Just Let Me Love You (12 page)

Chase

F
uck.
I’ve been duped by my fifteen-year-old little shit of a brother. Should I really be surprised? I mean, hell, I suspected the gun he gave me the other night was not the firearm he bought from Kyle Tanner. But, still, I can’t believe Will would put on a charade all week, acting as if everything is fine.

That’s exactly what he’s done, though.

I’ve asked him numerous times how things have been going, and every single fucking time that kid has told me everything was cool.

I’ve heard statements such as: “Cassie hasn’t heard from Paul. He must’ve skipped town.”

Or when I asked him about how he’s been faring, his response was this: “I’m doing great, Chase.” Coupled with a, “I feel really good, bro. Never been better.”

And then there was this gem from earlier today…

Will and I were eating sandwiches we made this morning before taking off for the desert. Under the desert heat, and after taking a bite, Will swallowed, and said, “Hey, thank you for bringing me out here, Chase.” He motioned to the bike, to the surrounding desert. “This place is pretty cool. And this week has been awesome.”

It was that last bit, said with such sincerity, that prompted me to say, “Okay, sure,” when Will then asked if I could drop him off at Cassie’s house on the way home.

“Just for a couple of hours,” he added, like he was the most reasonable teenager ever.

“Her mother will be there, right?” I asked, suspicious of his true motives, but wanting so badly to give him a chance.

“Not when you drop me off,” Will replied, his face the portrait of honesty. “But she’ll be home right after. She usually comes in from work around four.”

I respected his truthfulness, or what I thought was the truth.

What a joke. It’s slightly past four now, and I have a strong suspicion Mrs. Sutter still isn’t home. Come to think of it, she’s probably on a business trip somewhere and won’t be home at all today.

Shit, this is my fault
. Why do I continue to trust Will so implicitly?

Sighing, I know the answer—I’m blinded by my love for my brother. I want to believe Will is honest and trustworthy.

But he’s not.

My mother takes a step back, her hand dropping from my arm, but Kay remains by my side. Yeah, my wife has my back.

“Didn’t you get my text?” she murmurs.

“No, I haven’t checked my phone for hours.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Kay says, waving her hand dismissively. “I was hoping to warn you ahead of time, but it’s too late.”

“Yeah,” I mumble. “Warn me of Will’s lies, built on Cassie’s secrets, huh?”

My eyes lock in on Kay’s caramels, filled with understanding. She’s well-aware of how sick to death I am of Will’s lies and secrets. In fact, I’m sick of deception all the way around, making me half-tempted to divulge to my mother—right here, right now—that Kay and I are married.

Kay, reading my intent so well, shakes her head, and whispers, “Not now, Chase.”

Discreetly, she glances at my mother, as do I.

Mom is pacing, trying to keep herself together. Kay’s right; now is definitely not the time to announce to my bereft mother I got married right under her nose and failed to include her in any way, shape, or form.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I say softly to Kay.

She and I can deal with only so much fallout at a time, and my brother has provided more than enough shit to wade through right now.

“So, what should we do?” my mother asks, suddenly turning to us.

Her eyes beseech mine, like I have all the answers.
I wish, Mom, I wish.

I may not have all the answers, but I do have one. “I think I should head back over to Cassie’s. If Will is there, I’ll bring him back. And,” I add, deadly serious, “I am getting that gun out of his possession.”

Kay immediately offers, “I’ll go with you.”

I nod an assent while Mom bites her lip and frowns.

“Maybe I should go, too,” she murmurs.

“No!” Kay and I simultaneously reply.

All I need is for my hysterical mom to make things worse. Kay knows this, as well.

My mother’s face falls, and I say in a placating voice, “Look, Mom… Someone has to stay here. You know, in case Will is out with Cassie and she drops him off or something.”

It’s bullshit. Will’s not coming home. Not without some forceful encouragement. But Mom plays along and pretends to agree. “Yeah, you’re right, Chase. I’ll stay here.” Her tone is flat. She’s given up already.

And that is how we leave my mother—in the entry hall, wanting to be a good mother but not knowing how.

