Page 52 of A Forgotten Mistake

Heis still here.

His hands are flailing as he points in my direction. “That fucking detective just lost his goddamn mind! He just started screaming at me and my wife,” he says, like he has the audacity to play victim. “I want to talk to your superior!”

And then the restraint inside of me just snaps.

I rush Kenny and grab him by the collar of his shirt as I slam him against the wall. “You want my superior? You really want my fucking superior? Youcame into my home. You fucking watched as I was thrown down the stairs. As I was beaten and threatened. Left bleeding with my broken arm ripped behind my back. You stole my fucking money as my mother’s head was bashed into the fucking wall, and you wantmeto helpyou? You wantmeto saveyou? You want me to fucking care about a thing you’re involved in?” I hiss.

Color drains from his face, realization finally hitting him. Have I changed that much? Or was I never even significant enough for him to evenremember? He wore a mask that day, but I didn’t. Were thoughts of me not ingrained in his head like they were in mine? “N-No! I… I didn’t. I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“We were held fordays. I lay there staring at my mother’s dead body, waiting for my father to come home, only for him toget shot in the fucking head while you paraded out the door with our money.”

Kenny’s shaking his head wildly. “No! I didn’t! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he protests as his wife, who’d been prepared to help her husband, stares in confusion.

“But you could have called someone. You could have saved their lives,” I hiss.

“Liam, come on,” Matthew says as he tries to drag me off.

“Get the fuck off me,” I shout as I push him back. I want to crush this man’s throat. I want him to lie there and beg for the ones he loves to get up and then be forced to sit with their bodies, knowing that there was one person out there who could have stopped it all.

TWELVE

Gabriel

“Gabriel, downstairs NOW. You need to stop Liam,” Matthew yells into the phone I’d just answered.

“Cole, stay right here,” I say as I take off running for the stairs. I take them two at a time and nearly slip on the way down before I hit the first floor and rush out to see what’s happening, but I don’t have to look hard as I see people trying to drag Liam off a man.

“What the fuck is going on?” I yell, unsure of what could have happened to make Liam lose his composure like this.

“I don’t know,” Matthew says. “He said something about this guy stealing his money and his mother’s head… his mother being beaten?”

My stomach sinks as I realize that the man Liam is wanting to get to must be the third man involved in his parents’ deaths. The one who stole the money and left before Liam’s mother was killed.

“Did you enjoy my money? Was it worth their deaths? Did it justmake your lifeafter ruining mine?” he snaps as he shovessomeone off, but before he can reach the man, I slide in front of Liam and wrap my arms around him. Even though he threw everyone else off who tried to pull him back, he immediately stops when he realizes it’s me. I squeeze him tight as I can feel the tension winding through his body; his limbs are rigid with it.

I dig my hands securely into his back as I squeeze him to me, holding him with so much strength that he can’t break free… but he’d never chance hurting me, so he’s being careful.

“Gabriel, stop,” he orders.

“No. Liam, you know you have to calm down,” I say, afraid he’s going to do something he’s going to regret. “Shh. It’s okay. I’m here now. I’m right here.”

He shudders and I feel the tension release as I hold him tight.

“What is happening?” the new chief barks as she rushes out to see the problem. She’s only been in the chief position a month and is probably wondering what drama she has to deal with now. It’s not like she’s new to the district, though, so she knows that Liam’s a bit of a handful to deal with. But Liam has always been a handful in a completely different way. Never like this.

Liam is panting, his eyes wild, but he’s calming down.

A woman I hadn’t even noticed waves frantically. “That man attacked my husband! He attacked him!” the wife yells as people crowd into the area to see what’s happened and all eyes latch on to Liam.

Not sure what else to do, I pull myself from Liam, hating that I have to draw away, but well aware I need to take control of the situation. I direct him to Matthew, who Liam clearly doesn’t want. He immediately turns combative again, but Matthew gives him a shake.

“Knock it off,” Matthew hisses.

I turn to the man who people are trying to help. They think Liam’s the bad guy. They think he’s snapped.

“You’re under arrest for being an accomplice in the murders of Cassandra and Robert Paige,” I say. “Ma’am, please back away unless you’d like to be arrested as well.”

The hands helping the man hesitate, and I’m thrilled to see that he appears okay. Nothing worse than if Liam had hurt him. He looks shaken up, but that’s likely from the fact that after all these years, he’s finally been caught.

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