by Selena Scott
And there sat three messages from the same number.
A number he didn’t recognize.
Each of the three messages had the same three words.
This Is Fun
Will’s heart sank.
This Is Fun
Only one person would send him that exact message.
And it wasn’t Lloyd.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Will stared at his screen.
He was in shock. That was the only way he could have described it. How was this possible? Well, he knew it wasn’t impossible. But to find him and to have his number. He had covered his tracks so well.
Todd Wright, though – he was never going to let things go. Particularly after how things ended. Will cleaning him out like that. $25,000. Did Will really think that Todd would give up looking for him?
But regardless of how well he covered his tracks, Will knew how determined Todd would be. He had so much on Will and Will had been made to buy Todd’s silence for years. Which of course, lead to a breaking point.
This, though, this situation, it had Todd written all over it. And now, well, now he had to explain it to Andrea and Jay.
“What is it?” Andrea asked Will as he tried to let his heartbeat saunter back to normal. It was taking some doing. He felt cold.
“Will?” Jay asked, concerned.
“Jesus, Will, you look white as a ghost,” Andrea said.
“I’ve just heard from one,” Will answered. Re-reading, pointlessly, the messages over and over. As if doing so was going to offer some clarity.
“Heard from one?” Jay asked.
“Yeah. A ghost.” Will shook his head – at no one, just the situation. This night was getting on top of itself. With Andrea, he had felt more alive than possibly ever. He had shifted – in front of her, for her. Never did he think that was possible. Particularly not for someone he cared about, the way he did about this beautiful woman sitting opposite him. For whom he now had to provide more answers. He had touched on it earlier. His past. But now the present was what mattered. And he had to explain it. He knew he could trust these two people.
Jay was his only real friend. In this new life, anyway. He was thoughtful and kind underneath his rugged, tired features. He had helped him. Not just with the job but with getting on his feet. He never pushed him on his past. When he spoke to him, it wasn’t for a want of information just for the sake of it. So many people were like that. Tell us your life story. Just so they can know it. Information. Snoopiness.
But Jay, when he spoke to you, he was interested. There was a sincerity to him. He was absent-minded, sure. But he was deeply intelligent. He hid it well, though.
And Andrea, he had fallen for. Maria, he never thought he would get over. She still lived with him, in his mind. But he had accepted the need to move on. He just hoped after tonight, Andrea would still want to move on with him. He’d tell her everything. He’d leave it all on the table. And if she didn’t like it or him, or if she couldn’t overlook his past, then so be it. He would rather leave himself exposed and wait for the consequences. Better now than later.
But he knew one thing, he loved this woman. He desired her so much. Even now, as they sat in the worst of predicaments. He still couldn’t stop himself from thinking how he’d like to be back on that sofa. Exploring every part of her.
But the thought must remain fleeting.
Sally was a good woman.
He had to help her. And that meant telling Jay and Andrea everything. And now.
Will threw cold water on his face from the basin. He had excused himself for a moment to use the restroom. He had to breathe and he had to gather both himself and his thoughts. He looked at himself in the mirror. The cold water dripped down his face. It rolled off his jacket.
He loved cold water. It was one of the best health benefits he knew of. A ten-kilometer run every morning, followed by an ice-cold bath. It didn’t just wake him up, it stimulated his mind. Good for pain, too. And good for the soul. He wasn’t jumping in any ice-cold bath in the immediate future. So, this would have to do.
Will poured more cold water in his cupped hands and let his face settle in the ice-cold water. He let the water fall again from his face and his head hung over the basin. He grabbed some paper towels and let the moisture soak in. He dried the corners of his eyes, and looked deep into himself. He couldn’t keep Jay and Andrea waiting.
But he needed these couple of minutes to himself. It felt good. His mind felt clearer.
