Page 21 of Set In Stone

“A visitor? It wasn’t just any visitor, Hale! It was the goddamn fuckingpress!”

“I’m aware, sir. I was assured that it won’t happen again. In the meantime, I already have a call in toThe City Times. The reporter was Mac Owens. If he has anything substantial, I’ll shut itdown.”

I considered the source to assess how bad the situation could potentially be. Mac Owens had been trying to dig into my past for years, but had little success. He was now withThe City Times, a smaller newspaper with decent credibility. Their reporting was wide ranging, anywhere from national politics to local gossip columns. I knew I shouldn’t take the threatlightly.

“Hale, we’ve kept Charlie quiet for months. I’ll be damned if I let some rookie prison guard fuck it up. Keep meposted.”

“Willdo.”

“I mean it. I want updates on every detail, no matter howsmall.”

I hit the button to end the call and fought the urge to throw the phone against the wall. Instead, I tossed it back onto the bench. At that moment, I needed to beat the shit out of a bag until my fists were raw. Not bothering with boxing gloves, I stepped up to the punching bag and took a bare fistedswing.

Hitting the vinyl felt good. Almost too good. I beat at the bag, over and over again, looking for some form of cathartic release with everyblow.

I need to fuckingthink.

A multitude of emotions pumped through my veins. Between the barrage of nightmares and the latest news about Charlie, my goddamn head was spinning. Images swirled. Krystina’s voice was a constant echo that I couldn’t pushaway.

“Alexander, you’re hurtingme!”

I spun around and struck the bag with a forceful back fist and tried to erase the memory. I could still see the fear in her eyes, fear that mirrored my mother’s when my father came afterher.

I am nothim.

I turned again and landed a strong roundhouse kick, forcing the visions from my past to my more immediatethreat.

Charlie. The fuckingleach.

Just the thought of him sent me into a rage, causing the image of his face to project onto the bag. I imagined his bones and cartilage crumbling beneath my fists as I inflicted another punch onto the cylindricalbag.

My fury toward the man came from someplace deep within me. It wasn’t just about what he did to my sister, or about how he made her a victim in an endless cycle of abuse. It was also from what he put Krystina through, and from how I nearly lost her because of his greed. Just thinking about what could’ve happened to her, my angel, tore at mygut.

I threw another punch, even more forceful than the last, before I caught myself. I had to calm my temper and think this through rationally. I needed to regain control. I closed my eyes, took a few calming breaths, and resumed at a more measuredpace.

Snap. One. Two. Three.Kick.

I counted the reps over and over again, using the tempo to simmer my boiling rage. Punches flowed freely, the snap keeping my rhythm flowing as I moved effortlessly around thebag.

Breathe. Maintainbalance.

It appeared as if Charlie was back in the game again, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. His meeting with a reporter could only mean one thing – he was scared. Exposing the past was the only leverage he hadleft.

I had worried about what he might say during the upcoming trial. However, it only took a phone call to the right judge to have the trial closed to the public, as the sensitivity of Krystina’s testimony easily convinced the judge to rule on closure. It never occurred to me that Charlie might seek out areporter.

It was clear that he still had the plea deal in his sights. This would be his gambling chip, making it safe to assume that he planned to use the reporter to influence me to drop some of the charges against him. Attempted murder, kidnapping, extortion – the list was long, and Charlie knew I had been in touch with the District Attorney about making every single chargestick.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have fought the deal Charlie wanted tomake.

How much he actually knew about my past still remained to be seen, as Justine never elaborated on how much she told him. I only knew I had to shut him down. It wasn’t an option. Krystina was still unaware of one major detail from my past. I’d be damned before I let him use that to tear us apart. I couldn’t loseher.

Notagain.

I often wondered if I should’ve just told her everything that night onThe Lucy. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t. After all, I had given her the worst of it. The part I left out shouldn’t matter. She knew of the potential monster I could be. That was more thanenough.

Thirty minutes later, I was drenched in sweat and my knuckles were raw from the repeated striking on the vinyl without the proper gear. However, my mind felt clearer. While I was still searching for answers on how to handle the situation with Charlie, I no longer felt like I wanted to rip him limb from limb. I delivered a final blow to the heavy bag and reached adecision.

There was one secret that I still clung tightly to. If Charlie knew it and shared his knowledge with a reporter, it wouldn’t be long before it was all over the news. I couldn’t allow Krystina to find out that way. She needed to hear it from me. More importantly, she deserved an explanation for why I had kept it fromher.

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