“We didn’t do much, Frank.”
“Sure, sure.” The big man smiled at me. “Just saying, whatever you did do. Thank you. Never seen Jenny as happy as she is now.” He patted me on the shoulder and went through to the living room.
I walked out of the front door, resisting the urge to rush upstairs to give my children a final kiss goodbye. Just in case it was for the last time. I could hear Haze’s voice in my head:Don’t be so fucking dramatic.
I got into the car and put my seatbelt on. I tapped in the address Jenny had texted me.
An eighteen-minute drive.
It had to be him.
The Chameleon was going to a party at Balgray Hall. Joe Jones, with no digital footprint, was going to a party at Balgray Hall. Joe Jones had booked himself into a house eighteen minutes from ours.
I pressed play on an affirmations recording that Sally had recommended and started driving
“Repeat after me: I am in control of my destiny. I make my own choices.”
I took several deep breaths. I felt my shoulders relax. See?There was nothing to worry about. I was scoping out a house. That was all. Chances were that this Joe Jones wasn’t even there. I could check it out and then come back tomorrow with Haze.
God, listen to me. Needing my wife to come with me and hold my hand. I gripped the steering wheel tighter. I was my own man.
I took a deep breath and repeated: “I am in control of my destiny. I make my own choices.”
Seven minutes to my destination. Wherever this house was, it was very close to Fobney Island Nature Reserve. I zoomed in on the GPS. A house at the end of a dead end in a remote location. Not at all concerning. It was mostly commercial addresses out here, which would explain why I hadn’t seen any other cars.
I checked my phone reception. At least there were five solid bars. I stared out at the dark night. I looked over at the bag on the passenger seat. I was going to be fine. I was always fine. Apart from that one time…But I didn’t need to think about that now. Definitely not now.
I turned up the volume on the recording. “Try and repeat those two phrases every morning. I want you to reinforce to yourself your own personal strength. Here are some more to repeat to yourself throughout the day.”
I hummed to myself as I turned in to Joe Jones’s road.
Three minutes to my destination. There was a passing place just up ahead. I could pull in there behind a large oak tree and walk up to the house undetected.
“I set my own path. I follow my own rules.”
I took a breath. “I set my own path…I follow my own rules.”
My headlights lit up a man in a cap standing right beside the large oak tree up ahead. What was he…? Gun! I saw the unmistakable flash of black as he raised it toward me. I didn’t have time to think. I slammed my foot down on the accelerator and crouched down by the steering wheel.
There was a loud clunk, and a few seconds later the car bumped over an object. A large object.
I kept driving, only pulling to a halt a few feet down the road.
“I am in charge of my destiny.” The recording continued oblivious. “I have faith in myself to make the right choices.”
I jabbed at my iPhone screen until the voice went quiet.
I must’ve hit him. Oh, god, I hit him. Was he okay? Did I actuallywanthim to be okay? He was, after all, trying to kill me.
I looked in the rearview mirror. The road behind was dark. I put the car into reverse and slowly backed up. The reversing lights illuminated the road. A few seconds of nothing but road, and then a man, lying face down on the ground, was caught in their beam. He was not moving.
I stopped the car and turned off the engine. I took a few deep breaths.
I must’ve hit him, and then he slid off my hood. And then I ran him over.
It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t murder. It was self-defense!
He had a gun.