Andrea watched Will leave the restroom. She was anxious to hear this. This next instalment of the night. A night that was simmering with drama. She watched Will pull his jacket zip down. She noticed a few drops of water reflecting off the coffee shop’s lights. She noticed a yearning in his eyes. To get something out.
She wished for normality to return. For Sally’s sake, primarily. There was no doubt that she was the priority. She wanted Sally back and she wanted to be back safe in Will’s arms. This, tonight, felt so good, well, back when she was at home. The sex was pretty incredible. What they had of it. But being with Will, it was even better. She had longed for a relationship of substance for so long. Before Lloyd even. When she was with him, too. Something of real depth. The connection she felt now that she and Will had dropped their guards, well, simply, she had never felt anything like it before. How he had let her in. The shifting. She craved to hold him. But the current situation wasn’t exactly ideal.
But Sally. If anything happened to Sally. Surely it wouldn’t. It seemed too surreal to happen. But the more the surface was being scratched, the more danger there seemed to be for her friend.
And now Will was about to allow them to see deeper into this situation. Part of her was nervous about what she was about to learn.
Will fiddled with his near-empty water bottle.
He looked at Jay first. Because the first part of this, Andrea already knew. The background. Jay needed to understand what he was, to understand the story that was to follow.
“Andrea, I think maybe you have opened the floodgates for me.” Will looked at Andrea. She said nothing, but her expression said – what’s your point here?
“What I mean is, Andrea, I need to tell Jay. About what I am. Maybe it’s just the freedom you have given me. You’ve removed the fear. That fear that I carried around for so long. You empowered me tonight. You did the hard part.”
“I didn’t do the hard part,” Andrea said.
“Saying it, showing you. It made me feel so alive. You have no idea.”
“What the fuck are you two talking about? ‘You empowered me?’” Jay said, looking at the two of them. Incredulous, almost.
Will and Andrea couldn’t help but laugh, despite the situation. Jay’s look of bemusement continued. And because of it, so did their laughter. It was the ultimate and only stress reliever. Jay’s look of confusion bordered on contempt. When they looked at it from his point of view, Andrea and Will could see why.
When the laughter diminished and after Will slapped his friend on the arm, things turned back to Will, and the point he wanted to make.
“Jay, I’m sorry, that was totally out of context. Sorry.”
“I’m lost.” Jay folded his arms and arched his eyebrows in wonder.
Andrea looked at the two men. Andrea felt at that moment that she understood their relationship. She saw them as work colleagues before this, who seemed to get along. They always had a coffee on a Monday morning together. There was a warmth. They were clearly fond of each other. But now, now she could see the strength of their bond.
Nothing tangible had changed in what she saw, but she just picked up on a feeling between the two. The respect they had but also the trust. And that brotherly humor shared by siblings closer in age than these two.
But Will was about to test that friendship. Despite his tough-looking, aged exterior, you only needed to know him briefly to understand that Jay was a softie. Not when it came to dealing with thugs and fools. He could handle them. Bu
t he balanced it with a sensitivity and an understanding of people.
But whether he would understand or even comprehend what Will was about to tell him, well, there was only one true way to test that.
Will felt comfortable. Even if Jay didn’t understand, he wouldn’t reject him. That’s how solid their relationship was. He really didn’t believe there would be an outright rejection. Jay would possibly struggle to understand. But he wouldn’t reject him. He had too much humanity.
But still, Will was nervous. Nervous about saying it. Aloud. Again. But not to the same extent as he was when he told Andrea.
With that he looked at Andrea and thought of the possibilities that lay ahead with this woman. But she didn’t know the full story. She might know the first part, what Will was about to tell Jay about what he was. But the other part. The link to tonight. To Sally. This was going to be more for her to take on.
He looked back at Jay and took a breath.
Jay looked at his friend. Unsure what to expect. But ready to listen.
“Jay,” Will started, “there’s something you need to know about me.”
“Okay.”
“Okay,” Will repeated. “The thing is, to understand all this, Sally, tonight, what it all links back to. To understand it, I need to tell you something.
