Page 125 of Chasing Infinity

“I’m not wrong,” I tell him firmly. “Listen, my dad’s behind a lot of shady shit, but I don’t know everything. Addison’s father was here to investigate him, working undercover for the FBI. It was a long-haul investigation.”

“I know about that.”

Now I’m the one surprised. “You do?”

“Sort of, she let it slip once that he was a cop, and that was about it, but she told me a little more about it recently. I didn’t know he was investigating your dad, though.”

“I talked about it a little bit with him, but he never really divulged much. But anyway, my dad caught wind of it, and I guess he just had enough and lit the place up. His version of getting rid of a problem,” I tell him glumly.

“That’s fucked up, man.”

“You’re telling me. But now he’s basically given me an ultimatum: leave town, or he’ll go after Addison to force me to be quiet. And I can’t have him hurting her,” I say. Even the thought of my father doing anything to Parks makes me see red, and I want to strangle him.

“So that’s why you’re leaving,” Charlie says. “Are you going to tell her all of this?”

“Probably not,” I respond softly. “I don’t want her anywhere near him if I can help it.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Just make sure he doesn’t go after her. Make sure she goes and does everything she wants to do. Promise me you’ll do that.”

“I’m not sure if—“

“Promise me,” I growl at him, my patience starting to run thin. The clock is ticking, and I need to wrap things up with him. “Please, Charlie. Make sure she leaves and doesn’t come back. I don’t want her anywhere near him.”

He sighs. “I’ll try.”

I realize that’s the best I’m going to get out of him, so I offer him thanks, tell him I’ll stay in touch, and then hang up. I’m sure he’s not sad to see me go. Eli will probably throw a celebratory party as soon as he realizes I’m gone.

After texting and finding out where Addison is, I pull up to the town square and park in an open spot. My heart is throbbing in my chest as if anticipating the trauma it’s about to undergo. I steel myself as I walk up towards where she’s sitting and clear my throat. Addison looks up at me, her eyes brightening when she sees me standing in front of her.

“Hey!” She stumbles to her feet and looks at me with a happy expression that quickly falls when she senses my foul mood. “Is everything okay?”

Every cell in my body wants to scream that everything is okay and that everything will be fine, but that’s just not the case. My soul splinters as I shake my head. Her face sobers even more as she picks up on the gravity of the situation.

“What’s wrong, Noah?”

Here goes everything. “I’m leaving.”

Addison stares at me as if she doesn’t understand the word. “Leaving?”

I nod my head brusquely. “Yeah. I’m leaving Willow Heights. Today.”

“Oh,” she responds, blinking a few times. “When will you be back?”

My fingernails dig into the palms of my hands as I gear up to tell her. “I won’t be.”

She blinks again, her brain trying to catch up with what I’m saying to her. I feel terrible. Addison has been through so much over the last few days, and I hate that I’m adding to that load, but I have no other choice. This is for the best.

She scrunches her eyes together and then presses her non-injured hand to her forehead. “I’m sorry, I just—what? You won’t be back?”

I grow nauseous, and everything starts spinning around me. “No, I won’t be coming back. At least not for the foreseeable future.”

Addison opens her eyes and stares at me, hurt. “Why? I thought—I thought things between us were finally—“

“Parks,” I cut her off, taking a step closer and grabbing her good hand. “They are—they were. But I can’t stay here. I need to go.”

“Is it something I did? Just—if I hurt you, please tell me so I can fix it. We can get past it. I know I’ve been…needy,” she struggles over the word, “the last few days, but I promise things will get better. Please, Noah. I need you. You’re all—I don’t have anything left.”

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