For as much as some things change, other things remain the same.

Out by the rental car, Kay stops me. Her arms go around me, comforting. She stands on her tiptoes and kisses my lips.

When she lowers herself to her diminutive size, she looks up at me, and says, “I love you, Chase.”

I reach out and caress her cheek with my knuckles. “I love you too, babe.”

I need this woman, always.

Fifteen minutes later, we are knocking on Cassie’s front door. There’s no sign of Mrs. Sutter’s car in the driveway.
Home from work by four, my ass.
The other thing I find odd is Cassie’s car is not here either.

Hmm…

I glance at Kay and find her staring over at the empty driveway, same as me.

“Maybe they went somewhere,” she offers.

“Yeah, maybe,” I respond. I sound unconvincing, even to my own ears.

Just then the front door swings open. Cassie, looking quite unlike how I’ve ever seen her before today, wavers uncertainly. She stares at us with heavy-lidded eyes. All she’s wearing is a long tee with boy shorts.

It’s pretty obvious to me the girl is fucked up.

“Guys,” she slurs, giggling. “Come on in.” She steps aside and makes a sweeping motion with her arm before almost toppling over. “Oops,” she says, laughing.

Kay grabs hold of Cassie’s arm to steady her as we step into the house. “Where’s your mother?” she asks.

Cassie leans forward, directing her answer to me, not Kay. I get a good whiff of alcohol as she lazily breathes out, “Not here, obviously.”

“Clearly,” I murmur. And then, in a firmer voice, I inquire, “Where is Will?”

Cassie dances out of Kay’s grasp, ignoring my question. She spins in a little circle, singing, “Will, Will, Will. Oh, I love my beautiful boy.”

Kay looks at me and shakes her head. “What’s she on?”

“Jesus, I have no idea,” I reply. “She’s drunk, but maybe she took some pills, too.”

Cassie stumbles down two steps leading to a sunken living room with Kay and me following closely behind. It’s dimly lit in the living room, as all the blinds are drawn. There are empty liquor bottles strewn across the floor…among other things.

I pick up a couple of these items—a pill bottle belonging to Cassie’s mom, Cassie’s discarded jeans, a foil wrapper. All pieces to a puzzle that give me a story: Will and Cassie drank, took a few pills, and had sex.

Cassie picks up a bottle of booze and takes off the cap.

“Whoa, hold up there.” I swipe the bottle from her grasp. “I think you’ve had enough.” Handing her the pair of jeans still in my other hand, I say, “Here, put on some clothes.”

I get no argument. Cassie is not like Will. But when she tries to put on her jeans, she falls back on the couch.

Kay hurries over to help her. “What happened after Chase dropped Will off earlier?” she asks Cassie as she helps her into her jeans. “And where is Will now?”

“He left,” Cassie replies flatly. “He got in my car and took off.”

Fully dressed now, she leans back into the cushions and flings her hand out to add emphasis to the “took off” portion of her remark.

I sit down next to Cassie.

“Where did he go?” I ask. “And please tell me he wasn’t as fucked up as you are right now when he got behind the wheel of that car.”

“He drank a little,” Cassie admits. “But he didn’t take any of the pills. He said he needed to be thinking straight.”

Despite her own less-than-coherent state, Cassie has yet to divulge
where
my brother has gone.

The girl is stalling, so, again, I ask, “Where exactly did Will go, Cassie?”

Cassie twirls a lock of flaxen hair around her index finger. Studying it, she says softly, “He went to take care of Paul.”

And that is when I lose it.

Turning to this far-too-nonchalant girl, I grind out, “What the fuck does that mean? Where is my brother? And what the hell is he up to now?”

My tone is harsh, and Cassie winces. But she also wisely answers.

“We found out where Paul has been staying,” she says quietly. “Well, I found out. He called here. Paul, that is. He said he needed to talk to my mom. I knew it was a farce, though. I knew he was calling to talk to me.”

“What’d you say to him?” I ask.

“I talked to him for a while. And then I had an idea, a plan to trap him. I tricked him into thinking I wanted to meet up with him.” She shudders. “Anyway, my ploy worked. He told me where he’s been staying.