“Go on.” Jay encouraged his friend. He wasn’t impatient. Just pushing Will for his sake.
“Well the thing is, Jay...”
Will started again. “The thing is, Jay, I’m not just a human. A man. I’m something else, too. I’m a wolf.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jay stared at Will. He didn’t blink.
As sensitive as Jay was, he was an intelligent man. But more than that, more relevant, he was streetwise. He had worked on building sites for thirty years. It was, almost literally, back-breaking. The strain of fitting metalwork in the construction of properties had taken its toll. It required physicality of the most demanding type.
He did it all. Everything from fitting to welding beams. But he was a grafter. When there was a break in the day, waiting on a delivery, he mucked in. When cement needed mixing, he mixed. When bricks needed lugging from the storage point to the site build, he lugged. It was a work ethic that was built into him.
Eventually, he had to walk away. The strain on his back had resulted in slipped discs and a permanent pain in the bottom of his back. It lifted with rest and long stints in steam rooms. But then he would return to work, and the circle would invariably continue. His wife, Maggie, insisted he walk away.
His education was all self-taught. He could read; it was the one thing he left high school with. A love of reading. And he carried that with him for life. But he wasn’t university-educated. So, his options were limited. The care he had to take of his back and his body meant his job opportunities were limited. But security work. It suited. And he liked it.
But all those years on the sites, right across New Hampshire, they toughened him. Because you didn’t get through those times with a thin skin. More so, you didn’t get by if you were made a fool of with ease.
So, when Will Sidwell sat opposite him and told him he was a wolf, well, he just didn’t buy it. It wasn’t even a matter of, should I buy this shit? He absolutely, no question about it, did not buy this shit.
He knew more about Will than Will realized. He didn’t mind that he kept them in the dark about his past. But this shit? No way.
Andrea could see it too. It was impossible not to see it in his face. He shrugged his shoulders and Andrea could see that Will was going to have a job convincing him. In fact, she was a part of this now. That felt good, briefly, to feel that. That she was a part of Will’s life to the extent that she was a part of his support network. But how was she going to support this argument and convince someone like Jay, who had seen it all?
“I mean seriously, Will. We are in a bit of a situation here, man. Sally is missing, I don’t know, I mean, what the hell are you talking about? You’re a wolf? Brilliant. Congratulations. No seriously, well done on being a wolf. I’m a fucking kangaroo by the way.”
Jay’s patience was wearing thin. He felt time was pressing and the longer Sally’s whereabouts weren’t known, the less likely it was they were going to find her. He just didn’t realize what he had missed here. Did Will lose sight of the gravity of the situation they were in? Why waste time? Wind-ups were usually held against a backdrop of considerably less drama. And they were generally a lot smarter and more elaborate than a friend pretending he was an animal.
Andrea went to speak. But then she stopped. She would give Will another chance to convince Jay. Although, she didn’t really fancy his chances.
“Jay, I know how ridiculous this sounds.”
“All I know is you are keeping a remarkably straight face. Well done. But Sally is missing.”
“I know she is,” said Will. “My point in telling you this is to give you the whole context of this situation. There is - what I am. Andrea already knows what I am. But I need to explain what the origins of it have got to do with tonight. With this message on my cell. But I can’t without telling you this first part. What I am.”
“Which is a wolf?”
“Right,” answered Will.
“Okay, Andrea, you understand this is a pretty fucking serious situation, right?”
Andrea nodded. She had never seen Jay wound as tight as this before. Will certainly hadn’t, and they had come up against all sorts of charlatans in their time together at Foxfield.
“So then, will you please tell me what this crap is about? Sally is missing.” Jay was grabbing the edge of the table. Aggression was dancing on the sidelines of his mood. He felt time was being wasted. He was taken aback by how little Andrea and Will seemed to get about this situation. Just how serious it potentially could be. And now this. This bizarre tangent.
