panicked because he let me go and ran,” she answered him.
“Do you think he was trying to kidnap you again?” he asked. A part of me wanted to tell him to leave her alone but every dumb part of my fucking useless brain was fixated on the fight. Where could I find him? How could I get him alone long enough to take my time with him? What method of torture would hurt the most? These were the thoughts that consumed me.
“No, if he was going to take me, he’d have done it quickly and before I knew what was coming. I’ve lost any credibility now he’s gotten away with it once. People will think I’m crying wolf if it happens again. He’s just letting me know he’s not finished with me,” she responded.
Earnshaw looked stunned. For him, I guess everything that had happened with the trial happened in the abstract. Seeing Sunshine this upset was pretty fucking real. Liam ran his hand through his hair despairingly. “I just don’t get what this guy’s problem is,” he said. “Why’s he so fixated on you, Em? I mean, I thought he was just an opportunistic predator, what with you being under the same roof and all. But this shit’s personal. The guy’s fucking obsessed with you.”
Em’s shaking grew worse as the truth of Liam’s words sank in. Kieran tightened his arm around her shoulders to anchor her and looked up at me. “Con?” he asked questioningly. Looking back, I regret so many things. Not going straight to Em that night and taking her in my arms was top of that fucking list. I should have comforted her and told her that everything would be all right, that I’d take care of her. In reality, I’d done the exact opposite. In the short time this angel had been mine, I’d failed her in so many ways. That moment was probably the worst. I was two steps and two arms away from making everything seem a little better for her, making her a little less scared. Instead I turned and walked away. Becoming the stupid arrogant kid I used to be, I went to find Frank. Going to my locker, I grabbed a hoodie, chucked it over my head, and shoved my wallet and keys into the pocket. Slamming the door, I went outside only to be flanked by Liam and Kieran. “What do you two think you’re doing?” I asked them.
“You know we were never going to let you do this on your own, don’t you?” Kieran said to me, shivering against the cold.
“You should walk away. I love that you have my back. I really fucking do. But this ain’t gonna have a good end. Frank is my problem. I don’t want you both getting your hands dirty with this,” I said.
“Con, one of us has a problem, it’s on all of us to sort it out,” Liam told me. “Been that way since we were kids. Ain’t nothing changing that now.”
“It’s gonna get messy,” I warned. “I’m not fucking about with this guy. He ain’t never letting go of Sunshine.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way, so let’s get this done,” Liam said. We piled into his truck and drove about half a mile before he pulled over.
“Why’d you stop?” I asked him.
“Tommy,” Kieran and Liam both answered together. Sure enough the door opened and he climbed in beside me.
“What’s up, bitches?” he screeched annoyingly.
“You dragged Tommy into this?” I asked them. Kieran snorted from the front of the truck.
“Do you think we’d ever hear the end of it if we didn’t tell him what was going down?” he replied.
“You were gonna leave me out?” Tommy said sadly.
“Jesus, Tom. It ain’t like we’re going to party the feckin’ night away without you. We’re gonna take care of Frank. That ain’t something you should want to be a part of,” I told him.
As seriously as I’d ever seen him, he asked me, “Would you do the same for me?” I should have told him no. Made him get out of the truck. But these boys were the nearest thing I had to brothers. They’d know if I was lying. Looking him square in the eyes, I nodded.
“Ain’t nothing to talk about then, is there?” he asked with a cocky grin.
We drove in silence until we got to the Severn Bridge, and then a thought occurred to me. “How’d you know where we’re going?” I asked Liam.
He paused before answering. “Night Em was taken, I heard the address come through the copper’s radio before he turned it down.”
“And you didn’t think to fucking share this bit of information when I was climbing the fucking walls looking for her?” I shouted at them all.
“Don’t get mad at them about it,” Liam barked at me. “I heard it, and I kept it to meself. The police were heading there anyway to check it out. If you knew the address, you’d have torn that fucking house apart and scared the shit out of her mother. Instead of being there when they found Em, you’d have been behind bars.” His tone told me that he wasn’t sorry.
“That should ’ave been my decision,” I argued with him.