Page 79 of Chase

“Oh, God, no!” I cry when I finally force myself to leap to her side. She tries to wag her tail a little harder, but she can’t. In fact, as I get closer, her tail ceases moving altogether; all she can do is move her eyes to look into mine, as if she’s trying to apologize for not being able to respond any more than this. “Quick, call someone, Theo, I can’t lose her!”

Theo finally gets to his feet with the gun in hand before walking back over to Ethan where he keeps him pinned down withhis foot. He calls the vet and digs his heel in a little harder when he details what happened. As soon as he hangs up, he holds the gun out toward the evil man before him, sneering the whole time. He places his finger over the trigger, I hear the click of the safety…

“No, Theo, don’t…if you kill him, they’ll see!” I point to the CCTV in place, finally the evidence I need to prove that I was telling the truth all those years ago. But if Theo pulls that trigger, it will also seal his fate, one that will take him away from me for who knows how long. “You said you wouldn’t leave me!”

His mind is still considering his options, what he would dearly like to do, even when I hear the screech of tires on the driveway, and see the flashing blue lights shine from outside, even when the first officer reaches the doorway. It’s not until I manage to move toward him, reaching for his empty hand to give him a pleading squeeze, that he looks at me. My eyes beg with him not to do it, to choose me over his anger, until eventually, he drops the weapon onto the floor. He then pulls me in and holds me, still trembling with rage.

“How’s our girl?” he whispers, his teeth still clenched.

“I don’t know,” I whimper and head back over to her, “there’s so much blood!”

The police burst through the door, ready to deal with what has been reported, as if Ethan is still a threat. After that, I ignore it all; my focus is on Stella, the dog who has helped to heal me in so many ways without even knowing it. I try to find where Ethan shot her, but it’s all so much of a mess, I can’t see. One of the officers comes to assist me. When he sees that I am seemingly unharmed, he looks at Stella and tries to do the same as me, he tries to find the bullet wound.

“It’s here, look,” he says pointing to her shoulder, a nicefleshy part; I almost cry with relief. “I think she might have been extremely lucky. Do you have someone coming for her?”

“Yeah, should be five minutes,” Theo tells him, smiling when he sees the wound shouldn’t be life threatening.

“Hey. puppy, hang in there, we’re going to get you help, you brave girl!” I sob unashamedly in front of them all. She whines before slowly slapping her tail against the floor like it’s a lead weight. Theo slides in behind me, wrapping his arm around my front as he rubs behind Stella’s ear. “Thank you, Theo, thank you for not leaving me.”

“I told you; I’m never leaving you again,” he says, delivering a small kiss to my temple. “I love you, Izzy, always have, always will.”

“Me too.”

_____

Theo

Funerals are without a doubt one of the worst events you can ever attend, which is glaringly obvious, but today it feels right to say it anyway. Being at one means you’ve lost someone you cared about; it means you’re admitting to yourself that they’ve gone; it means it’s an end. As Izzy and I stand together in her folks’ house, listening to Alex chirrup away to my grandmother’s old friends, most of who are business acquaintances of Craig and look about as close to death as you can get, I feel immensely guilty. I should want to be here to honor one of the greatest women I ever knew, but instead, I can’t wait to get out of here.

Izzy is feeling as equally uneasy, not least of all because the woman who claimed to be her ‘mum’ is currently pretending that she gave a damn about Nonna. Her syrupy voice has beenrambling on non-stop about how hard it’s hit the family, particularly Craig. In fact, I have to hold her hand a little tighter every time Alex guffaws at one of her own extremely unfunny jokes.

Tilly is no better, humiliating Gary with her insensitive tongue whenever she speaks; the guy deserves a medal for being married to her. In fact, after having spoken to the guy a few times, I have literally no idea why he is with her. He seems like a decent enough guy, so how the hell did he end up with someone as awful as Matilda Chase? The woman reminds me of a Yorkshire terrier, irritating as hell with God awful breath and a ferocious mouth.

My parents are keeping quiet, choosing to stand in the corner and nibble on some of Alex’s stale old fruit cake to be polite. They sip at their weak tea with a perpetually blank expression. They’re flying back on Monday, but Mom’s already trying to get me to arrange a time to come over to my place in the States, when I finally get my girls back to the States. I feel completely caught in the middle, lost between being a supportive partner and a loving son. But I do know I want Izzy and Stella back home with me as soon as possible; her entire family are toxic.

Ethan was arrested the day he attacked Izzy and is currently in custody without the chance of bail. No one has mentioned his absence or his arrest. No one knows how much Craig and Alex have been made privy to regarding what happened, which could be why we’re both being attacked with evil glares every now and then.

As soon as the last guests leave, and it’s just us, my parents, and her family, they’re on us like vultures swooping in after a fresh kill. Thankfully, Stella is being taken care of by the vet and will be in their care for the next few days. She needed stitches and plenty of painkillers, but otherwise, she’s going to beok. So long as she’s given plenty of belly rubs and doggy treats, she’ll be happy.

The room is silent, with each of us sitting in our black outfits around the coffee table.

“Craig, Alex,” my father begins, surprisingly being the one to break the silence, “kids…” He laughs, but no one joins in, so he coughs to clear his throat and turns serious again. “Mum asked Frankie and I to play something for this very moment, just before she died. Apparently, she asked Brenda’s nephew to film it for her a few weeks ago.”

Everyone looks at one another with confusion, some with a little irritation, mainly Tilly, seeing as Nonna left her nothing and obviously deems this all a waste of her time. In the end, Craig nods his head to give Wyatt the heads up to play the film. Izzy tenses up beside me, so I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her in tight. She’s already tearing up over the prospect of seeing Nonna again, alive and well, before she left us for good.

Within a few moments, she appears on the fifty-two-inch screen, frowning at first, as if waiting for Brenda’s nephew to give her the go ahead. After which, she turns her expression to one we were so used to seeing on her. Smiling, comforting, and more than pleased to see you.

“Hello, everyone,” she says with a wave and a smile that would melt even the hardest of hearts. “You know what they say, if you’re watching this, then I’m afraid I’m already gone. But I couldn’t go without getting a few things off my chest. You probably know by now that I have left everything to my beautiful granddaughter, Izzy. You see, Theo and Izzy loved me the best and they were my favorites. No need to pout Matilda, we both know you didn’t have any time for me. Besides, you have yourrich husband, and you don’t need anything more,” she laughs, just as Tilly crosses her arms in a childlike huff. “Theo, you are going to end up with Izzy anyway and she will share everything with those whom she loves, so I thought I’d make things easier and give it all to her. To my sons, you’ve both been selfish enough, so you don’t deserve to be given anything extra.”

My father looks down ashamedly, whereas Craig looks like he’s about to pop a vein.

“Wyatt, you know why I’m disappointed in you; you made your wife choose between her husband and her child,” she says with a stern expression on her face. “Frankie should never have had to give Izzy away like you made her, even if she had made mistakes. I can’t forgive you for that.”

“What the…?!” Tilly gasps out loud, obviously shocked by the newsflash.

“Matilda,” Gary chimes in, making everyone look at him in shock; the guy rarely says anything in her presence, “do shut up.”

I can’t help but smile to myself when she looks at her husband indignantly before closing her mouth.

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