“It sounds far-fetched, I know, Jay,” said Andrea. “I only found out a couple of hours ago myself. I know it seems ridiculous. I know it’s a lot to get your head around. But Jay, he is telling the truth.”
“I am,” said Will.
“Remind me never to invite you over to one of my poker nights, Will. You’d clear us out.” Jay grabbed his jacket from behind his chair. He placed it across his lap.
“Jay, I understand this sounds stupid…”
“Will, I refuse to waste any more of my evening on this, this… crap. I mean, come on. What is wrong with you two?”
“Jay, we aren’t lying.” Andrea was looking Jay straight in the eyes. She didn’t flinch. “This isn’t a poker face, Jay. Look, Will told me. In fact, no, he didn’t, he showed me. It is only when you see him, as a wolf, that you realize. I know, even saying those words, sounds crazy. But Jay, it’s true.”
Andrea placed her hand on Jay’s arm. You couldn’t fake this type of sincerity. So Jay thought. But he knew he was being wound up. What he didn’t get was why now? Why, with Sally missing and possibly miles away at this stage, why would they waste his and their time? And most importantly, Sally’s time.
And then it hit him.
Sally wasn’t missing. She never was. The whole situation, it was a setup. A ruse. Sally not returning from bringing the trash out to the garbage area. The red jeep passing by on two occasions. They had fed him the clues about something suspicious. He must have noticed something? Come on. And then the apparent text messages. And the piece de resistance, the final part of this joke, was that Will was an animal. A wolf. In fact, they hardly planned this part. The joke was probably over and they were now just adding bits on to the end for their own amusement. And Sally. Sally wasn’t kidnapped. Sally wasn’t anything. She was there. Probably listening in on this horse shit.
“Where is she?” Jay asked. As he did he pushed his chair back. Andrea had never seen Jay visibly miffed, certainly not to this extent. Will hadn’t either. He was fuming. Fuming that on a night when he was hanging around to fix up her shop door, Andrea was winding him up with this.
And Will, too
. He wouldn’t have bothered his ass doing it. He could take a good wind-up. But all this. All this convincing him about Sally being missing. Ringing him in an apparent panic. The sincerity in their panicked voices. And a joke only a few hours after being held up. What the hell was wrong with Andrea? Was this some kind of delayed reaction? Was the adrenalin trying to find a way to channel itself?
“In fact, I don’t give a shit where Sally is hiding.” Jay pulled on his jacket and zipped it right up to his chin, accounting for the bite that would be meeting him in the exposed lot.
“Jay, just hang on a minute. Don’t go.” There was reason in Andrea’s voice. But by this point, Jay was more convinced than ever of the joke.
“Listen, I’m tired. You two lovebirds can tidy up the last couple of things. I’m too tired to even be pissed at you now. And tell Sally ‘hi’”. The sarcasm wasn’t lost on the room. Jay said all this with his back firmly to Will and Andrea.
He stood at the door and took a long intake of breath.
“I’ll probably see the funny side of this in the morning, guys. For now, I’m just too tired.”
A little calmer now, he turned to signal his departure.
When he turned, and saw Andrea standing beside Will, he stumbled back somewhat. His heart froze. It was surely Will beside Andrea. But it was a wolf. A fine, sturdy, beautiful wolf was staring at him.
It was the eyes, though. The eyes confirmed it for him. This was Will. The honesty and intensity of the eyes staring back at him were enough.
“Okay,” Jay said. That was enough for him. But still, he didn’t move too quickly. He believed now, but it was still a shock.
Jay unzipped his jacket and folded it over his arm. He took to breathing with depth.
“I’m looking forward to hearing the second part of this story.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Will put his clothes back on in the restroom.
I’ve probably put Jay through enough for one night. Will was staring into the same mirror again as he thought these words. He had left Andrea and Jay momentarily. It only now struck him how he could have easily brought on another heart attack. Stupid, he thought.