I raised my leg as if to knee him in the balls and he instinctively blocked himself with a hand. It was enough of a distraction that he didn’t have time to stop my fist when I landed a jab straight to the throat.
He choked, wheezing as he clutched his throat, eyes wide and watering. I shoved him aside.
“Shiloh, wait!” Enoch shouted after me, but I was already out the door and running straight for my car on the curb.
I managed to get my keys and unlock it before he could reach me, sliding into the driver’s seat and slamming the door behind me. I locked the doors and threw it into drive without looking back.
It was stupid and mean to hurt Jae, but I’d cut off my own fucking arm with a plastic knife before I let someone trap me again.
That fucker would learn his lesson.
Ten
June 27, Saturday
Enoch
I dragged my hands through my hair, watching Emory drive away from the middle of the street.
“Fuck!”
I spun on my heel, jogging back up to the house and found Jae sitting on bottom step, hands on his knees. He looked up when I entered, and I could see that he’d been brought to tears by Shiloh’s punch.
“You fucking asked for it,” I said with the shake of my head. I climbed over him up the stairs in search of my phone. I heard him groaning behind me as he followed me.
“And I fucking warned you she couldn’t be trusted,” Jae rasped, his voice strained.
I spun around studying his expression. “You were eavesdropping?”
Jae stared, his answer in the silence. I ground my teeth with anger.
“Turns out Sebastian wasn’t half-wrong.”
My brows pinched with confusion. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You’d know if you hadn’t shut everyone out when you left.”
My stomach dropped with guilt, and I sagged against the counter. “What do you mean, Jae?”
“You didn’t find it strange that your entire family suddenly up and left the place they’d put down roots for years?”
“My dad decided to fully retire, and he wanted to be closer to Baba and Ded as they’re getting older,” I said, studying his reaction. “Eden didn’t want to be left behind and when they decided to move too, so did your parents.”
Jae scoffed and shook his head. “No. Your dad was suddenly and inexplicably fired, shortly after the mayor was arrested. Then Rosa, Sebastian’s mom comes forward with some deep family secrets, talking about an alleged criminal organization that her ex-husband and ex-brother-in-law were involved in.”
I blinked, my head spinning. “I don’t understand.”
“Sebastian’s bio daddy and uncle were involved in a gang,” he said with a condescending blink of his eyes. “A very scary and very violent gang that was supposedly led by the mayor of Granby.”
I nearly laughed with disbelief. “What the hell are you talking about? The mayor? Of Granby? Bullshit.”
Jae rolled his eyes with exasperation. Like he was dealing with an ignorant child.
“Yes, dipshit. Sebastian…he kind of got on the crazy train after that, became convinced that this gang had somehow been involved in Shiloh and her brother’s death. Anyways, everything was going to shit. Your sister was pregnant and scared, Sebastian was losing it, your dad was jobless, my dad was worried that your dad was gonna get dragged into some investigations if there were coverups happening in the police department, and instead of staying in Texas, they put their houses up for sale, had everything packed in a matter of days, and left like bats out of hell.”
I stared at the floor, my eyes swimming with unshed tears. “I don’t understand, why didn’t anyone tell me any of this?” I looked up to stare at Jae. “Why didn’tyoutell me any of this?”
“You don’t think I wanted to? You weregone! And after finding out about how you were coping with Shiloh’s death, there was no fucking way I was going to risk your sobriety telling you about Sebastian’s crazy theories. I didn’t think they were worth sharing when they were justtheories. I didn’t think they were true. When nothing ever came of it, when there were no more news stories, no mentions of any criminal organizations or other investigations, we kind of just…moved on. Focused on family, on building roots in Harrisburg. But then this deputy shows up, tells us Shiloh is alive and is in Witness Protection…I was suspicious. And clearly, I was right to be, when she just admitted that she was working for that gang! Hell, I always suspected something was off with her, with the drugs and shit, her behavior and cageyness, and nobody fucking listened to me! Well, guess what? I was fucking right!”