“And that’s where Will is now,” I finish for her.

“Yes, that’s where Will is heading. But Paul thinks
I’m
driving out to meet him. That’s why Will had to use my car. He doesn’t want to tip Paul off since he has to get close enough to—”

“Are you fucking crazy?” I yell, cutting her off.

Cassie scoots away and cowers to Kay.

That does nothing to deter me as I continue, unabated, “Why would you let my brother go meet up with that fucking animal? You
do
realize you could get him in serious trouble, right?”

I am livid. I know Will makes his own decisions, but I can’t help but feel Cassie is primarily at fault. This girl fosters Will’s protective side, but she also takes advantage of it.

“Why didn’t you just call the police?” Kay softly asks Cassie.

Kay is far calmer than I.

“If you knew where Paul was,” she continues, “why didn’t you call and tell the authorities? There’s a restraining order out on Paul. The police could have taken him in.”

“We could call them now,” Cassie offers.

“Too little, too late,” I mutter.

“Why?” Cassie asks.

“You just sent my brother to Paul’s place with a fucking gun in his possession. Do you want the police to show up and arrest Will?”

I’m riled, still, and Kay shoots me a look indicating I should calm the fuck down.

“Chase,” she mutters, “please.”

“I want Paul gone,” Cassie whimpers. “That’s all.”

“You want Paul gone,” I echo, shaking my head. “And my brother is supposed to be the one to get rid of him for you, huh? That’s just great.”

There’s so much more I long to say. Things like: what about my brother’s safety and well-being? Would you have him ruin his entire life for you?

But the answer to all my questions is clear in Cassie’s actions. She may claim she loves Will, but she doesn’t know what love is. If she did, she wouldn’t put Will in this kind of jeopardy.

With Kay’s influence, I finally manage to calm down. She and I eventually obtain the information we need from Cassie. We learn Paul has been staying in a trailer out on a road aptly named Vulture Mine Road.

“I know the area,” I mumble under my breath.

And I do, quite well. Ironically, Vulture Mine Road is not far from where Will and I have been hanging all week with the bike. That whole area is nothing but hardcore desert, pure wilderness, a good hiding place for the likes of Paul.

Before Kay and I leave to go retrieve Will, Cassie tells Kay she’s feeling sick. “Can you help me to the bathroom?” she asks meekly.

“Of course,” Kay replies.

She gives me a look, and I shrug. “It’ll just be a few extra minutes,” she whispers.

“Sure, okay.”

With Kay and Cassie out of the living room, I decide to do a little cleaning up. Truth is, I have to do something, or I’ll fucking crack.

I start by dumping all the alcohol down the kitchen sink. Then I work on the rest of the junk. The pill bottle—some kind of pain medication—appears empty, so I throw it away, along with the condom wrapper.

Sighing, I try to look on the bright side. At least Will’s been safe with Cassie.

Still, if she were to get pregnant…
Jesus
. I can’t even fathom such a thought.

When Kay returns to the living room, alone, I ask her, “Where’s Cassie?”

“She’s lying down in her room.”

“Maybe you should stay here with her,” I suggest.

If at all possible, my preference would be for Kay to remain here. I’d like to keep her as far from danger as possible.

But from the look on her face, I see my stubborn girl’s not having any of my good, logical reasoning.

“Chase,” she says, her voice tired but firm. “Please don’t fight me on this. I’m going with you. We already decided that that is the plan.”

I put up my hands. “Okay, okay. If that’s what you really want.”

“It
is
what I want.” She sighs. “You’re not doing this alone.”

“Fine,” I say, acquiescing. “There is a condition, though.”

I eye her intently, until she says, “What?”

“You are absolutely not coming up to that trailer with me. I’ll park down the road, before we reach the place. I want you to wait in the car while I check things out, okay?”

On this, I am not budging, so it’s good when Kay replies, “Yes, yes, okay. Wait in the car. I got it.”

I pray she does, in fact, ‘get it,’ because the last thing I need is for Kay to accidentally get shot by my misguided, gun-toting brother.